September 12, 2023

Peggy, an enslaved person, may have been Exeter and Chloe's daughter

silhouette of woman with geometric quilt pattern inset
BIOGRAPHY

Very little is known about Peggy beyond that she was named in keeping with the tradition of giving enslaved persons diminutive or pet versions of British names in common use, and that it is likely, though uncertain, she was the daughter of Exeter and Chloe.

If Peggy was indeed Chloe and Exeter’s daughter, she was born shortly after her parents were purchased and enslaved by Eleazar Wheelock in 1762. In 1765, a letter refers to her as “near or about two years old” and “very lively.” Evidence that points to the family connection appears in another letter, dated 1770, after Wheelock had moved to Hanover, in the Province of New Hampshire, to start Dartmouth College. The letter declares that Exeter, still in Connecticut with his family, is being “very hys in the insteph” by refusing to leave without Peggy. This is the last recorded reference to Peggy—she is not mentioned along with her other possible family members in Wheelock’s 1779 will, and whether or not she is the daughter in question, her ultimate fate remains unknown.

 

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