National Museum of African American History and Culture

Historical Records of the DeWolf Family

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAAHC.A2018.17.2
Creators:
DeWolf, James, 1764-1837
Dates:
1757-1947
Languages:
English
,
Dutch; Flemish
.
Physical Description:
1.8 Cubic feet
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Papers of the DeWolf Family shed light on one of the wealthiest New England families in the 18th-19th centuries who made their fortune by engaging in each part of the transatlantic slave trade. This collection is comprised of photographs, correspondence, publications, and business records including daily logs and ship manifests. Included in the collection are ship business records and documents from multiple countries including Cuba, the Netherlands, China, and India.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The materials in this collection have been kept at the folder level and separated into five series. The materials have been ordered and organized based on the content.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Rhode Island dominated the North American transatlantic slave trade, led by the DeWolf family of Bristol. They financed their wealthy lifestyle by engaging in each part of the triangular trade, which involved the shipping of natural resources from the Caribbean to America and Europe for manufacturing, then using them to fund the purchase of enslaved persons. The DeWolf family owned numerous sugar and coffee plantations in Cuba. Sugar from the Cuba plantations was made into molasses, transported to Rhode Island in DeWolf vessels, and transformed into rum in DeWolf-owned distilleries. The rum was then taken to Africa and used as payment for enslaved captives, who were eventually sold in Cuba and other southern ports for tremendous profit. Between 1769 and 1820, it is believed the DeWolf-owned vessels carried more than 12,000 enslaved Africans across the Middle Passage. The profit generated from these trade endeavors allowed the family to start a bank and insurance company.
The first patriarch of the DeWolf family was Mark Anthony DeWolf (1726-1792). Mark emigrated from Guadeloupe Island in the West Indies after serving as a deckhand on a slave trading ship owned by privateer Simeon Potter. Mark married Potter's sister Abigail and they had 15 children. Their son James DeWolf, born on March 18, 1764 in Bristol, was most apt to take over the family business. James, like his father, worked as a slave trader, privateer, and a politician, including time as an U. S. Senator for Rhode Island. During the Revolutionary War, DeWolf served as a sailor on a private armed vessel that was twice captured by the British. By his early twenties, his past experiences saw him promoted to the rank of captain of a ship. James married Nancy Ann Bradford, daughter of the Massachusetts governor William Bradford, in 1790. Together they had 11 children.
In 1791, DeWolf was indicted for murdering an enslaved woman on his ship. The enslaved woman may have had smallpox and DeWolf claimed that she threatened the lives of all the enslaved persons and crew members on board. DeWolf and two crew members agreed to throw the woman overboard to her death. Judge John Jay discovered the story and reported it to President George Washington who gave orders for DeWolf's immediate arrest, citing violation of the Federal Slave Trade Law of 1790. DeWolf fled to the West Indies and by 1795 the charges were dropped. The judge declared that "this act of James De Wolfe was morally evil, but at the same time physically good and beneficial to a number of beings." Further, it was the "least" of the "two evils," and the accusations against DeWolf were "groundless."
Buoyed by the acquittal, DeWolf's family continued their criminal activity within the slave trading business. In 1794, Congress outlawed Americans carrying slaves between foreign countries or into countries that had statutes against the trade. In order to circumvent these laws, DeWolf called in a favor with Thomas Jefferson to appoint his brother-in-law, Charles Collins, a customs inspector. Collins ignored many of the slave ships moving in and out of the harbor that in turn allowed the DeWolf family to continue profiting from human suffering. DeWolf funneled his slave trading efforts through Cuba, the only open Caribbean trade port with American access. DeWolf continually shipped men, women, and children from American soil to Cuba.
In 1808, Congress banned the importation of enslaved into the United States and DeWolf turned to new ventures to keep his wealth, including privateering. During the War of 1812, his ship Yankee was the most successful privateer of the war, capturing prizes worth over three million dollars. In order to continue to profit off slavery, DeWolf founded the Arkwright Mill in Coventry, Rhode Island, which became a pioneer in the processing and manufacturing of cotton harvested by enslaved people. The family also maintained plantations in Cuba, and James' nephew, George DeWolf, continued trading enslaved persons at least until 1820 when it became punishable by death. From 1817-1821, DeWolf served as a member of the Rhode Island State House of Representatives; he was promoted to Speaker of the House from 1819-1821. In 1821, he was elected a U.S Senator for Rhode Island and served five years of his six-year term. He resigned and returned to the State House of Representatives from 1829 until his death in 1837. James DeWolf died in New York City on December 21, 1837. It was reported at his death that he was the second wealthiest man in America.
Historical Timeline
1726
Mark Anthony DeWolf was born
1764
James DeWolf was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, son of Mark Anthony and Abigail DeWolf
1775-83
James DeWolf served as a sailor in the Revolutionary War
1790
James DeWolf married Nancy Bradford, daughter of Massachusetts Governor William Bradford
1791
James DeWolf was indicted for murdering an enslaved woman on his slaving ship
1792
Mark Anthony DeWolf died leaving the business to his son, James
1795
All charges against James in the death of an enslaved woman on-board his ship in 1791 were dismissed
1808
Congress abolishes the African slave trade
1812
James DeWolf built the Arkwright Mills in Coventry, Rhode Island. He also served a privateer in the War of 1812
1817
James DeWolf began serving as a representative in the Rhode Island House of Representatives
1819
DeWolf began serving as the Speaker of the House in Rhode Island State General Assembly
1821-25
James DeWolf served as U.S. Senator for Rhode Island
1829
James DeWolf returned as a member of the State House of Representatives
1837
James DeWolf died in New York City, New York

Administration

Author
Alana Donocoff and Ayla Amon
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Acquired through a purchase by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Processing Information
Collection processed, arranged, and described by Alana Donocoff and Ayla Amon in 2021.

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
Historical Records of the DeWolf Family, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution.
Conditions Governing Access
Portions of this collection are restricted from use as means to further preserve the collection. Digital surrogates are available for portions of this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
The NMAAHC Archives can provide reproductions of some materials for research and educational use. Copyright and right to publicity restrictions may apply and limit reproduction for other purposes.

More Information

Bibliography

Bibliography
Shipton, Nathaniel N. (1978). DeWolf Papers, 1751-1864, Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division, Providence, RI.
De Wolf, James (1764-1837). Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774-Present. (accessed October 2019). https://bioguideretro.congress.gov/Home/MemberDetails?memIndex=D000295.
James DeWolf and the DeWolf Family. Tracing Center. (accessed October 2019). https://www.tracingcenter.org/resources/background/james-dewolf/.
James deWolf, One of the "Great Folk" of Bristol. Warwick Rhode Island Digital History Project. Warwick City Hall. (accessed October 2019). https://www.warwickhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=262:james-dewolf-one-of-the-qgreat-folkq-of-bristol&catid=56&Itemid=125.
General George deWolf: The Man Who Swindled a Whole Town. Warwick Rhode Island Digital History Project. Warwick City Hall. (accessed October 2019). https://www.warwickhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=264:general-george-dewolf-the-man-who-swindled-a-whole-town&catid=56&Itemid=125.
Johnson, Cynthia Mestad (October 2015). DeWolf, James (18 March 1764-21 December 1837) . American National Biography. (accessed October 2019). https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-2001938;jsessionid=25004FD40D9FB12FC5838B88D10ED1BA.
June-Friesen, Katy (June 18, 2008). A Northern Family Confronts Its Slaveholding Past: Filmmaker Katrina Brown Discusses her Family's Role in American Slavery. Smithsonian Magazine. (accessed October 2019). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-northern-family-confronts-its-slaveholding-past-88307/.
Traces of the Trade. (June 24, 2008). PBS POV. http://archive.pov.org/tracesofthetrade/background/.
Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North . Traces of the Trade. (accessed October 2019). http://www.tracesofthetrade.org/
DeWolf, Thomas Norman (2008). Inheriting the trade: A Northern Family Confronts its Legacy as the Largest Slave-trading dynasty in U.S. History. Boston: Beacon Press.
James DeWolf Business Records. Baker Library, Harvard Business School. (accessed October 2019). https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/bak00653/catalog.
Jay Coughtry (1981). The Notorious Triangle: Rhode Island and the African Slave Trade, 1700-1807. Philadelphia: Temple Press.
DeWolfe Howe, (1930). Bristol, Rhode Island: A Town Biography. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Johnson, Cynthia Mestad (2014). James DeWolf and the Rhode Island Slave Trade. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press.


Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Slavery Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Domestic Slave Trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Middle Passage Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Sugar Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Transatlantic Slave Trade Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Coffee Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rum Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- Colonial period -- Societies Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shipping Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Cuba Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Caribbean Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Rhode Island Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- 1815-1861 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- 1783-1815 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
West Indies Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
United States -- History -- 1865-1921 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DeWolf, George Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Oliver, Louis Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Elfelt, Peter Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bellin, J.H. Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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