In 1795, a girl named Comfort was sold by John Thompson
to Miles Newton. Thompson lived in the part of Waterbury
that is now Middlebury. The 1790 census does not show
him as owning any slaves. Miles Newton lived not too far
from the Waterbury Green. Comfort was stated to be “about
fourteen years of age” on the sales contract; it
was later determined that she was only 11 when Thompson
sold her to Newton. She probably worked as a domestic
servant for the Newton household. On June 28, 1801, the
Congregational Church baptized a group of people: the
three children of Miles Newton, Comfort, the four children
of Harmon Payne, and a young woman named Lucy, who was
enslaved in the Payne household.
When Comfort was sold to Miles Newton, it was for “the
term of her natural life.” If Comfort had been fourteen
in 1795, then she would not have been eligible for Gradual
Emancipation, which stated that any enslaved person born
after March 1, 1784 would be granted their freedom on
their 21st birthday.
In 1810, Comfort sought out Noah B. Benedict. Benedict
lived in Woodbury and was a judge of probate as well as
a member of the state House of Representatives. He was
married to the sister-in-law of Waterbury’s Judge
Bennet Bronson. Comfort may have met with him while he
visited his family in Waterbury, or she may have traveled
to Woodbury, as the laws prohibiting travel by African
Americans had been repealed in 1797.
Comfort told Benedict that she was 26 years old as of
May 1810, which meant that she was born in May of 1784,
making her eligible for Gradual Emancipation. Benedict
pronounced that this was true, and that she had been free
as of March 1, 1809. He further declared that Miles Newton
would be “liable for false imprisonment” if
he continued to hold her against her will, and that Newton
owed her payment for the work she had done for him since
March 1809.
Immediately upon winning her freedom, Comfort left the Newton
household. The 1810 census shows no African Americans living
there.
Comfort Homer may have had family in Woodbury: an African
American woman named Hannah Homer died there in 1841 at
the age of 62; she was five years older than Comfort.
back to Waterbury's African Americans List
