Stephen Judd (1715-1777) lived in Westbury (now Watertown)
and married four times. His second wife, Mary Wheeler,
had an indentured servant named Rhoda, whom she brought
with her from Woodbury in 1748. Mary and her infant son
died in 1749. Judd kept Rhoda in his household, perhaps
to care for his two children from his first marriage.
Judd married for the third time in 1751. Three weeks later,
he illegally sold Rhoda as a slave for life to Joseph
Hall of Cheshire. Rhoda had been born a free woman, and
her sale into slavery was declared void by court action
forty-two years later. By then Stephen Judd had died (“with
the Appoplexey”). His estate was ordered to refund
Joseph Hall's estate for Rhoda’s illegal purchase.
Judd’s son Stephen lived in Waterbury and was a neighbor
to John Nichols, who deeded him land on Waterbury’s
Abrigador Hill, noting that Stephen had no property of
his own.
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