“Worse Than an Assassin”: A Newport Captain Accuses the Enslavers James DeWolf and Charles Collins of Forcing His Family from Their Cuban Plantation, and Describes Ensuing Legal Actions.
Middletown, Rhode Island: August 25, 1823. Autograph letter signed, three pages on a folded sheet, with integral address panel to Charles E. Dudley in Albany and Newport postal markings. 7 ¾ x 9 ¾ inches. Old folds, scattered staining and some marginal losses, a few affecting text. Good to very good. Item #BK0184 A letter from Newport mariner John Wood concerning his acrimonious departure from the DeWolf family’s Mary Ann plantation in Cuba and the ensuing legal dispute with James DeWolf and Charles Collins. Wood was almost certainly the same John Wood whose signature appears on an 1806 Newport agreement for an illegal voyage transporting enslaved Africans from Cape Coast to Havana, now held by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.[1] By 1823 he was residing on the Mary Ann plantation, one of several Cuban estates belonging to the DeWolfs, among the most prominent families involved in the American slave trade. His relationship with DeWolf and Collins had evidently collapsed over his obligations on the estate, resulting in what he describes as his forced departure from Cuba under apparently dangerous conditions with his family and a contentious effort to settle their accounts. Writing to his friend Charles E. Dudley, then mayor of Albany and a New York state senator, Wood reports that three mechanics who had resided with him on the plantation had recently given depositions in Bristol, Rhode Island. Two of the three had testified in his favor, though all had been called by DeWolf. Wood was particularly incensed by the circumstances surrounding his family’s departure from Cuba, writing: “I must acknowledge that myself & family have been most shamefully abused & for no provocation we were set adrift liable to be murdered & robbed on Shore, My Wife & Daughter exposed at Sea to be captured By pirates and in case of Capture to suffer more than Death; Not content in what they have done but still persevere in wishing to rob me of all I possess a Respectable Character. The assassin will stab you in the dark but the Wretch who will traduce and injure an Innocent family is worse than an assassin.” Wood goes on to describe receiving two writs from DeWolf and Collins, and transcribes an August 8 letter from James DeWolf explaining his decision to pursue legal action despite their previous discussions of an amicable settlement: “Lest you should think me inconsistent in causing an action to be brought after the last conversation we had I take leave to explain my wishes to come to an amicable settlement by referring to men as we talked remains the same my object is to put the business in a legal and proper train for bringing it to a close [...] & to enable me to avail of the testimony of the people who were on the Estate with you.” Wood expected the Rhode Island Supreme Court, meeting at Bristol the following month, to appoint referees to settle the accounts. The precise origin of the disagreement is not stated, though the depositions of the mechanics and the references to outstanding accounts suggest a dispute over Wood’s contractual obligations or activities on the plantation. Wood (1770–1826) was a Newport merchant and captain with longstanding connections to Atlantic commerce. He died at Cape Coast, West Africa, in 1826, three years after writing the present letter. James DeWolf (1764–1837), then serving in the United States Senate, had amassed a substantial fortune through the slave trade and his Cuban plantation interests. Charles Collins, his brother-in-law, had served as collector of customs at Bristol from 1804 to 1820, an appointment closely connected to the family’s slave-trading operations. The Mary Ann plantation is documented in the DeWolf Papers at the Rhode Island Historical Society, which include inventories from 1818 and 1820 and contemporary plans of the plantation grounds. The present letter preserves Wood’s account of his treatment by the DeWolf family, together with his transcription of DeWolf’s explanation for pursuing legal action. [1] “Agreement facilitating illegal trade of enslaved Africans,” National Museum of African American History & Culture, accessed October 12, 2026, https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2019.28.1.
Price: $1,750.00