Dorchester Illustration no. 2128
After several years of sending out the illustration of the day, I have realized that I can no longer keep up the daily schedule. Therefore, the illustration will be sent out occasionally but continuing the same numbering system.
The Dorchester Old North Burying Ground has a marker for Ann a Negro slave. (Photo on left)
“Ann, a Negro Child Belonging to Mr. Robert Oliver, & Daughter to his Negro Mimbo; Aged 2 Yrs., Died June 1743.”
Keith Stokes reports: We have the exact marker in Newport, RI, (photo on right) in our Slave and Free African burying ground.From our records, Robert Oliver was largely in Boston/Dorchester and not very active in Newport at the time. However, Oliver was from Antigua and there are a number of Newport merchants connected to Antigua. What we can tell you is Ann’s mother name is Mimbo. The Akan people of the Gold Coast (Ghana) frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Mimbo is the day name for girls born on Tuesday and many of the New England slaves came from Ghana or Senegal.
We might speculate that the Oliver family was so enamored of the young girl that they felt the need to erect grave stones in both Dorchester and Newport.
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