Charles Tufts elevated social status, gained wealth through connection to slavery

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Jr. wrote. “I have wrote Doc. Tufts and desired him … to sign a suitable petition or memorial in my name and behalf or my attorneys to the General assembly, setting forth … the true causes of my leaving the Province at the commencement of the [American Revolutionary] war.”

In another letter dated from April 18, 1780, which was also provided by the Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library Archives, Tufts informs Royall Jr. about proceedings regarding his estate in Bristol, R.I.

“Not having the opportunity to send the foregoing, I come now to acquaint you that we have been called again to defend your Estate at Bristol,” Tufts wrote. “I am sorry that I have to continue this disagreeable topic by telling your Honor That this State have also Filed a Bill against your Estate to be heard and determined at Concord. … Great Perplexity attend me, as not a Day passes but have something to do about the Estate and after all can’t save it.”

Simon Tufts was not the only Tufts family member who was involved in slavery alongside the Royalls. According to public records provided by the Royall House and Slave Quarters, Timothy, Samuel and Aaron Tufts leased the Royall House for seven years starting in 1769. Based on genealogical data that is housed at the Tufts Archival Research Center, Timothy, Samuel and Aaron Tufts were cousins of Simon Tufts.

A significant reason why the Tufts family name was prominent at the time was because of the family’s wealth gained from slavery. This elevated their social status and was likely one factor that later helped Charles Tufts become a community leader in his generation.

Singleton discussed the implications of the Tufts family’s involvement in slavery.

“We often think about historical actors based on their individual actions, but some of the [Tufts] family members [were building wealth through ties to] the business of slavery,” Singleton said. “When you start to … follow the money, and you start to look at the relationships, you see that it is not so simple as [finding out whether] the Tufts founder was involved in slavery.”

Even with these facts, there are still open questions that contemporary scholarship surrounding local slavery in Medford and Boston seeks to address. Chan’s book attempted to discover more of the Slave Quarters’ history through archaeology.

Chan spoke about the historical gaps that still need to be filled regarding the Slave Quarters.

“One of the things that I am still waiting to learn more about is with regard to the plant and animal remains [found] at the [Slave Quarters],” Chan said. “Given this idea that [enslaved] people in the North had more freedom of movement [compared to enslaved people in the South], … one could expect that [activities such as hunting and fishing] that you find on slave sites in the South … might be amplified [at the Slave Quarters].”

Despite this, Chan said that she has not found evidence of enslaved people at the Slave Quarters engaging in hunting or fishing.

Local efforts to address slavery reflect national endeavors attempting to reconcile