Maine Memory Network

This bill of lading from the Brigandine Sarah was for a “One Negro Woman… Consigned to M: William Pepperell”, sailing from Barbados to the Piscataqua River. While her name was never recorded, a note on the side describes the woman as having a “Mark with a Y on ye right Sholder.” Not long after her delivery to Maine, Pepperell reported that “… one negro woman, marked Y. on the left breast, died about three weeks after her arrival in spite of medical aid which I procured. All the rest died at sea.”