HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 Massachusetts Emancipation Day aka Quock Walker Day Proclamation b,' I
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t+`x��vN` SELECT BOARD OFFICE I I i i
PROCLAMATICJN
Whereas: this year marks the 239th Anniversary of the third of the Quock Walker Gases that
canstitutionally ended slavery in Massachusetts; and
Whe�reas: Quack Walker entered the historical record on May 4, 1754,when Zedekiah Stone sold Mingo,
Dinah, and 9-month-old Quock to James Caldwell of the Rutland District far 180 pounds; and
Whereas: Quock Walker's parents were likely imported into Massachusetts by ship like the first enslaved
Africans were imported into the l�?iassachusetts Bay Colony in 163$; and
T�'hereas: in 1641 the Massachusetts Bay Colany became the first of Britain's mainland colonies ta make
slavery legal; and
Whereas: in 1780, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted a Constitution which included Article 1,
which reads,
"All men are born free and ec�ual, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights;among
which may bs reckoned the right af enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring,
possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.";
and
Wfiereas: Reverend Jonas Clazke of Lexington served as a delegate to the Constitutianal Convention; and
Whereas: in 1781,Quock Walker self-emancipated and went to work on a nearby farm in Barre,
Massachusetts;and
Whereas: on June 12, 1�81,a jury of the Warcester County Court of Cammon Pleas determined that
�Quock Wallcer was a free man and assessed Nathaniel Jennison 50 pounds for assault and
battery; and
Whereas: in September 1781,Nathaniel Jennison lost his appeal to the Worcester Circuit af the Supreme
Judicial Caurt;and
Whereas: in 1783, Justice William Cushing, Chief Justice af the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,
noted in his instructions to the jury, "the idea af slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and
Constitution"; and
Whereas: the Quock Walker Cases resulted in the abolition of slavery in Lexington and across the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts over 70 yeazs before President Abra.ham Lincoln's
Emancipation Proclamation; and
Wherea�s: Quock Walker and his siblings acquir�d property in Barre, Massachusetts and enjoyed other
liberties; and
Whereas: Quock Walker's peers and their children became entrepreneurs and active abolitionists wha
established the Massa.chusetts General Colored Association,the first all-Black abolitionist
organization in the United States,"to promote the welfare of the race by working for the
destructian of slavery"; and
Whereas: Abel and Kate Barbadoes were enslaved and emancipated by John Simonds of Lexington prior to
1?75; and
Whereas: James George Barbadoes, grandson of Abel and Kate Barbadoes,was a founding member af the
Massachusetts General Colored Association; and
Whereas: on Februazy 17, 2022,the Massachusetts Senate passed 5.2704,An Act Designating July 8 as
Massaehusetts Emancipation Day, also known as Quock Walker Day.
NOW, THEREFORE, WE THE SELECT B4ARD of the Town of Lexington, Massachusetts, da hereby
proclaim July 8, 2022 as
1V�assachusetts Emancipation �ay aka QuQck T�alker Day
in the Town of Lexington and urge all of the citizens to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in
its observance.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF,we have set our hands and caused the seal of Lexington to be affixed herewith on
the 23rd of Iviay 2022.
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J1LL I.H , HAtR JOSEPH N.PATO
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SUZANNE6.BARRY D6UGLASM.LUCEN
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MARK D,SANAEEN