We learned that Preserved Porter, the man who owned Mr. Fortune, claimed slaves on the US tax list of 1800. However, earlier tax lists from Waterbury did not contain specific information regarding slaves, and so we did not learn when Mr. Fortune may have moved to the Porter household.
We also discovered that people enjoyed doodling in the 1700s just as much as they do today, and that notebooks are often used for multiple purposes -- Lucy has vowed to make a cake from a recipe written down in one of the medical notebooks!
Here, Lucy is reading Anderson's "History of Waterbury," which contains genealogies of numerous Waterbury families (including the Porters), and information about Mr. Fortune. Sitting next to Lucy is Mr. Al Walton, a member of the African-American History Commission Project who is examining letters related to the project. Also in the photo is Ms. Marie Galbraith, former director of the Mattatuck Museum.
-- Professor Ullinger
That is so funny about the recipe! I've learned at the Archives that paper wasn't exactly abundant back in the 1700s, so many people used every square inch of the paper to save space! Even military records I have looked at are jam packed with information, barely any of the paper is left blank
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