Witness Stones 2026

Last week, on May 21, 2026, Williams Middle School 7th Graders gathered at the First Church on the green in Longmeadow for the 3rd Annual Witness Stones Installation Ceremony. Last year, The Witness Stones Project merged with Historic New England to broaden its ability to bring its unique curriculum into school classrooms and provide students first hand experience with the primary source documents that help illuminate the true story of 18th century slavery in their hometown. The mission of the Witness Stones Project is to honor the memory of and restore humanity to the enslaved people who helped to build our communities. In Longmeadow, the project is a collaborative effort between the Longmeadow Public Schools, the Longmeadow Historical Society, and the First Church of Christ UCC.

This year, the students researched to lives of two men, one named James and one named Zickery Prince. James was enslaved by Reverend Stephen Williams in 1719 before disappearing from available records, and Zickery was enslaved first by Nathaniel Bliss and then the Field brothers after he died before presumably being sold to a related family in Simsbury, CT. Zickery’s life can be traced in records from the 1730’s until his death as a Continental Army soldier in a Fishkill, NY military hospital in 1779. 

Below are brief biographies for each man and some photos from last week’s ceremony.

James

James was a man enslaved by Reverend Stephen Williams in Longmeadow in 1719. Little is known about James beyond the three times he was mentioned in Williams’ diary and a household account record that included the price of £10 that Williams had paid to purchase him. 

In 1719, Reverend Williams was just 25 years old and newly married to Abigail Davenport. Just months before he purchased James, Williams had sold a boy he enslaved named Nicholas (Witness Stone 2025). Five months after selling Nicholas, Williams recorded in his diary, “This day I bought me a Servant Man - some of my neighbours think it may be for the better, others think not. I pray to help me do my Duty towards him." In the next couple of months, Williams wrote about James two more times and complained about his behavior, once for “being out of frame” and once for “being out last night unseasonably” After this, James disappeared from the record.  It is unknown what became of him.

Zickery Prince

Zickery Prince was a man enslaved in Longmeadow in the 1730’s and 1740’s. Tracing Zickery through Longmeadow and beyond was a journey through varied spellings and misspellings, various wills, probates, and military records. Within a ten year period, Zickery would pass from Nathaniel Bliss to Joshua Field, from Joshua Field to his brother Thomas Field, and then from Thomas Field to his son Moses Field, all of Longmeadow.

Sometime after 1747, Zickery was sent from Longmeadow to the household of a family in Simsbury, CT. Over the course of his life, Zickery Prince was enslaved in at least seven different households.

Zickery Prince was likely just a child performing household work for an elderly Longmeadow man named Nathaniel Bliss. Bliss’ 1737 will was the first evidence of Zickery’s presence in the community. In his probate, Zickery was valued at £110. Over the next forty years, Zickery is listed as property in the households of Joshua Field, Thomas Field, Moses Field, Joseph Phelps, Joseph Phelps, Jr, and Abel Forward. Sometime during his life in Simsbury, Zickery married a woman, also enslaved, named Citty.

Like several other enslaved people in Longmeadow, Zickery grew to become a devoted Christian and member of the church. Ultimately, Zickery was listed among the congregation of the church in the Turkey Hills section of Simsbury as well. 

In 1777, Zickery - who now bore the last name “Prince” - enlisted in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. His enslaver, Abel Forward, promised Zickery his freedom in exchange for taking the place of his son. Zickery Prince was likely in his mid-fifties at the time, an advanced age for a soldier.  In the winter of 1779, Zickery died in a hospital at the camp at the Fishkill (NY) Supply Depot. A Continental Army payroll listed Zickery Prince’s salary as, “Received his freedom."

Home of Nathaniel Bliss

Home of Thomas Field and his son Moses Field