Cesar Erving

John Erving made his will on 20 August 1784, two years before he died. In the will, he remembered not only his children, but also gave undefined "Legacies" to the Hon. Oliver Wendell, Esq, one of his executors, his bookkeeper John Southack, his housekeeper Experience Bridge, Boston's Marine Society for the benefit of "poor widows and children of distressed seamen," Sarah Mccauley, "a servant maid in my house," and finally, "to my negro man Cesar."(1)

This entry in John Erving's account books from 1 March 1740/1 may illuminate how Caesar came to the Erving household.

It says, "Profit and Loss Pd to Thomas Gunter for a Negroe Boy Named Cesar which

I Bought of him some time ago for One hundred Pounds."(2)

We do not know if this is the same Cesar who was still in his household more than forty years later. We do not know when Cesar gained his freedom. Perhaps future research will reveal more details. After the Massachusetts Constitution was enacted in 1780, the premise that "all men are born free and equal" was tested in some noteworthy legal cases. Enslaved individuals were successful in proving their right to liberty in courts under this new constitution. The cases of Mum Bett in Berkshire County, and Quock Walker in Worcester County laid the legal ground for the final abolishment of slavery in Massachusetts around 1783.(3)

In the first Federal census taken in 1790 a Cesar Erving can be found residing in Boston as the head of a family of 8 under the category of "all other free people."(4)  It is notable that his household was enumerated entirely of non-white individuals. The family that follows him on the page is also composed of 6 "other free people" making up the household of Lancaster Hill. All other entries on this page that include "other free people" are in households headed by white men or women. Cesar and Lancaster lived with their families in their own dwelling units. The others (about 10 out of 120) are likely servants in white households.

On April 26 of 1791 King's Chapel records the baptism of two children of Cesar and Huldah Erving named Prince and Elizabeth. Below that record is another where Cesar was a "sponsor" or godparent of Cesar Cheever, son of Canterbury and Sarah Cheever. All three children are listed as infants. The only other category is "Adult" so their ages are unknown. King's Chapel, the first Anglican church in New England, struggled with membership during the Revolution, and became a Christian Unitarian church in 1787.

Cesar Erving's death at 62 is also listed in the King's Chapel records on 25 January 1795. This would have placed Cesar's birth around 1733. There are others with the modifier "Black man" who died in the previous year on that same page of records: Canterbury Cheever, 70, Cesar Lavoise, 54, Cesar Steward, 50, and John Conklin, 38. It is easy to see that Cesar was a popular name. If this is the same Cesar from the journal entry, he would have been just seven in 1740. The 100 pound price mentioned in the journal may have reflected a combination of transactions.

I will be looking for others who may have adopted the Erving surname by servitude, not by birth, as this research continues.

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Notes: (1)  Waters, Henry Fitz-Gilbert, "Genealogical Gleanings in England" Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1901, p.1244-6. 

           (2)   John Erving Journal, 1733-1745 (inclusive)" Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School, online at Hollis.Harvard.edu.

           (3)  See the explanation under the Massachusetts Court System here

           (4)  United States 1790 Census. Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2014. (Original index: United States Census, 1790. FamilySearch, 2014.)          

            (5) “Boston, MA: Church Records, 1630-1895” The Records of the Churches of Boston. CD_ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) citing "Cesar Erving" in King's Chapel baptisms.           

            (6)  “Boston, MA: Church Records, 1630-1895” The Records of the Churches of Boston. CD_ROM. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2002. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) citing "Cesar Erving" in King's Chapel deaths.