From Historic Places Ca
Another individual believed to be interred here is Dembo Suckles (c. 1762-1845), a Black Islander who had arrived here as a slave owned by Captain William Creed (c. 1739-1809). Creed and his associate, David Higgins (d. 1783), had come to the Island in the late 1760s from the New England colonies. They attempted to establish a fishing business in Three Rivers in Lot 59, but this was disrupted by the outbreak of the American Revolution. The Census of Rhode Island for 1782 is the first to mention Dembo Sickles (Suckles) in the Creed household. By 1793, Suckles was living in the Three Rivers area, since he is mentioned in the diary of the famous missionary, Dr. James MacGregor. MacGregor was not a supporter of slavery and he notes later that beginning in November 1795, Sickles (Suckles) entered into a contract of Indenture with Creed – whereby he would receive his freedom after “seven additional years of servitude.”
When this time was up in 1802, Suckles married Mary Moore, a slave owned by then Governor Edmund Fanning. They had nine children, four sons and five daughters. The 1841 Census lists Suckles as residing in Lot 59 as a farmer.
Image: https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/image-image.aspx?id=11600#i1
