Research by Betty Slade and Richard Gifford

 Generation 1

1. ZIP1WHITE was born in He married Elizabeth David, daughter of Unknown David, on 02 Feb 1765 in Dartmouth, Ma.. She was born about 1730 in Dartmouth. She died on 06 Jun 1827 in Westport, Ma..

Notes for Zip White:

Research Notes:

Zip White is sometimes referred to as “Sip” in records, which is perhaps a shortening of Scipio, a name sometimes assigned to slaves, as were other “Roman” names (Ceasar, Augustus, Pompey, etc)., in this case taken from Scipio Aemilianus Africanus, a Roman general who earned his honorific surname from defeating Carthage in the Second Punic War. Zip White was a slave of George White, who grew up in the Handy House and who inherited the 900+ acre homestead farm of his maternal grandfather, George Cadman. Charlotte White Road and Charlotte White Road extension (two of the straightest Westport roads from the earlier era) follow most of the south boundary of the George Cadman/George White homestead farm, which stretched from the river almost as far west as Sodom Road and at its northwest corner was west of Brownell’s Corner (Sanford Rd & RT 177).

Under the 1764 will of George White, his slave Sip was to be given his freedom on March 25, 1766, and at that time to be given a ten acre parcel of land in the western part of the George White homestead. This 10 acre parcel was to be occupied by Zip, his daughter Charlotte White and his grandson Samuel Cuffe for over a century. Also under George White’s will, his slave Violet (who in 1772, as “Vylole” White, married Pero Snell, “both negroes” in Dartmouth VR) was given a legacy of 100 pounds along with her freedom. While these bequests were modest compared to those given his own children — each daughter received 1000 pounds and the sons divided well over 1000 acres of land — it was unusual in that era for a freed slave to be given either land or a cash legacy.

The 1.5 story half-cape located at 165 Charlotte White Road is listed in the (Massachusetts Historical Commission) MACRIS inventory as the house of Charlotte White. The house was judged to be ca1760, which would be consistent with its construction by Zip White. It is unclear how the author of the original writeup (Eleanor Jerome) arrived at this estimate. The MHC reviewer was skeptical of this date and thought it more likely to be mid-1800s judging from its appearance. The two “eyebrow” windows visible on the facade would seem to suggest the later date, but a more intensive architectural review would be required to arrive at a definitive answer.

The MACRIS narrative states that “This was Zip and Elizabeth’s house, later Charlotte’s, and the land was undoubtedly given to them by Sophia White, who owned property from the East branch to Sodom Road and beyond.” The source of information is not given, but I seem to remember that in Eleanor Tripp’s files there is a statement that Charlotte White provided nursing services to her

white neighbor, Sophia White. In fact, the 1858 map shows “Miss Sophia White” occupying a house to the west of the house of “Miss Charlotte White.” While no birth record or marriage record exists for Sophia, circumstantial evidence suggests she was the daughter of William White (1742->1830) and granddaughter of George White. In the 1764 will of George White devised to his son William a western portion of his homestead farm, and in devising the 10 acre farm to Zip White he specified that William’s portion would be to its west. Sophia is not found in the census, but in the 1830 William White is found with a household of one male age 80-90, one female 60-70, one female 30-40 and one female 20-30. Presumably Sophia is one of the younger females. Sophia left a will dated 5/29/1864, by that time a “of Dartmouth, a single woman” in which she leaves “all of the real estate that I own in Westport” to George F. Wood and his wife Mary Ann Wood. The Woods lived at the corner of Sodom and Charlotte White Roads, and the will provided that in exchange for this devise the Woods would have to take care of the testator for the remainder of her natural life “providing that she should need care.” Although there is no inventory for Sophia’s estate, the real estate must have been extensive, since a $20,000 bond was required to be posted by the executor.

To summarize the corrections that should be made to the MACRIS listing: 1) there is no record of Sophia White deeding or devising land to Zip or Charlotte, but Sophia’s grandfather did make a devise of 10 acres to Zip; 2) while Sophia’s landholdings appear to have been considerable, they did not stretch eastward to the river, but her grandfather and great-grandfather (George Cadman) did own that area (Sophia’s uncles Obed and Silvanus White inherited the portions that were closer to the East Branch).            (Source: Genealogist and historian Richard Gifford, September, 2020.)

Notes for Elizabeth David:

Zip married a Native-American woman from Tiverton, Elizabeth David in 1765, the marriage being recorded in both Tiverton (where no surname was given to Zip) and Dartmouth records. Elizabeth was perhaps the granddaughter of Job David, one of the original settlers of Watuppa Reservation who in 1706 signed a petition to Gov. Dudley requesting a removal of the reservation to a new location, the original site being on the west side of South Watuppa Pond. No further record is found of Job David, the only others of this surname in Tiverton were a Hope David, married in Tiverton in 1730, and a Solomon David and Solomon David 2nd listed as heads of Indian families in the 1774 military census of Rhode Island. (Source of information: Genealogist and Historian Richard Gifford, September 2020.)

Zip White and Elizabeth David had the following children:

Generation 2

2. JANE2 WHITE (Zip1) was born on 10 May 1766 in Gay Head, Dukes, Massachusetts, She died on 15 Feb 1856 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. She married John Slocum alias Cuffe, son of Cuff Slocum and Ruth Moses, on 28 Oct 1798 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. He was born on 22 Jan 1757 in Cuttyhunk, Dukes, Massachusetts, USA. He died on 04 Sep 1836 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA.

Notes for Jane White:

Vital records state that Jane is third wife of John Cuffe. She was the sister of Charlotte White, unmarried. She willed 1/2 of her 10 acres and small house ($225) to Charlotte White, until her death when the property would go to Samuel her son She was living with her son Samuel and his wife in the 1850 census and listed as 83 years old. She left 1/2 of her acreage in Westport to her grandson, John Vincent, son of her daughter,Charlotte Vincent.

Jane White married John Cuffe, and prior to this marriage she may have born a son named Zachariah White. Zachariah accompanied Paul Cuffe to England and on one voyage to Sierra Leone. He is mentioned several times in letters of Paul Cuffe to his brother John, perhaps Zachariah’s stepfather, usually along the lines that Zachariah was failing to take advantage of educational opportunities and was consorting with unseemly companions. (Source: genealogist and historian Richard Gifford, September 2020.)

Jane’s husband John Cuffe (brother of Paul Cuffe) inherited the eastern portion of the 120 acre Cuff Slocum farm on the SW corner of Old County and Fisher Roads. By various conveyances of portions of John’s share, and largely by a mortgage foreclosure by Abner B. Gifford, title to the property had passed out of the Cuffe family by the 1840s, although there is evidence that Jane and later her son Samuel Cuffe continued to live here at least until 1858. In 1843 Jane Cuffe purchased from Abner B. Gifford that land now referred to as the Howard cemetery (named for Paul Cuffe’s daughter Naomi Howard, one of the early burials here) located at the NE corner of Fisher and Old Westport Roads (the Fisher Road intersection was rerouted in the 1900s from the east to the west side of the cemetery). Vol. 16 p. 7 dated 6/4/1843, recorded 3/25/1848, Abner B. Gifford to Jane Cuffe, price of $1, about 13 rods of land “at the corner of the pasture where the burying ground

now is, ” land “on the farm formerly owned by John Cuffe.” Dimensions were 67 feet (N&S) and 52 feet (E&W); at that time stone walls were only on the N and E sides. (Source: genealogist and historian Richard Gifford, September 2020.)

John Slocum alias Cuffe and Jane White had the following children:

3. JOSEPH2 WHITE (Zip1). He married Mary Amos in

Notes for Joseph White:

The evidence is not completely clear that Joseph White is the son of Zip White, but circumstances point to it including the age of Joseph.

Joseph White and Mary Amos had the following children:

1. MATHEW3WHITE.
2. UNKNOWN SON WHITE.

• HANNAH WHITE was born in She died about 1818 in Westport. She married Peter Quonwell on 23 Sep 1810 in Westport, MA.. He was born in New Bedford.

Notes for Hannah White:

Mary Amos Wainer is reimbursed for taking care of Hannah Quonwell when she died around late 1817 or early 1818.

Generation 3

4. SAMUEL H.3CUFFE (Jane2 White, Zip1 White) was born on 18 May 1801 in He died in 1881 in New Bedford. He married Harriet Dow Michael on 14 Jun 1835 in Westport. She was born on 19 Oct 1803 in Narragansett, Rhode Island. She died on 09 Mar 1904 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA (Moved to Westport Howard Cemetery on June 16, 1904).

Notes for Samuel H. Cuffe:

Samuel is living with his daughter Lucy and her husband, Thomas Jarvis Wainer, and family in 1880.

He is on the Earle Report in1861 list of Wampanoag Indians in Ma. Jane Cuffe was living with them in 1850 (83 years old.)

He inherited 1/2 of acres in Westport from Jane Cuffe, last wife of John, brother of Paul Cuffe.

He was on the ship Hesper in the Pacific 1826-1828, He was colored, 26, and 6″2″ Whaling Records NB Library.

He was on the ship Almy 10/01/1824 to 7/17/1825. He was age 24, 5’1″ yellow skin, black hair from Westport on Pacific trip. The height in these records is inconsistent.

In 1861 Samuel Cuffe is listed on the tax records as having one house and homestead.

On March 28, 1874 he sold 10 acres in Westport which contained what became the burial place of Elizabeth and Charlotte White and perhaps Zip White. The sale “excluding and reserving the burying place on the Eastward part of said premises as it is now walled in.” See Bristol County Registry of Deeds, Book 422, pa 327, signed on March 8, 1874, but not recorded until May 29, 1915. John H. Cuffe, Samuel’s son, was a witness with George H. Gifford. Samuel Cuffee made his mark. It looks like Harriet Cuffe signed it, rather than a mark.

Notes for Harriet Dow Michael:

Harriet is found in 1850,1860,1870 federal censuses in Ma. with her growing family. Jane Cuffe (age 83) is with her in 1850.

In the early censuses her birth place is stated as Rhode Island, but later it is changed to Ma. In a NB city directory is with listed as: Cuffe, Harriet, widow of Samuel, b (boarding?) Thomas J. Wainer’s on Hathaway Rd. She is found in the 1904 New Bedford death index, vol 69, p. 306 as death of harriet Cuffe (Mickel). She is also found with Samuel in the 1861 Earle Report of Wampanoags and in the 1865 census of people of color, age 56, born in Ma. She was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery but the Oak Grove record for her states that she was removed to Westport on June 16, 1904. The informant was Lucy Jane Cuffe, her daughter.

Her name is written as Michel in Find-a-Grave records for Oak Grove. thomas Wainer was married to her daughter Lucy Jane Cuffe.

Samuel H. Cuffe and Harriet Dow Michael had the following children:

1. JOHN HENRY CUFFE was born on 27 Feb 1851 in Westport. He died on 21 Jun 1891 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA.
2. CHARLOTTE3 CUFFE (Jane2 White, Zip1 White) was born on 28 Dec 1807 in She died on 12 Sep 1854 in New Bedford. She married (1) LEWIS VINCENT on 23 Sep 1831 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. He was born in New Bedford. She married (2) HANSON BLAKE on 14 Jun 1841 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. He was born in Fairhaven, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA.

Lewis Vincent and Charlotte Cuffe had the following child:

1837. JOHN4VINCENT was born in

Hanson Blake and Charlotte Cuffe had the following children:

1. MARY ELIZABETH4 BLAKE was born on 09 Feb 1846 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts,
2. FREEMAN R. BLAKE was born in 1852 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts,

Generation 4

6. LUCY JANE4 CUFFE (Samuel 3, Jane2 White, Zip1 White) was born on 10 Apr 1838 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. She died on 22 Feb 1913 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA (Buried at Rural Cemetery, New Bedford). She married (1) THOMAS J. WAINER, son of Michael “Captain” Wainer Jr and Mary Jane Digroat, on 15 Oct 1872 in Westport, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. He was born in Mar 1850 in Stockbridge, NY.. He died on 08 Aug 1902 in New Bedford. She married (2) CHARLES HALL, son of Charles Hall and Meriah Quaniwell, in No marriage took place. He was born about 1830 in Westport. He died about 1856 in At sea.

Notes for Lucy Jane Cuffe:

She was not married to Charles Hall, but was pregnant with his child when he was lost at sea. He went to sea with Lucy Jane’s father, Samuel H. Cuffe. Lucy later married Thomas J. Wainer, son of Michael Wainer, Jr.

Research Notes:

Lucy had a son with mariner Charles Hall. Their son was known as Charles Horatio Hall alias Cuffee, he was born in Westport, Mass. 4 April 1856. He was judged to be guilty of murdering his neighbor Benjamin Howard in 1870. He confessed of a crime but the teenaged Charles in his confession claimed that his recently-released from prison neighbor William Davol murdered Howard and paid Charles to keep quiet when Charles came upon the scene. Charles Horatio Hall was mentally retarded and a teenager at the time.  Up to the present day there has been an effort to clear his name.

While Charles was in prison, Lucy married Thomas Jarvis Wainer.

Notes for Thomas J. Wainer:

He was a Laborer living in New Bedford at the time of marriage. He was 30. He was a sailor.

In 1880 Lucy Cuffe Wainer’s parents were living with them. They were Harriet Michael Cuffe 67 and Samuel Cuffe 79.

In 1900 Thomas lived on Hathaway Street in New Bedford. His mother in law Harriet Michael Cuffe lived with them as well as his daughter Hattie and her husband, William Gainville and child.

Thomas J. Wainer and Lucy Jane Cuffe had the following children:

Massachusetts.

1. WALTER L. WAINER was born on 21 Jul 1874 in Mass. Notes for Charles Hall:

The source of a story is Westport Shorelines, May 6, 1996, Lookin’ Astern with Cukie (Carlton, Jr.)

Macomber “A Bloody Story” from a story brought to him by Alexander tripp who lived in Little Compton.

Charles Hall, age 24, from Westport was on the brig Almy, 1824-1825 with Samuel H. Cuffe, Lucy Jane’s father.. He would have been born Abt 1800

Research Notes:

The Charles Hall who fathered Charles Horatio Cuffe was probably born in the 1830s. In 1852 Isaac Francis, guardian of Charles Hall, a minor, sold to Frederick Gifford a one half acre property on the east side of the road running north from the late John Gifford [i.e. Reed Road], it being the same property previously conveyed by Squire Gifford to Charles Hall {Sr}, likely the one who married Mariah (Quoniwell) Bailey in 1828. According to the MACRIS listing, for 17 Reed Road, in the 1820s Charles Hall, “a colored sailor from Westport Point” moved a building called “the little red store” north from the landing to this location (this house is at the rear of the lot, with the 1850s house at the front built by Ezra Macomber, a later owner). The later deed refers to the elder Charles Hall being buried in a 20’ x 16’ plot at the NE corner of the property. (Source: genealogist and historican Richard Gifford, September, 2020.)

Charles Hall and Lucy Jane Cuffe had the following child:

1. CHARLES HORATIO5 CUFFE was born on 04 Apr 1856 in Westport. He died on 28 Aug 1874 in Charleston, Suffolk, Massachusetts.

Notes for Charles Horatio Cuffe:

His father was not listed. Lucy J. Cuffe was not married. Charles was accused and convicted of murder when he was 14. It is said he was mentally retarded to some extent. he was sentenced to hanging. There has been a great deal of legal research done since that accusation and evidence points to the strong possibility that he was framed. He was defended by William H. Johnson.

The Mass AG petitioned Governor Clafin to commute to life imprisonment, which he did but Charles died August 28, 1874 of pneumonia.

He was with his grandparents and mother in 1860.

He was also called Charles Hall because his father was Charles Hall, a sailor lost at sea before marrying Lucy Cuffe, the granddaughter of Paul Cuffe’s brother John.

In 1865 Mass Census of People of Color, a Charles H. Cuffe is living with Samuel and Harriet Cuffe. He was written to be age 7. He is still with them in 1870, age 14.

Generation 5

7. HARRIET “HATTIE” J.5WAINER (Lucy Jane4 Cuffe, Samuel 3 Cuffe, Jane2 White, Zip1 White) was born on 04 Aug 1880 in Mass. She died on 13 Jun 1942 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. She married William Edward Gainville, son of John H. Gainville and Mary F. Cooper, on 22 Sep 1898 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts, USA. He was born on 25 Sep 1873 in Massachusetts.

Notes for Harriet “Hattie” J. Wainer:

Her name is recorded as Hattie in many places, but she is Harriet J. Gainville in William Edward Gainville’s 1918 WWI registration. They were living on Kempton Road at the time.

William Edward Gainville and Harriet “Hattie” J. Wainer had the following children:

1. MATILDA6 GRANVILLE was born in May 1899 in New Bedford, Bristol, Massachusetts,
2. WALTER GAINVILLE was born on 20 Sep He died on 18 Feb 1972.