GEORGE
Plaque location: Black Hall
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The only reference to George, the earliest documented “Indian servant” in Lyme, appears in the New London County Court’s decision in 1699 to add six and a half months to his term of service after he ran away from Matthew Griswold. George may have been a Nehantic born on the reservation land at Black Point set aside in 1652 by Connecticut’s General Court.
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George was likely indentured initially to Matthew Griswold 1st, who died September 14, 1698, and subsequently held in bondage by Matthew Griswold 2nd. The elder Griswold had accumulated substantial farm and grazing land along Long Island Sound between the mouth of the Connecticut River and the Nehantic reservation at Black Point.
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Research into the lives of those enslaved in Lyme is ongoing and sometimes uncovers new details that may not have been known when the stone was installed. The text on this page reflects the most current information.
