Nathaniel, the youngest son of Nathaniel and Abigail Jenison, was born in Weston, Massachusetts, in 1732. Nathaniel Sr. and Abigail bore eight children, six of whom are mentioned in Nathaniel Sr’s will. At the time his father’s will was written in 1764, three years before his marriage to Isabel, Nathaniel Jr. was still living in Weston, near Boston. It seems that the Jenisons were motivated early in the 1760s to relocate to Rutland. Nathaniel Jr’s sister Anna Clark was already living there with her husband, Edward. Nathaniel, the executor of his father’s will, inherited the entire estate at his death.

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Nathaniel would go on to purchase over twenty-six tracts of land in Barre, Hardwick, Petersham, and Rutland, Massachusetts, between the years 1761 and 1803 [1]. Isabel, likely his senior, was motivated to find a match based on economic and social status. Joining forces with Jenison would create a solid structure for her children. For Jenison, it meant expanding his wealth through the inheritance of her late husband’s estate. Isabel had inherited three hundred and fifty acres, a wing of the house, and ninety-eight pounds [2]. In 1767, Jenison, at thirty-five, and Isabel, perhaps close to fifty, married in Rutland District.

Jenison had a history with slaves; his sister, Anna Clark, was a slave owner. Edward and Anna Clark purchased Arthur, a slave with a poor reputation, in 1765. According to Arthur’s own autobiography, he was the perpetrator of “many notorious crimes, of which I have been guilty” [3]. One of these crimes was the rape of Deborah Metcalf, another resident of Rutland District. Upon hearing the news, Clark set off with Arthur to New York to sell him. Nathaniel Jenison intercepted the party with an arrest warrant, which forced Clark and Arthur to return home. Stopping at a local tavern for a drink and warmth of a fire, Arthur escaped. He proceeded to steal Jenison’s horse and made it back to the Clark barn for the night.

 

Eventually, Arthur was sent to Worcester, where he was tried and hanged in 1768. This series of events, if true, certainly influenced Jenison’s feelings toward slaves. While Edward Clark was inclined to simply sell Arthur off to another state, Jenison felt it necessary to intercept the party and bring Arthur through a trial. Additionally, Jenison was likely less than enthused to find Arthur had stolen his horse, which forced him to travel on a borrowed animal or by foot the ten miles back home. It is also likely, considering Arthur’s sordid past and history of theft, rape, and drink, that perhaps something untoward occurred between Arthur and Jenison’s sister. Arthur attests that his mistress, Anna, treated him kindly but shares stories of many nonconsensual encounters with women and attests that he spent most of his time with the Clarks as a drunkard.

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Both James and Isabel Caldwell promised Quock freedom by the age of twenty-five. After his mistress died, and of said age, Quock set out to create a life for himself within Rutland District. Returning to the farm of his childhood, Quock began working for wages for James Caldwell’s brothers John and Seth. Quock would have been a great addition to the Caldwells' team of men. Some still enslaved would have worked alongside Quock, who was born and raised on that farm. His knowledge of the land, family dynamics, and preferred farming techniques were valuable to John and Seth.

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By the time he died in 1803, Nathaniel had a second wife, Mehtable, whom he married in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in 1774. Among his probate records is a document written by Mehtable in which she declines the administration of Nathaniel’s estate. After an inventory of debts and property, it was determined that his estate could not cover the debts accrued. He owed a large sum to Dr. Asa Walker, a neighbor of Quock (no relation). His bill was for $28.80, with an additional $7.50 for Nathaniel’s “last sickness” [4], showing that Jenison had been struggling with his health for some time before his death. His burial place is unknown; a coffin was paid for out of his estate, but there was no mention of a headstone.

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[1] Massachusetts, Worcester County Registry of Deeds, Books 44-106.

[2] Probate File Papers, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1731-1925, case number 9651-9730, page 729.

[3] Documenting the American South, “The Life, and Dying Speech of Arthur, a Negro Man; Who Was Executed at Worcester, October 20, 1768. For a Rape Committed on the Body of One Deborah Metcalfe,” https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/arthur/summary.html, accessed January 2021.

[4] Probate File Papers, Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1731-1925, case number 33044-33130, page 958.