Question: I recently read a book by Alexandra Chan, Ten Hills Farm, about slavery in New England. She accessed the Massachusetts 1754 slave census, and I wonder if you have that resource. If not, do you know where I might access it?
Answer:
The Massachusetts Slave Census of 1754 is a statistical census that enumerated only adult male and female slaves. This was a return by each town of the whole number of slaves, they did not name slaves by name. The names at the bottom of the document are the names of the Selectmen reporting, not the slave owners. This census is available on microfilm from the Massachusetts State Archives - http://www.sec.state.ma.us/arc/arccol/colidx.htm