1. Wentworth Cheswell was an American assessor, auditor, Justice of the Peace, teacher and Revolutionary War veteran in Newmarket, New Hampshire.
23 Facts About Wentworth Cheswell
1. 2.
Some sources consider Cheswell to be the first African American elected to public office in the history of the United States, as well as the first African American judicial officer.
3.
Around the time of his marriage, Wentworth Cheswell purchased a plot of land from his father Hopestill.
4.
In 1801, Wentworth Cheswell was among the founders of the first library in the town and provided in his will for public access to his personal library.
5.
The senior Wentworth Cheswell was a master housewright and carpenter who worked mostly in the thriving city of Portsmouth.
6.
Wentworth Cheswell built the Samuel Langdon House, which was moved to Sturbridge Village; it is a central exhibit demonstrating 18th-century construction technology.
7.
Hopestill Wentworth Cheswell earned enough as a housewright to purchase a total of more than 100 acres of land between 1749 and 1773, which he farmed while working as a housewright.
8.
Wentworth Cheswell sent his son Wentworth to Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts.
9.
Wentworth Cheswell was first elected to public office in 1768 as the town constable, and later was elected to local offices every year until his death in 1817, to positions such as town selectman, auditor, assessor, and others.
10.
In 2008, George Mason University in Virginia declared Wentworth Cheswell to be the first African American elected to public office in the history of the United States.
11.
Wentworth Cheswell preceded Alexander Twilight of Vermont, Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Carolina, and John Mercer Langston of Virginia for the title.
12.
Son Thomas Wentworth Cheswell attended Phillips Exeter Academy and later became a deacon.
13.
Wentworth Cheswell was elected town messenger for the Committee of Safety, which entrusted him to carry news to and from the Provincial Committee at Exeter.
14.
Wentworth Cheswell rode to Exeter to receive instructions from the Provincial committee on where the men were to be sent.
15.
Wentworth Cheswell was with the party which built rafts to defend Portsmouth Harbor.
16.
Wentworth Cheswell ran a store next to the school house.
17.
Wentworth Cheswell supported his family as a teacher, and was elected and appointed to serve in local government for all but one year of the remainder of his life, as selectman, auditor, assessor, scrivener, and other roles.
18.
In 1778, Wentworth Cheswell was elected to the convention to draft New Hampshire's first constitution, but he was unable to attend.
19.
Wentworth Cheswell was interested in artifacts from the town and wrote about his studies; he has been called the first archeologist in New Hampshire for his work.
20.
Wentworth Cheswell collected stories and took notes of town events as they occurred.
21.
In 1805, Wentworth Cheswell was elected as the Justice of the Peace for Rockingham County, making him the first African-American judge in US history.
22.
Wentworth Cheswell served as Justice until typhus fever caused his death on 8 March 1817, a month before his 71st birthday.
23.
Wentworth Cheswell held some of the first offices in the town in which he resided, was appointed Justice of the Peace for that county, and was perfectly competent to perform with ability all the duties of his various offices in the most prompt, accurate, and acceptable manner.