Broteer Furro (a.k.a Venture Smith)

Research Subjects

Feb 28

In 1736, Broteer Furro was the 7 year old son of a prince in Guinea. After watching his father murdered by trappers, he was taken with 259 other Africans to a ship. On board, Broteer was purchased by the ships steward for 4 gallons of rum and a piece of cloth; he was renamed ”Venture.”

59 Africans died on the voyage; most others sold at auction in Barbadoes. Venture continued with his master to Rhode Island where he eventually married another slave (Meg) and had a daughter.

At age 22, Venture and his family were sold to Thomas Stanton of Stonington, CT. Living in the attic, Venture had 2 sons with Meg. One day, while being beaten by his master's wife, he grabbed the whip. For this, his master beat him with a club by the fireplace and constrained him with chains for 3 days. He was then sold, separating him from his family.

At age 30, Oliver Smith, Venture's 3rd master, agreed to allow Venture to buy his freedom if he could make the money outside of his slave tasks. Hiring himself out and saving everything, he would be age 36 before earning the £71 to free himself ($20,000 today).

By age 44, he made enough to free his 2 sons, his wife Meg and 3 strangers he just wanted to get out of slavery. At age 46, he paid £44 ($7,000 today) to also free his eldest daughter.

At age 69, still married to his love Meg, Venture dictated his life story to a teacher named Elisha Niles; it was then published. I discovered it while researching the home of Thomas Stanton; the location where Venture had been beaten, chained and from whom he purchased the freedom of his wife. The narrative presented of the Stanton family and home is much different than that of Venture, presenting a picture of caring cooperation between cultures. If not for Venture's narrative, that would be the prevailing perspective.

This month, I celebrate Venture's tenacity, enduring spirit and tireless devotion to freeing his people. To quote Venture, “Freedom is a privilege nothing else can equal.“ I also pray we learn to appreciate truth in education rather than comfort.

John Mills

Originally from San Diego, John Mills is a technologist by trade, but an equity advocate and independent scholar by passion. The descendant of both southern and northern enslaved, John focuses on unearthing little known people and stories of this country’s history in slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. John presents research through the lens and perspective of a descendant, with intent to inspire understanding and empathy, a means to inspire good, God fearing people, now armed with information, to look into whether they may be unwittingly aligning to biases resulting from the reverberating effects of a past time. John is a member of the Connecticut Freedom Trail and a member of the Webb Deane Stevens Museum Council. John is also working with an international team funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in an effort to deliver transformational impact on digital methods in cultural institutions...a means to decolonize museums. Finally, John is working with the state of Connecticut, business leaders and scholars in Middletown, CT to honor and memorialize a former enslaved individual by the name of Prince Mortimer.

https://alexbreanne.org

Broteer Furro (a.k.a Venture Smith)

James Mars

Sarah Harris