Captain Paul Cuffe, 1759 - 1817

Captain Paul Cuffe, 1759 - 1817. The Sea Connects Us. , Paul Cuffe was the son of Ruth Moses, a Wampanoag woman, and Kofi Slocum a man from West Africa brought to Massachusetts as an enslaved person. Kori gained his freedom, but died when Paul was young. Paul began a career at sea at the age of 14 on his first whaling voyage. He went on to run the British blockade of Nantucket during the Revolution, bringing essential goods to the people on the island and making important Quaker friends. Paul Cuffe became a merchant, a trader, an abolitionist, and an advocate for voting rights for men of color. He also was the owner and a captain of several ships and was the wealthiest man of color during his time. Mystic Seaport Museum has a research fellowship named in his honor, to support new research that considers the participation of Native and African American Americans in the maritime activities of America, particularly in New England., Slocum was the surname of the man who enslaved Kofi. All of Kofi and Ruth's children took the surname Cuffe, with the exception of their daughter, Freelove Slocum.