Unforgotten is a cross-platform series chronicling 黑料吃瓜网's ties to slavery. Learn more.
A few years ago, when Americans nationwide began on a path of racial reckoning, parishioners at a small 黑料吃瓜网 church started to explore their community鈥檚 past 鈥� and discovered historical ties to slavery.
Volunteers from St. John鈥檚 Episcopal Church in Essex searched through old archives. They eventually discovered a 1777 probate record.
It listed an enslaved boy named Sawn or Sawney.
Then came another clue: a 1790 newspaper ad from a local farmer, offering a reward for the return of an enslaved musician who鈥檇 run away.
鈥淪awney is a fiddler,鈥� the ad reads. 鈥淎nd he took with him the fiddle.鈥�
The find would send volunteers on a meticulous search to learn more about Sawney and to reconstruct his story. They learned his full name: Sawney Freeman. And the group would eventually learn he wasn鈥檛 just a violinist, but a composer. They would find handwritten copies of his music tucked away in a 黑料吃瓜网 library鈥檚 archive, and painstakingly prepare it for contemporary musicians.
鈥淚 was astounded that it even survived,鈥� says Jim Myslik, one of the . 鈥淭he probability of something that's really ephemeral like that surviving 220 years is really vanishingly small.鈥�
And now, for the first time in centuries, Sawney Freeman鈥檚 melodies are being performed.
鈥淚 think we're really privileged to hear his voice across over 200 years,鈥� Myslik says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really moving.鈥�
鈥�He took with him the fiddle鈥�
For centuries, most people didn鈥檛 know about Sawney Freeman or his music.
It鈥檚 not surprising. This history wasn't taught in school, but slavery has deep roots in 黑料吃瓜网 and across New England. Thousands of people were enslaved in the state. Dating back to before the Revolutionary War, the state profited off the work of enslaved people both at home and abroad.
Historians have long documented the so-called 鈥淭riangle Trade,鈥� and enslaved people in 黑料吃瓜网 left narratives describing it, too.
鈥淎lmost all the lifeblood and cash to run this community came from slave labor,鈥� Myslik says.
鈥淲hile there might only have been a handful of slaves [in this area] 鈥� in 1800, the whole economy of this area was based on trade with the West Indies."
Researchers believe Sawney, who died in the late 1820s, was born into slavery in the home of Samuel Selden, a major landowner in Lyme, 黑料吃瓜网. Church volunteers teamed up with a local historical society and the , a group that works with communities to restore the history and honor the humanity of the enslaved, to learn more about Sawney鈥檚 life.
During the Revolutionary War, they found Selden was a colonel. But, in 1776, he was imprisoned in New York, where he died.
Col. Selden's son would emancipate Sawney in 1793, records show.
鈥淭his is like detective work, right?鈥� Myslik says. 鈥淗e probably was mostly an agricultural worker but he also worked in shipyards.鈥�
But that 1790 runaway ad also clued Myslik and the group into another part of Sawney鈥檚 life 鈥� his work as a musician.
There were other clues, too.
The 1864 book 鈥淗istory of Durham, 黑料吃瓜网鈥� by William Chauncey Fowler describes hearing violinist Sawney Freeman perform in the town.
鈥淗e accompanied his violin with a sort of organ, which he played with his foot 鈥� It added greatly to the volume of the music,鈥� the passage reads. 鈥淎t this ball besides contra dances they had jigs and reels.鈥�
鈥楢n instrument of liberation鈥�
Historians find a surprising number of runaway notices for enslaved musicians, particularly fiddlers. Violin was a go-to instrument at social gatherings at the time 鈥� not just for enslavers, but also the enslaved.
The documentary film 鈥溾�� explores this history.
Music could be a vehicle of resistance in early America, says filmmaker Eduardo Montes-Bradley.
鈥淲e need to look at the fiddle, the violin, as an instrument of liberation in a sense, and freedom,鈥� Montes-Bradley says.
Enslaved musicians were able to access better-quality work. They were hired out to play at parties and weddings. At the same time, the violin offered hope to enslaved musicians planning an escape.
鈥淭here are several challenges if you decide to run away,鈥� Montes-Bradley says. 鈥淥ne is: Would you make it? And then: How are you going to survive if you make it? A fiddle or a violin is very easy to conceal 鈥� it鈥檚 easier to conceal than a piano.鈥�
Another ad, another clue
The volunteers from St. John鈥檚 church would soon discover something more.
Sawney was not only a fiddler. He was also a composer.
鈥淚n 1801, there was an ad in the 黑料吃瓜网 Journal in New Haven that advertised something called the 鈥楳usician鈥檚 Pocket Companion鈥� written by Sawney Freeman, a free man of color from 黑料吃瓜网,鈥� Myslik says.
鈥淓xceptionally unusual for the time.鈥�
In fact, it鈥檚 evidence that Sawney is one of the earliest published Black composers in the United States.
Intrigued, the church group found an . It listed a manuscript of music attributed to Sawney Freeman as part of a library collection, stored in an archive only about 40 miles away.
鈥楾he paper is quite fragile鈥�
Deep in the archive at the on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Eric Johnson-DeBaufre walks through rows of library stacks standing in chilly air.
鈥淧aper likes that,鈥� he says.
The librarian digs into a rare and special collection .
With care, he lays the old paper out on a table.
鈥淭he paper, as you can see, is quite fragile-looking,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t is all done by hand in a very clear, I think, dark ink. You have the names of tunes up at the top and then the composer to the side.鈥�
Near many tunes are the words 鈥淏y Sawney Freeman鈥� or 鈥渂y S.F.鈥�
The manuscript is from 1817. It鈥檚 handwritten with music for solo violin as well as ensembles of five or six instruments.
It includes a blend of musical styles, some leaning toward Western European classical music. Other tunes have more of a folk-style fiddle feel.
Popular songs of the day, like 鈥淧olly Put the Kettle On鈥� and 鈥淵ankee Doodle,鈥� are scattered in between.
So how did this manuscript, which is over 200 years old, wind up in this library in Hartford?
It once belonged to the father of the Watkinson Library鈥檚 first librarian, Johnson-DeBaufre says.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 probably for that reason that this is in our collection,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t makes me wonder: How did he know about Sawney Freeman? Because this copy book seems to be the only record of Sawney Freeman鈥檚 musical compositions that has survived.鈥�
The manuscript was part of the collection of Gurdon Trumbull, a merchant from Stonington, 黑料吃瓜网, whose family took an interest in abolition. Family members had collected a variety of material regarding local Black residents.
鈥淚t's clear that the family had some deep sort of sympathies with the plight of enslaved Black people in the country,鈥� Johnson-DeBaufre says.
鈥楾his is revolutionary鈥�
Music is central to worship at St. John鈥檚 in Essex, and members wanted to include Sawney Freeman鈥檚 work as part of their services.
Once the manuscripts were rediscovered, the library digitized the fragile documents and the church music director transcribed the notation into something contemporary players could read.
In February, St. John鈥檚 gathered together musicians for a first-ever recording of works by Sawney Freeman.
The recording took place in an elegant library at the historic Waveny House in New Canaan, 黑料吃瓜网.
Among the three violinists, one cellist and a piccolo and flute player, the excitement is palpable. The group performed pieces named 鈥淪t. Alban's,鈥� 鈥淟iberty March,鈥� 鈥淪olemnity,鈥� and 鈥淭he New Death March.鈥�
There were upbeat dance tunes and quieter, reflective pieces. The handwritten melodies of Freeman suggest he'd likely improvise during long nights performing for dance engagements in 黑料吃瓜网. Musicians at the 2024 recording session honored the composer by riffing on a few of his tunes.
Jessica Valiente, who played the piccolo and flute, says Freeman鈥檚 music was not what she expected.
鈥淚 didn't expect it to sound quite so 鈥榗olonial,鈥欌�� Valiente says. 鈥淚 know a little bit about Black fiddling traditions and I expected it to be more like fiddle tunes and a few of them were. But some of them seem to be from a church tradition or from more of a martial tradition.鈥�
For the musicians, performing this newly-discovered music was moving and poignant.
Violinist Ilmar Gavil谩n, a member of the Grammy-winning , says the experience was enlightening and heartening.
鈥淎s a Black violinist myself, I was very surprised because I always thought this was a later event of people of color playing European instruments,鈥� he says.
The music can be a lesson for today鈥檚 musicians of color, he says.
鈥淚t also informs the younger generations of specifically Black string players that this legacy existed way before we even imagined. You just think, 鈥極h my gosh, that really did exist. I鈥檓 not alone! Somebody else was in love with the violin!鈥欌��
Briana Almonte, a 19-year-old violinist, says the experience of playing Sawney Freeman鈥檚 music was thrilling.
鈥淎n early Black composer, composing these works. I feel like this is revolutionary,鈥� Almonte says.
It鈥檚 important that young people learn about the contributions of early Black artists, Valiente says.
鈥淚 think that when people imagine the past, they often imagine a past where we weren鈥檛 there or we were just sort of doing the drudgery work,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e made many contributions that people have yet to know.鈥�
Sawney Freeman鈥檚 contributions are still being uncovered. And now, after centuries of silence, his musical voice sings once again.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to play this music,鈥� Valiente says, 鈥渂ecause people need to know that we were here.鈥�
A playlist: Listen to Sawney Freeman's music
Editor鈥檚 note: The reporter for this story, Diane Orson, is a professional violinist. She participated in playing three of the ensemble pieces during the recording: "St. Alban's," "Jefferson's March" and "The Musician."
Read more from Unforgotten: 黑料吃瓜网's Hidden History of Slavery
Chapter 2: 鈥楾his is my country': A family learns their ancestors were enslaved in 黑料吃瓜网
About the series: Why we're reporting on 黑料吃瓜网's history of slavery
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