As Gen. William Whipple made his way to the Battle of Saratoga in New York in the fall of 1777, his enslaved servant, Prince, was by his side.

As the story goes, Whipple – a Kittery native and the only person from what is now Maine to sign the Declaration of Independence – told Prince they had to go fight for their freedom.

“Sir, I have no inducement to fight, but if I had my liberty, I would endeavor to defend it to the last drop of my blood,” Prince is said to have told Whipple. The general promised Prince his freedom and they fought together in the battle, which became a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

But Prince was not actually granted the rights of a free man until 1784, well after he helped pen what is now called the Petition of Freedom in 1779 that was signed by 20 enslaved men from Africa asking to be released from slavery.

The story of Prince Whipple, who became a respected leader in his community, is not well-known outside of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he spent his adult life. But his life and contribution to the Petition of Freedom will be highlighted Saturday at an annual ceremony that previously focused solely on the legacy of William Whipple.

For the sixth year, Kittery will celebrate Independence Day with a reenactor portraying William Whipple reading of the Declaration of Independence. This year, actor Kevin Wade Mitchell will play Prince Whipple and read from the Petition for Freedom.

“When you look back on the history of Whipple and Prince, you really can’t tell the complete story of one without the other,” said D. Allen Kerr, a writer and historian from Kittery who organizes the annual event.

Mitchell, who grew up in Portsmouth, said he is often called on the portray Black historic figures. He jumped at the chance to act as Prince, whom he describes as an intelligent and cultured war hero.

“His story is kind of interesting, but it’s not really well known outside the area,” he said. “He was kind of a big deal. I think the reading will help people realize who he was and what he accomplished.”

The inclusion of Prince Whipple also highlights the region’s history with slavery, which many New Englanders have long believed was exclusive to the South. But there were hundreds of enslaved people in the province of Maine – including at least 21 recorded in Portland and close to 500 in Kittery – who were brought to coastal settlements and forced to work for the white families who lived in the area.

In New England, enslaved men, women and children were largely owned by prominent and wealthy merchants, but also by a few families of less prominence. Unlike in the South where plantation owners enslaved hundreds of people, northern slave owners were more likely to own one or two slaves.

Meaghan Dunn, a member of Kittery’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, said many community members are “excited that we’re expanding our story of William Whipple to be more accurate and truthful about who he was.” Whipple was among the 41 signers of the Declaration of Independence who owned slaves. Though he brought at least one ship filled with slaves to America, he later expressed support for emancipation.

Dunn said it’s important to acknowledge “the dark and inhumane reality of our history” while also celebrating the life of Prince Whipple.

“It’s a remarkable story of someone who was taken from his home and family in Africa and brought as an enslaved person as a child to this area,” she said. “He was able to accomplish so much despite being enslaved by William Whipple.”

‘NO INDUCEMENT TO FIGHT’

Many details of Prince’s life are unknown because records are scarce for people who were enslaved or marginalized, said Erica McAvoy, executive director of the Moffatt-Ladd House & Garden in Portsmouth where Prince lived with William Whipple. The house is now run as a museum and features information about Prince and other enslaved people who lived there.

Prince is said to have been the son of wealthy parents in Ghana who sent him to America with another family member for his education, Kerr said. Instead, the captain of the boat Prince and another boy named Cuffee – he was either Prince’s brother or cousin – took across the ocean brought the boys to Baltimore, where they were sold. It is believed that Prince was around 10 when he was purchased by William Whipple.

Prince was one of at least four enslaved people who lived in the Whipple home on Market Street in Portsmouth, but little is known about what their lives there were like, McAvoy said.

“We have to piece together what we know about them based on white people’s documents,” she said. “We know that the people who were enslaved in northern cities were often domestic servants.”

In 1776, Whipple was appointed as a delegate to the Continental Congress and traveled to Philadelphia to meet with the other 55 delegates and sign the Declaration of Independence. Prince was in Philadelphia during the Second Continental Congress and likely heard the ideas of freedom being discussed, according to the National Park Service.

The following year, Whipple helped negotiate the terms of surrender of British Gen. John Burgoyne and his army in Saratoga. During that time, Prince influenced Whipple’s view on slavery, according to stories about Whipple that have circulated since at least the 1890s.

“On his way to the army, he told (Prince) that if they should be called into action, he expected that he would behave like a man of courage, and fight bravely for his country. Prince replied, ‘Sir, I have no inducement to fight; but if I had my liberty, I would endeavor to defend it to the last drop of my blood.’ The General (freed) him on the spot,” Joseph Foster, a paymaster in the Navy, said during an 1892 speech in Portsmouth.

Despite Whipple’s promise, it was clear Prince did not feel like a free man, said Mitchell, the actor who will portray Prince and a former tour guide for Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire.

A LEGACY OF CHANGE

In 1779, a four-page Petition of Freedom seeking to abolish slavery in the state was signed by 20 enslaved men and sent to the New Hampshire Council and House of Representatives. While it will never be known for sure who authored the “powerful, passionate and eloquent” document, many believe Prince helped write it, Kerr said.

“… we fondly Hope that the Eye of Pity and the Heart of Justice may commiserate our Situation and put us upon the Equality of Freemen, and give us an Opportunity of evincing to the World our Love of Freedom, by exerting ourselves in her Cause, in opposing the Efforts of Tyranny and Oppression over the Country in which we ourselves have been so injuriously enslaved.” 

Laurel Guild Yancey, a seventh-generation descendant of Prince Whipple, said the Petition for Freedom “should be known as a meaningful and valuable American historical document equivalent to the final draft of the Declaration of Independence.”

“These documents speak to universal human desires for freedom, self-determination and just governance, giving them resonance beyond their original context,” she said.

Mitchell said the petition “shines a light on the fact that because you’re downtrodden and oppressed doesn’t mean you’re an idiot.”

“It made complete sense what they asked for,” he said. “They wanted to make a living for themselves. They thought it was time for change.”

The request was tabled by lawmakers, but it was published in the New Hampshire Gazette for the “amusement” of the newspaper’s readers. Prince Whipple and four other men were eventually emancipated, while the other signers died as enslaved men. They were posthumously freed 233 years later in 2013 when the New Hampshire Legislature unanimously passed the petition, according to the park service.

After William Whipple’s death in 1785, documents show that Prince continued to work for Katherine Whipple. She had purchased a lot adjacent to her property where Prince Whipple and his wife, Dinah Chase Whipple, built a house and lived with their family.

Dinah Chase Whipple, who was born into slavery and later emancipated, ran what is believed to be the first school for Black children in the state.

Prince Whipple died on Nov. 23, 1796, at age 45 or 46. He is buried in North Cemetery in Portsmouth, where his grave is marked with a simple white headstone that notes he fought in the Revolutionary War.

Yancey, who found out about her family connection in 2022 from a descendant of William Whipple, has since researched Prince and Dinah Whipple and said she is proud of them. She would like to see more people learn about Prince and appreciate how he fought for freedom – for himself and for the country.

“Prince Whipple was enslaved, but he was a leader in his community,” she said. “He was courageous. People need to understand how important his part is in American history.”

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