1828 Kellogg House

What is now the site of the 1828 Horace Kellogg Bed and Breakfast was once the home of Josiah Chauncey, owner of Caesar Prutt, a slave born in Hadley in June of 1727. The Prutt family was owned by the minister of Hadley. Because they had a surname, it is assumed that the family had been traded in the United States for some time, and was not directly out of Africa. Upon being sold to Chauncey, Caesar once ran away, supposedly because he disagreed with the Tory politics that the Chauncey brothers held.

        In December 1770 Caesar received a poaching fine from the town of Amherst after a being witnessed shooting a deer. "This gives interesting insight" notes Historian James Avery Smith, into "how slaves were treated legally in Amherst" at that time. Firstly, it demonstrates that slaves were allowed to carry arms. Secondly, that they were allowed to roam free in the woods. And lastly, it demonstrates that they were subject to prosecution free of their owners. Caesar was charged £6 as a fee, which was expected to come from his own funds which he had earned himself, implying that he had an income (Quintal, 184).

        Caesar served military service in the French & Indian War, the Seven Years’ War, and in the Revolution. His first tour of service was in the French & Indian War, and later as a substitute for Chauncey in the Seven Years’ War. He also served three months and eight days starting May 1^st, which included the Battle of Bunker Hill one June 17^th, 1775.  

        Caesar never received Military Pensions for his services, however. Rather in the year 1800 he was auctioned off as a pauper to the lowest bidder. Caesar was 80 years old at this time, and the pauperization continued each year until his death in 1807. It is believed that he was buried in West Cemetery.