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Stephen Smith, 1769 or 70-1797
Life, Last Words and Dying Speech of Stephen Smith, a Black Man, Who Was Executed at Boston This Day Being Thursday, October 12, 1797 for Burglary
[Boston: s.n., 1797].

Summary

Stephen Smith, formerly Stephen Allen, prepared this confession shortly before he was hanged for theft in Boston, Massachusetts in 1797. He was born a slave in Sussex County, Virginia in 1769 or 70. He was sent to the West Indies twice for crimes committed against his master, William Allen, but he escaped and was tried for several other crimes in the United States and Canada before receiving the death penalty.

Monique Prince

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