25th ANNUAL VENTURE SMITH DAY FESTIVITIES TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11th FROM 1 P.M. – 4 P.M. IN EAST HADDAM, CONNECTICUT

The 25th annual Venture Smith Day Festivities will be held on Saturday, September 11th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the First Church Cemetery, 499 Town Street (RT. 151), East Haddam, Connecticut, where Venture Smith (1729-1805) is buried. Please bring a chair or blanket to sit on outside. Masks will be required inside the church building.

Son of an African king, Venture Smith became the first black man to document his capture from Africa and life as an American slave and successful black freeman in Connecticut. Well known and respected, Venture Smith spent most of his freedom years in East Haddam and Haddam Neck, Connecticut. His grave is one of the original sites on the Connecticut Freedom Trail. 

Bill Sullivan, a teacher at the Suffield Academy in Connecticut and a trustee of the Suffield Historical Society, will talk about “Discovering Tamer's Narrative." Tamer (also spelled Tamar) was the wife of Venture Smith’s son, Solomon. In 1798, Solomon purchased Tamar, who was enslaved by Luther Loomis, a Suffield merchant. Sullivan will explain how his high school students connected local documents in Suffield's historical room to Solomon Smith three years ago. This past fall and winter, over 40 adult students participated in Sullivan’s Witness Stones online class. They uncovered two more decades of Tamer's life after she left the Venture Smith homestead. 

Corinne Henry, 9th generation descendant of Venture Smith, will speak about how Venture’s persistence, resilience, fortitude, and industry began a culture and tradition that continues as part of the Henry family identity 11 generations strong. She will also speak about the importance of these stories being told, both within the family and in our communities.

Ms. Henry is the daughter of the late Mandred Henry of Edgartown, Massachusetts and Lilo Henry of Worcester, Massachusetts. She graduated from Worcester State University with a B.S. in Urban Studies, which reflects her interest in the way history and culture intersect with each other. Ms. Henry lives in Cranston, Rhode Island with her K9 companion, Axel. She is a Parole Officer with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. Ms. Henry spends most of her free time in her gardens and working on do-it-yourself projects around the house.

“On a family trip to Anomabo, Ghana in 2015 with four other family members, I realized the depth of emotion and power that is held in one physical space as I stood at the Door of No Return, the same door my ancestor, Venture, was forced to walk through before being taken from his homeland,” Ms. Henry recalled. According to Ms. Henry, Venture Smith is the only enslaved person who had been definitively traced back to this slave fort, thanks to his own published narrative. 

 Ms. Henry will display family photographs of their historic trip to Anomabo Fort, including their audience with the chiefs. Their trip was chronicled in the New York Times at On Slavery’s Doorstep in Ghana - The New York Times (nytimes.com).

Dr. Nancy Steenburg, a professor of history at the University of Connecticut, Avery Point, and member of the New London County Historical Society, will talk about “Why Venture Smith Matters, Now More Than Ever.” Steenburg will share her research on Venture's life in Stonington, Connecticut and provide information about the lives of the minority community when Venture lived in Stonington. “The history of the minority community had been practically invisible until Venture's narrative was published in 1798,” Dr. Steenburg said.

 Dr. Steenburg’s publications include, “Children and the Criminal Law in Connecticut: 1635 – 1855, as well as, many articles published in the Connecticut History Review, Historical Footnote, the New London County Historical Society Newsletter, and Connecticut Explore Magazine. She earned her PH.D. in history from the University of Connecticut, M.A. in history from Trinity College, and A.B. in history from Radclffe College, Harvard University. Dr. Steenburg taught history at the University of Connecticut in Storrs for many years. For the past 10 years, she has been a guest lecturer at Stonington High School and has taken students from high school history classes on field trips to where Venture was enslaved in Stonington and where he bought land as a free man. She is the past president of The Association for the Study of Connecticut History, the New London County Historical Society, and the Connecticut Coalition of History.

Dr. Karl P. Stofko, East Haddam’s Municipal Historian and Venture Smith family genealogist since the 1970s, will share his research on “Venture’s Friends Who Were Justices of the Peace.” Stofko was awarded his Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree from the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and B.A. in Biology from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He opened his dental practice in Moodus in 1965 and retired in 2016. Dr. Stofko has been listed as a noteworthy dentist by Marquis Who's Who. He is co-author of A Brief History of East Haddam, Connecticut. Over the years, he served as an adviser for the East Haddam Youth Recreation Council, chairman East Haddam History District Commission, and board member for the East Haddam Public Health Nursing and Community Health Service. Dr. Stofko has been the president of the First Church Cemetery Association since 1972. He is a member of the Connecticut Freedom Trail Committee and Chairman of the Annual Venture Smith Day Celebrations. He serves as the municipal historian and Venture Smith family genealogist.

Dr. Karl P. Stofko, East Haddam’s Municipal Historian and Venture Smith family genealogist since the 1970s, will share his research about “Venture Smith’s  Neighbors and Good Friends in Connecticut.”

Wreath-laying ceremony by the descendants of Venture Smith and the annual Venture family reunion photograph taken.

Venture Smith’s family genealogy and family photos and artifacts from their trip to Ghana will be on display. A town proclamation will be presented and wreath-laying ceremony by the descendants of Venture Smith and the annual Venture family reunion photograph will take place in the cemetery by Venture’s grave.

The ladies of “Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth” of eastern Massachusetts will return this year with their magnificent African American quilts on display.

 In addition, the ladies of “Sisters In Stitches Joined By The Cloth” of eastern Massachusetts will return this year with their magnificent African American quilts.

 Adults and children, who are interested in learning more about Connecticut history in the 1700 and 1800s, are encouraged to attend. Please bring lawn chairs or a blanket. In case of inclement weather the celebration will move into the First Church sanctuary. There will be plenty of time to renew old friendships, talk with the speakers and Venture’s descendants, as well as enjoy light refreshments in the Parish Hall next to the cemetery.

 For questions, please call (860) 873-9375 or type your message in the Contact Section at www.waidecommunications.com. This event will be held rain or shine unless cancelled because of COVID-19 event restrictions. To review the original Venture Smith autobiography, go to www.docsouth.unc.edu/neh/venture2/menu.html

This life-sized wooden sculpture of Venture Smith unveiled at the 23rd Venture Smith Day now resides at the East Haddam, Connecticut Historical Society & Museum. This powerful figure brings to life the man and the legend that was well known in colonial East Haddam and other towns in colonial Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. The scar on his face and the empty shackles resting at his feet are daily reminders of the horrific conditions he had to overcome to buy his freedom and live his American dream. Although no photographs or sketches have ever been found, Venture was often referred to as “The Black Paul Bunyan” when he was alive. He stood over six feet and one and one-half inches tall and weighed about 300 pounds. He was often seen carrying a nine-pound axe to cut down trees. Weymouth Eustis of Chester, Connecticut and Frank Todaro of Butte, Montana are the extremely talented sculptors who created this life-sized wooden sculpture of Venture Smith.

Brief Biography of Venture Smith

Born around 1729, Venture Smith’s African birth name was Broteer; and he was the eldest son of King Saungm Furro of the tribe of Dukandarra in Guinea, West Africa. He was captured about 1736 when he was seven years old and was sold for “4 gallons of rum and some calico” at Anamabo on Africa’s Gold Coast to Robinson Mumford, the steward of a Rhode Island slave ship. Broteer was renamed Venture because he was purchased by Mumford’s own private venture. Venture grew up as a slave on Fishers Island, New York, which was being leased by the Mumford family at that time.

 Around 1750 he married Meg, another Mumford slave, and they had four children. After a failed escape attempt in 1754, Venture was sold to Thomas Stanton of Stonington Point, Connecticut. In 1760, he was purchased for the last time by Oliver Smith, of Stonington. Smith allowed Venture to purchase his freedom in 1765 and in return Venture took the name Smith as his surname.

 Venture then lived and worked on Long Island to raise money to purchase the freedom of his wife and children. During these years he cut wood, farmed, fished, and spent seven months on a whaling voyage. In 1774, Venture sold all his land on Long Island and in Stonington and moved his family to East Haddam. He then began purchasing land on Haddam Neck along the Salmon River Cove from Abel Bingham and others. His farm grew to 134 acres with three houses; twenty boats, canoes and sailing vessels; two fishing businesses and a commercial orchard. His entrepreneurial ventures included river trafficking, lumberjacking, carpentry, and farming. All this he accomplished without the ability to either read or write.

In 1798, Venture dictated his autobiography to teacher Elisha Niles; it was then published in pamphlet form by Charles Holt, editor of the New London Bee. It has been reprinted many times. It is the only slave narrative of the 18th century that recounts life in Africa. His life story has been an inspiration to many over the years. Venture died on September 19, 1805, a highly respected man by all in the Haddams. His wife, two sons, Cuff and Solomon, and several grandchildren survived him. Several of his descendants still live in Connecticut.