Gallery 2 Highlight 2: Prince and Dinah

Prince (1749-1789) was one of three identified men enslaved by Jonathan Sayward in York, Maine, along with Cato and Boneto. In 1780, at the age of thirty-one, Prince married Dinah, an enslaved woman who worked at the nearby Robert Rose Tavern. The following year, Prince enlisted in the Continental Army. He purchased his freedom from Sayward with support from unknown individuals referred to as “the Friends of Prince Sayward.” Prince served in the 7th Massachusetts Regiment as a waiter (personal servant) to Major Samuel Darby.

After the war, Prince returned to York and lived with Dinah until his death of consumption in 1789. Dinah never remarried, and in 1836, she applied for a widow’s pension under the name Dinah Prince.

The application included statements from Nathaniel Donnell and Olive Harmon, members of the community, testifying to Dinah and Prince’s marriage and to Prince’s service. Dinah signed these papers with her mark, the only surviving documentation she left behind. She received her pension in 1838, at age 90.