Mark Anthony DeWolf (also spelled D'Wolf or deWolfe; November 8, 1726 – November 9, 1793) was an American merchant and enslaver. He is known for his role in the transatlantic slave trade and was an early member of the

DeWolf family The DeWolf family (also spelled D’Wolf or DeWolfe) is a prominent Canadian and American family that traces its roots to Balthazar DeWolf. The family's lineage can be traced back to Balthazar DeWolf, who was born in 1620 in the Netherlands and ...

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, as well as the county seat. The population of Bristol was 22,493 at the 2020 census. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. Major industries include boat buil ...

, which became one of the most prominent slave-trading families in

American history The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

Biography

Born in 1726 in Guadeloupe, French West Indies, Mark Anthony DeWolf was the second son of Charles DeWolf and Margaret DeWolf (née Potter). His father, born in

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Conn ...

, in 1695, immigrated to Guadeloupe in 1717, where he remained for the rest of his life. DeWolf received formal education in a French school and was fluent in several languages. At the age of 17, he moved from Guadeloupe to the United States, having been hired as a deckhand on a slave-trading vessel owned by Simeon Potter. In 1744, shortly after arriving in the U.S., he married Potter's sister, Abigail. Soon after, he joined Potter on board the

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

Prince Charles of Lorraine to participate in

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...

in the West Indies. DeWolf settled in

, but following an attack on the town by British and Hessian forces in 1778, during which his house was burned, he relocated his family to a farm in

Swansea, Massachusetts Swansea is a town in Bristol County in southeastern Massachusetts, United States. It is located at the mouth of the Taunton River, just west of Fall River, south of Boston, and southeast of Providence, Rhode Island. The population was 17,14 ...

. He did not return to Bristol until shortly before his death on September 17, 1793.

The DeWolf family

DeWolf was the 4th generation of Balthazar DeWolf of Lyme, Connecticut. DeWolf married Abigail Potter of

, on 26 August 1744. Among his eight sons and seven daughters, Senator

James DeWolf James DeWolf (March 18, 1764 – December 21, 1837) was an American slave trader and politician. He served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s served as a United States senator from Rhode Island. Along with tra ...

was the twelfth child. James DeWolf made most of his fortune in the slave trade. In total, the DeWolf family is believed to have transported more than 11,000 slaves to the United States before the African slave trade was banned in 1808. General George DeWolf, the builder of Linden Place, was Mark Anthony DeWolf's grandson through his son Major Charles DeWolf.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeWolf, Mark Anthony 1726 births 1793 deaths People from Bristol County, Rhode Island People from Bristol, Rhode Island People from Swansea, Massachusetts 18th-century American slave traders Merchants from colonial Rhode Island American privateers DeWolf family 18th-century American businesspeople