Peleg Nott (fl. late 18th century) was an African American leader who in 1780 became the Black Governor of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, an elected office that nominally presided over the state's Black community, estimated at 5,885 people at the time. Although they held little real political power, these governors were elected by fellow African Americans (both free and enslaved) according to traditional African custom, generally in accordance with their reputations for probity and influence and their owners' prestige. Born into slavery, Nott was the legal property of

Jeremiah Wadsworth Jeremiah Wadsworth (July 12, 1743 – April 30, 1804) was an American sea captain, merchant, and statesman from Hartford, Connecticut who profited from his position as a government official charged with supplying the Continental Army. He re ...

, a prominent

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

merchant, politician, commissary for the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, and the wealthiest person in Connecticut. After driving a provisions cart during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, Nott was entrusted with the supervision of Wadsworth's farm in

West Hartford West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquiall ...

. A "first-rate feller," Nott was described as "remarkable for his exact dress and military bearing" and was well known for the trust that Wadsworth placed in him. Soon after Nott's election as Black Governor, Wadsworth freed Nott and his wife and granted him property somewhere near the present-day

Wadsworth Athenaeum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

. No records exist of Nott's birth or death. According to the Oxford African American Studies Center, he "is believed to be buried in an unmarked grave in Hartford's

Ancient Burying Ground The Ancient Burying Ground (or Phinney's Lane Cemetery) is a historical cemetery at Phinney's Lane in Barnstable, Massachusetts. It is the oldest cemetery in the village of Centerville, and the only surviving civic element of its colonial ori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nott, Peleg 18th-century births 18th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain 18th-century African-American people Black Patriots Free Negroes African-American history of Connecticut People from Hartford, Connecticut