HAMPSHIRE.
SOME RESIDENTS ARE TRYING TO CHANGE THAT.
♪ IF YOU VISIT DOWNTOWN NEWMARKET,
YOU PROBABLY KNOW THE BEAUTIFUL CONVERTED MILLS AND QUAINT
SHOPS, BUT DID YOU NOTICE THE HISTORICAL MARKER ON SOUTH MAIN
STREET?
BURIED HERE IS A MAN CONSIDERED A TOWN FATHER FOR NEWMARKET, A
GROUNDBREAKER FOR RACE IN AMERICA, YET MANY DON’T KNOW THE
NAME WENTWORTH CHESWILL.
♪ >> WENTOWRTH CHESWILL IS, I
BELIEVE, THIS UNSUNG HERO OF NOT ONLY EARLY NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT
EARLY AMERICA.
>> WHAT RESONATED WITH ME, HERE IS THIS MAN, A TOWN FATHER, AND
NONE OF US HAD EVER HEARD OF HIM.
SEAN: SOME RESIDENTS HERE IN NEWMARKET WANT TO CHANGE THAT.
>> IF ANYTHING, I WANT MY PROJECT TO GET PEOPLE TO SAY HIS
NAME AND KNOW HIM.
SEAN: TOWN RESIDENT JOHN HERMAN IS WELL KNOWN AROUND HERE FOR
BEING A TEACHER, PERFORMER, WRITER, AND HISTORY BUFF.
WHEN HE LEARNED THAT WENTWORTH CHESWILL WAS CONSIDERED BY SOME
TO BE FIRST BLACK MAN ELECTED TO OFFICE IN AMERICA, HE MADE IT A
PROJECT TO GET THE WORD OUT WITH ANYTHING FROM EDUCATIONAL
COMICS, A POEM, EVEN A FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED WENTWORTH CHESWILL
APPRECIATION SOCIETY.
>> THE MORE I DIG WITH WENTWORTH CHESWILL, HE WAS JUST SUCH A
GOOD GUY.
HE COMMITTED HIS LIFE TO SERVICE.
SEAN WHILE DETAILS FROM THE PRE-REVOLUTION DAYS ARE HARD TO
COME BY, ESPECIALLY IN THE EARLY BLACK COMMUNITY, IT IS COMMONLY
BELIEVED THE CHESWILL FAMILY WERE PIONEERS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
RICHARD CHESWILL, A FREED SLAVE, BECAME THE FIRST BLACK MAN TO
OWN LAND IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, IN 1717, IN WHAT IS NOW NEWMARKET.
HE MARRIED A WHITE WOMAN AND HAD A SON HOPESTIL
HOPESTILL CHESWILL, CONSIDERED BIRACIAL, WAS A WELL-KNO
CRAFTSMAN AROUND PORTSMOUTH.
TWO HOUSES HE HELPED BUILD, THE JOHN PAUL JONES HOUSE AND
STOODLEYS TAVERN, STILL EXIST TODAY IN THE PORT CITY.
IN 1746, HOPESTILL HAD A SON, WENTWORTH CHESWILL.
HE WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A QUARTER BLACK.
♪ WENTWORTH, THE GRANDSON OF A
SLAVE, HAD A FORMAL EDUCATION, AND RETURNED HERE TO NEWMARKET
TO TEACH.
AND IN 1768, HE WAS ELECTED CONSTABLE, THE FIRST IT TURN
OUT, OF MANY POSITIONS.
>> AFTER HE WAS ELECTED, HE SERVED HIS COMMUNITY IN SOME WAY
FOR EVERY YEAR OF HIS LIFE BUT ONE.
HE WAS CONSTABLE, SCHO TEACHER, ASSESSOR, THE
MODERATO SEAN: WENTWORTH WAS ALSO AN
ARCHEOLOGIST, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, RODE IN THE COMMITTEE OF
SAFETY, LIKE PAUL REVERE, AND FOUGHT IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
>> HE WAS A REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERAN.
HE FOUGHT AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA, WHICH WAS AMERICA’S
FIRST VICTORY IN THE REVOLUTION.
SEAN: FAST-FOWARD TO PRESENT DAY.
JOHN HERMAN ISN’T THE ONLY ONE HERE IN NEWMARKET TRYING TO
RECOGNIZE WENTWORTH CHESWILL.
>> I AM AN ELECTED OFFICIA I FEEL A SPECIAL BON WITH MR.
CHESWELL.
SEAN: LOCAL STATE REP CHARLOTTE DILORENZO SPONSORED A BILL TO
RECOGNIZE WENTWORTH ON HIS 275TH BIRTHDAY IN APRIL OF 2021,
PARTLY TO CARRY ON THAT TRADITION OF SERVICE.
>> FOR ME, IT IS AN HONOR TO BE ELECTED THREE TIMES BY MY TOWN
PEOPLE, TO BE RESPECTED BY THEM, MUCH LIKE MR. CHESWELL WAS.
SEAN: AND NEWMARKET COULD SOON BE HOME TO A PERMANENT TRIBU
TO THE FORMER TOWN CONSTABLE.
♪ IN 2020, AS MANY
CONFEDERATE-THEMED STATUES WERE BEING TOPPLED AROUND THE
COUNTRY, TOWN COUNCILOR JONATHAN KIPER HAD AN IDEA.
WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO BE THE TOWN THAT WAS PUTTING UP A
MONUMENT, NOT TAKING ONE DOWN?
SEAN: JONATHAN WANTS A STATUE TO HONOR LOCAL BLACK HISTORY, A
STATUE OF WENTWORTH CHESWI BUILT SOMEWHERE IN NEWMARKET,
LIKELY BASED ON LIVING RELATIVES SINCE THERE ARE NO KNOWN IMAGES
OF WENTWORTH TO WORK FRO >> AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT
DOESN’T REALLY MATTER IF THE FACE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE HIM.
IT’S MORE A SYMBOL OF WHAT HE STOOD FO
JUST A REMINDER TO MAINLY THE KIDS, THE STUDENTS IN TOWN WHO
WOULD COME TO SAY, WE NEED TO REMEMBER OUR PAST AND HELP THEM
NAVIGATE THE FUTURE.
♪ SEAN: THERE’S AN EXPRESSION THAT
SAYS, IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO LEARN SOMETHING.
THE HOPE IS 275 YEARS AFTER HE WAS BORN, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT A
GRANDSON OF A SLAVE, A PATRIOT NAMED WENTWORTH CHESWILL.
IF ANYBODY SHOULD BE VENERATED, AND USED AS
INSPIRATION, TO SAY HEY, KIDS, THIS IS WHAT A PATRIOT IS.
THIS IS WHAT SERVICE TO YOUR COMMUNITY IS.
THIS IS WHAT AMERICA COULD BE.
I THINK WENTWORTH CHESWLL COULD BE THAT PERSON TO INSPIRE US