Onesimus’ origins remain unknown, but he was likely taken forcefully from his homeland in West Africa, forced into slavery, and transported to the Massachusetts Bay colony aboard a ship. During that time, MA was a hub of the early slave trade & the first American colony to legally establish the ownership of human beings in 1641. By the year 1700, approximately 1,000 enslaved individuals resided in Massachusetts.

2/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

The name Onesimus was not the original name given to him at birth. Similar to many others who experienced the horrors of slavery, historical texts only document the name he was given by his enslaver. The name Onesimus, meaning "useful," serves as a reminder of the property status imposed upon him by his enslaver.

3/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

In 1706, a church congregation in Boston acquired Onesimus & "gifted" him to the well-known Puritan minister, Cotton Mather. You may recall the name Cotton Mather from your high school history lessons, in relation to the Salem witch trials. Cotton Mather, the son of Increase Mather, the founder of Harvard College, held significant influence as a minister & intellectual during that era.

4/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Cotton Mather, despite his prominent role, was involved in enslavement. The primary source of our knowledge regarding Onesimus stems from Cotton Mather's diary, supplemented by a few references found in church & civic records. There is strong evidence that he was born in West Africa, as he had received smallpox inoculation during his childhood through a traditional West African method.

5/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

In a letter dated 1716 and addressed to the Royal Society of London, Cotton Mather recounted a discussion he had with Onesimus regarding smallpox. During that era, it was common for white individuals to inquire whether enslaved people had experienced the disease, as it was believed that those who had survived were deemed more valuable.

6/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

When Mather posed the question to Onesimus about his exposure to smallpox, Onesimus responded with a somewhat enigmatic answer, saying, "Yes and no." Onesimus proceeded to explain that during his childhood in Africa, he had undergone a procedure that provided him with a form of smallpox and granted him lifelong protection against the disease.

7/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

Onesimus described the operation as involving the extraction of pus from an individual infected with smallpox, which was then scraped into his arm. This resulted in a mild case of the illness but bestowed upon him permanent immunity.

Onesimus shared that this practice was commonplace within the African community in which he was raised and had been carried out for centuries.

8/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History

The account Onesimus provided was known as variolation, an early method of inoculation employed to safeguard individuals against smallpox. Variolation, serving as a precursor to vaccination, had been practiced for many centuries in China, parts of Africa, and the Middle East. However, it remained relatively unfamiliar in England and the American colonies during the early 1700s.

9/24

#StillWeRise #Medicine #BlackHistory
#BlackMastodon
#Histodons #History