Ceremony to Honor Prince Mortimer!
On September 13th at 3:00pm, Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine will be holding a ceremony to celebrate the induction of the site onto the Connecticut Freedom Trail, commemorating the life of Prince Mortimer. The event will include an interpretive sign unveiling, plaque presentation, and remarks on the significance of sharing Prince Mortimer’s story.
As a boy, Prince was captured on the coast of Guinea, enslaved in Middletown, Connecticut, and purchased by Phillip Mortimer. When Phillip Mortimer died in 1794, his Will stated that Prince was to be freed, but it was contested and overthrown by his son-in-law, George Starr. In 1811, Prince was accused of attempting to poison George, convicted of attempted murder, and sentenced to New-Gate Prison for life. He died at Wethersfield Prison at the age of 110.
The Alex Breanne Corporation worked with the Connecticut Freedom Trail and the state Historic Preservation Office to create what we are calling "The Prince Mortimer Trail." It is a trail within the Connecticut Freedom Trail. It will mark the 5 locations where Prince either lived, worked or was incarcerated. Old New-Gate Prison in East Granby is the first to hold an induction ceremony. Today, Old New-Gate Prison is a museum where visitors can walk the underground caverns where the prisoners slept.
If you are interested, I would love it if you could attend. If you would like to learn more about Prince Mortimer, the 2006 Denis Caron book, "A Century in Captivity" talks about his life. I also wrote and published his narrative on Enslaved.org. You can read that here. Finally, AARP did an exposé of the Alex Breanne Corporation in which Prince is highlighted... you can view that here.
This is a free event. Hope to see you there!
P.S. Please consider supporting our ongoing efforts to highlight those that endured. You can do so by donating at https://alexbreanne.org/donate.
Thank you, and God Bless.
- John -
