In March 1788, the Legislature of Massachusetts enacted a law that decreed that any “African or negro”, not a citizen of the United States, could only “tarry within this Commonwealth” for up to two months. Likely this decree influenced Marblehead’s Selectmen to form a committee to “enquire into the number and circumstances of the Africans and negroes in this town.” The committee set out to make a list of individuals. Once the list was made, the same committee was to “warn the Africans and negros to depart” within 10 days.
Though this decree meant to deprive Black inhabitants of their rights, it did result in a list of people living in town. That list is a rare census of Black people in Marblehead and provides a wonderful resource to help identify individuals.
The list also raises interesting questions. Note how many Black Marblehead residents were born in Rhode Island. Like the famous Joseph Brown, who appears on the list, many Rhode Islanders ended up in Marblehead after the Revolutionary War. One theory is that they were introduced to Marbleheaders while serving alongside them in the Revolution. A Marblehead regiment spent time in Rhode Island alongside the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment, in which some of the men on the Warning Out list served.
Another interesting aspect of the list are the X marks next to some, which according to the note on the bottom, denotes that they cohabited with a white women. It is unclear if this means the man lived in a house owned by a white woman, perhaps as a boarder, or if these men were in relationships with the women.
It does not appear that all, if any, of the people on this list were forced to depart Marblehead in spring 1788 as many of them appear in subsequent records.