Starting sometime around 1750, Connecticut’s enslaved Africans began a tradition of electing their own Governor. In later years, the newly elected black Governor would ride through the street leading a celebratory parade.
The title of Governor is specific to the New England colonies. Some
accounts indicate that they were referred to as Kings “in remembrance of
their Kings of Guinea,” while other accounts indicate that both a
Governor and a King were elected. In African American Connecticut Explored, Katherine J. Harris wrote that Kings were elected in areas of the colony that had stronger ties to the British Crown.
The annual elections continued to be held long after slavery ended in Connecticut, continuing in the Naugatuck Valley until about 1856. I have found one reference indicating that at least one election was held in Waterbury during the 1800s. It also appears that the African American community in Waterbury was closely connected to those throughout the Naugatuck Valley south to Derby.
Nelson Weston, originally from Humphreysville in Seymour, was the second person to run a barbershop in Waterbury and the first black barber here, from 1846 until sometime in the 1850s. While he was living and working in Waterbury, he was elected as Connecticut’s black Governor, in 1850. He was one of three Weston men to serve as Connecticut's black Governor.
