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PAUL CUFFE (c. 1759-1817)
Merchant Mariner

Paul Cuffe's career as a merchant mariner was of ever-increasing scope within a constrained and dangerous geopolitical context. He built his remarkable career as a merchant mariner on his family ties and his Quaker affiliations. Almost without exception, his ships were commanded by family members and manned by black crews. On land, he invested in enterprises that were ancillary to his primary maritime trading interests. He partnered with family members to run an import store in New Bedford, to build his ships, to run his grist mill, and to farm his land. He also partnered with white Quaker neighbors to build ships and to engage in some commercial enterprises. His Quaker connections gave him entrée to distant markets along the Atlantic coasts in the United States, in Europe, and in West Africa.

Born to a self-emancipated African father and a Wampanoag mother on Cuttyhunk Island in 1759, Paul Cuffe lived most of his life on land in the village of Westport, Massachusetts. At the time of his death in 1817, he was the most famous African American on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. His fame derived from his prowess as a merchant mariner, his entrepreneurial enterprises on land, and his philanthropy at home and abroad. He was the patriarch of an extended family; a life-long risk-taker; an exponent of the Quaker virtues of honesty, thrift, and hard work; an indefatigable and resourceful networker; and a man of extraordinary personal and social courage.

Cuffe's philanthropy extended from Westport to West Africa. In Westport he built the first village school for his children but open to all children in c. 1797; he provided most of the funds for rebuilding the Quaker Meeting House in 1813. In West Africa, Cuffe engaged in a “civilizing mission” to Sierra Leone. He also wanted to demonstrate that profitable trade without human trafficking was possible between Africa and America. Twice Cuffe voyaged to Sierra Leone, taking thirty-eight African American colonists at his own expense on his second trip.