Born into slavery on Fishers Island in 1755, Ichabod Pease spent nearly four decades enslaved in New London, Connecticut, where he learned to read, write, and practice shoemaking. In 1779, he escaped bondage rather than be separated from his wife, Rose, when his enslaver planned to relocate south. Recaptured two years later, he was sold to settle a debt before finally receiving his freedom by manumission in 1794.

In later life, Pease worked as a gardener and was an active member of St. James Episcopal Church. When racial tensions in New London threatened access to education for Black children in the 1830s, the then 81-year-old Pease proposed operating a school from his home. Rejected once, he tried again — and succeeded. In 1837, he founded the first school for Black children in New London, running it until a change in Connecticut law integrated Black students into the public school system in 1839.

Pease died in 1842 at age 86. His eulogy, delivered at St. James, called him “a remarkable man” whose distinction “lay purely in eminence of goodness.”

Read more in project documentation from the Black Heritage Trail in New London…