Captain John Fairfield was one of the several early settlers of Kennebunkport (then named Arundel) who were enslavers. A "Negro girl" was included in his estate inventory.

"A few of the inhabitants of Arundel were able to hold slaves. Mr. Prentice bought the first one owned in town, in 1734. Mr. Hovey also owned one, and probably sold him in 1747. Robert Cleaves, Thomas Wiswall, Samuel Hutchins, John Fairfield, Gideon Walker, Andrew Brown, and Jonathan Stone each owned a slave. Several of them were living in the town, but a few years since, the last two of whom died in the poor house, or which the son of the former master of one of them was an inmate." - Bradbury, p. 158

The 1778-79 probate abstract notes that "the inventory of the estate of Capt. John Fairfield of Arundel ... valuation attested by appraisal ... [includes] a Negro girl, at £20"

The Estate Inventory drafted Nov 3, 1778 and finalized June 4, 1779 notes that Fairfield "Deceast Intestate" and there is no indication of who might have inherited this estate, including "the Negro girl." The presumption made here is that the "Negro girl" was inherited by his widow, Mrs. Hannah Lovet Stone Fairfield.

Capt. John Fairfield "was a carpenter by trade....He married (first) Mary, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Tabitha (Littlefield) Emery, of Wells, born December 7, 1699. Her father was for many years minister at Wells....Mary (Emery) Fairfield died about 1750, and Mr. Fairfield subsequently married Mrs. Hannah (Lovet) Stone, widow of Jonathan Stone. Captain Fairfield died in 1778 and was survived by his widow." - Little, pp. 1197-98 Note that the Rev. Samuel Emery enslaved a woman named Violet, and Jonathan Stone enslaved "a Negro girl." Records for Rev. Emery and Jonathan Stone are included in this database.

Bibliography:

History of Kennebunk Port from its First Discovery (1602-1837) - Charles Bradbury

York County Registry of Probate

Maine Probate Abstracts, Vol II (1775-1800) - John Eldridge Frost (1991)

Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine - Volume III - George Thomas Little (1909)