John Hovey was the second minister in the town and enslaved an individual, as did the first minister, Thomas Prentice.

"Mr. Hovey also owned one [an enslaved person], and probably sold him in 1747." - Bradbury, p. 158

"Oct. 21. My negro ran away. Nov. 1. My negro living at -------, I carried him to Boston. Mr. Hovey does not mention him again after this date." - Bradbury, p. 158 footnote [Note: "living at ------- " is actually what appears in the footnote.]

"In 1734, when peace with the Indians again seemed uncertain, the townspeople voted to garrison the house of the then minister, Thomas Prentiss, and to fund a servant for him. The servant was a Negro slave - the first to live in Arundel. The minister's house stood at the head of Folly Harbor (#1CP Pier Road). When Prentiss left in 1738, the house remained the property of the town and was lived in by subsequent ministers, including John Hovey, who came in 1741. He, also, owned a slave." - Butler, p. 28

"The Reverend Hovey kept a diary in which the doings of his unruly slave sometimes figured." - Schmidt article

"March 3, 1741, the town voted to give Mr. Hovey, who preached a short time the last year, 'a Call to be a settled Minister here, and to offer him £180 a year Sallery [sic], and the land with the House they had of ye Reverand Mr. Prentice, Mr. Hovey Paying to the Town £150 for it." - Bradbury, p. 141

"Mr. Hovey, who had been the settled minister of the town for twenty seven years, was dismissed in 1768 [after many years of controversy]... After his settlement, he continued to preach for several years to the general satisfaction of the town." - Bradbury, p. 158

"Charles Bradbury owned the diary of his maternal grandfather, the Reverend John Hovey" which inspired Bradbury to write his History of Kennebunk Port. - Butler, p. 57

Bibliography:

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

Kennebunkport - The Evolution of an American Town (Volume I - 1603-1923) - Joyce Butler

Slavery in the Kennebunks - Henrietta Schimdt - 1959 local newspaper article