The 1790 US Census for Wells lists John Staples with 4 "all other free persons." They may have been people who were formerly enslaved.

In 1781, Staples was one of a group of men "authorized to agree on any bounty which they should judge necessary as further inducement" to recruit soldiers to serve a term of 3 yrs in the Continental Army. Previously, an inducement of "a hundred dollars in silver for a single recruit" had been authorized, but "not a single enlistment was effected." A quota of 28 soldiers from Wells had been called for. - Bourne (pp. 518-519)

Bibliography:

The History of Wells and Kennebunk from the Earliest Settlement to the Year 1820 - by Edward Bourne (1875)

1790 US Census for Wells