Col. John Wheelwright (~1664-1745) was a prominent citizen and military leader who enslaved various "negro or molatto servants" and left them in his will to his wife Mary.

John Wheelwright "was a man of war and a host within himself, and was therefore just the man for the times, sent into the world by Providence to assist in protecting the new settlements against the assaults of the French and Indians, and before the close of his life he came to be regarded as the bulwark of Maine against the attacks of the enemies. He was town clerk forty years, also one of the selectmen. Several years he kept a public house. He was a judge of the court of common pleas, judge of probate, and one of the councilors of the Province. In early manhood he was commissioned as a lieutenant of the militia, afterward as a captain, major and colonel....Being a judicious and energetic man, his aid was sought on all occasions by all people." - Bourne, pp. 390-91

Bourne also provides a lengthy account (pp. 276-8) of when John Wheelwright sent "his slave" Sambo to search for missing cows. Sambo was captured by the Indians who had taken the cows, and headed off with him but he escaped and returned.

Court records state that "In an attact at Wells [in 1712], a war party killed Joseph Taylor, attacked the garrison and seized John Wheelwright's Negro man; the latter escaped however before being harmed or carried off." The Court Records of York County, Maine, pp. xxxix-xl

"The will of Col. John Wheelright of Wells, so prominent in the early part of our history, and a worthy member of the Christian church, who died in 1745, contains this item: "In consideration of the love and affection I bear to my beloved wife, I give her all my cattle, and creatures of all kinds, negro or molatto servants." - Bourne, p. 408

"Dinah, a Molatto, brought by John and Mary Wheelwright" was baptized as an infant on June 28, 1741 in the First Church of Wells. The heading states that it is "A Record of Infant Females baptized in the Church at Wells, being brought thereunto by such as were not their Parents, but who have taken the Charge of them."

In his will, Wheelwright left to his wife Mary "all my personal Estate as Household Goods Stock of Cattle and Creatures of all Kinds Negro or Molatto Servants." Sambo may have been one of the "servants" left to Mary. Andrew, Pegg and their children may also have been among the "servants" left to Mary.

The source of the genealogical information herein is FamilySearch.org record KGMQ-GWH, which can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KGMQ-GWH.

John married Mary Snell on January 28, 1689 in Portsmouth, N.H.

Bibliography:

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

York County Registry of Probate

York County Probate Records, Volume Six (1736-1746)

Records of the First Church of Wells, as transcribed in 6 issues of the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 75-76, 1921-22

Province and Court Records of Maine, Volume 5: The court records of York County, Maine, Province of Massachusetts Bay, April 1711-October 1718, from the collections of the Maine Historical Society