Prior to the 1820 Missouri Compromise, in which Maine was part of Massachusetts. Congress passed the legislation on March 3, 1820, and President James Monroe signed it into law on March 6, 1820. The 1820 census, conducted later that summer lists Jabin Niles and his family as enslaved. Note that slavery had been abolished on July 8, 1783 with the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling In the Commonwealth v. Jennison Case. It is unknown why the Niles family was listed as enslaved as late as August 1820. Several white families in Castine also have individuals in the right columns under enslaved persons. Jabin Niles is the only person listed as enslaved with his own line in the census.
History of the Niles Family & Neighborhood
