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Stepney Probability Chart - Coggle Diagram
Stepney Probability Chart
Stepney Dies
Were There Any Viruses Recently
What Was the Virus?
Small Pocks
Very Prevalent in the north from 1730-1776
At the time Small Pocks had the highest mortality rate of 18%
one of the outbakes of smallpox was 1764 very near the disappearance of Stepney
Malaria
Malaria was common through out costal towns and major ports
Madison is a costal town making this a viable possibility
Dysentery
Dysentery was extremely common in the south and west
Were these virus near the Graves House?
These Viruses plagued much of America However they were the worst near large costal cities and ports. Madison was close to the water, however, wasn't a missive port
Was Stepney killed by the graves?
Did Stepney do anything before his death that would have incurred the wrath of his enslavers?
He supposedly used "Stepney's Stairs" to exit the Graves house at night.
Stepney would also supposedly be leaving the prime of his life at this point
However, all of Stepneys' account-book entries were normal up until 1762.
Another interesting theory while unlikely is that Stepney got sick with one of these diseases and was too weak to work and it cost money to keep him alive so the Graves just let, or killed Stepney to speed up the process of his demise.
Stepney is killed by someone else
Did stepney have any problems with the people he lived with?
It is very possible that by sneaking out could have created issues with the people he lived with.
These people include
Elias Graves
John Graves II
Could Stepney have made any enemies through out the town?
Stepney could have taken work from another person(freed White Man), and been killed in return.
Did Stepney fight in the French and Indian war?
While we do have records of Stepney working through out much of the war he did disappear about two years before the end of the war
A Stepneys Strong was enlisted and fought with a man with the last name Graves. However, this could be a coincidence.
Stepney Escapes
Where does Stepney Go?
Where were other freed enslaved people going?
Away to other populated areas in hopes of work
New York City for example
They settled in new places
Rawer places in Vermont
Hadem Connecticut
When did Stepney escape?
1760?
1762
1759?
These are the disputed last appearance of Stepneys name in the account book
How does Stepney Escape?
He uses Stepney's Stairs
Stepney would use this set of "Slave Stairs" to sneak out at night. He possibly could have used these to escape this could be why they are so prolific.
While it is possible that the stairs were used as an escape method it is highly unlikely as the date of the oral history is described before the disappearance of Stepney.
Stepney leaves during one of his escapades for the Graves
Stepney was unsupervised during his ventures away from the graves house
He bore a brand of some sort as to not be mistaken for a freedman
Did Stepney have any help escaping?
Who would have helped Stepney escepe?
Ezra Graves
Ezra and Stepney were known to work together on several occasions
Stepney is a graves and belongs to the family enslaving Stepney.
Kate/Kateo
Kate was potentially Stepney's parent of some sort
Kate was proven older then Stepney
Kate was also enslaved to the graves and could have wanted Stepney to escape
What did he do?
Did he merry?
We found marriage records between two mixed people however the name Stepney wasn't used. Instead the name Step was displayed.
Why would the name Step be on the marriage license?
After leaving the the enslavers residence many enslaved people chose to change their names
The marriage license was for Hadem CT
Did he enlist in a war?
A person by the name of "Step" enlisted in the Revolutionary War in 1777
Did he have children?
We found record of a child with two mixed parents who's name was Stepney Strong
Stepney was Freed
If Stepney was freed where would he go?
Hadem or some other part of Connecticut.
The two Steps' found in the 1790 census
In the 1790 census we found two Steps listed in CT
The first Step was from around the area that is now modern Hadem
The second Step was listed in the marriage records, so we know he exists but we don't know where he was living at the time of the Census
The final listing of Stepney was during the Civil War, where he was listed in the same regimont as a man with the last name Graves
After being freed it was common for the enslaved person to change their name, so it is possible for one of the two Steps' listed to be Stepney
Stayed with the Graves
how would Stepney have made money?
He could have partaken in Share Cropping
However this was about 100 years before Share Cropping
Because the most likely places for Stepney to go were populated by other freed people, they could have established their own monetary system.
While many slaves quickly fled from their enslavers, the majority of freedmen stayed with their former enslavers in hopes of reviving work and shelter.
Was the Graves House part of the Under Ground Railroad?
There were several other residences that were part of the Railroad.