c. 1753–1784
Cesar Chelor, an enslaved Black toolmaker, learned his craft from his enslaver, Francis Nicholson. After gaining freedom in 1752, Chelor continued making and selling wood planes in Wrentham, Massachusetts. While enslaved, Chelor marked his tools with his enslaver’s name, in line with the standard practice of the time. But as a free man, Chelor began to claim ownership of his work by marking the tools he made with his own name. In this way, some of the craftwork traditionally attributed to enslavers may well have been the products of enslaved laborers. Chelor created thousands of wood planes used by hundreds of Black and white hands, forging a new style of architectural and decorative arts used across New England.
