It must be pointed out in the very beginning that slavery existed in Connecticut from 1637. This slavery was not Negro slavery, but Indian slavery. Indians taken in the Pequot War of 1637 were given to the colonies as slaves. In 1646 a law was passed by the New England Confederation which authorized the seizure and enslavement of Indians from native villages giving sanctuary to fugitives "either to serve or to be shipped out and exchanged for Negroes as the cause will justly bear".
    Indians proved unsatisfactory as slaves, the prime reason being that they could disappear into a neighboring village and not be recaptured. Negro slavery grew from 1650 on. The largest slaveholder in Connecticut was a Mr. Godfrey Melbone, a wealthy gentleman, a graduate of Oxford and a resident of Brooklyn. He had between fifty and sixty slaves. There were 5,085 Negroes in this state according to a 1744 census.
    According to the town and church records, slavery was not extensive in Oxford. One reason for this may have been its rural nature. The only place where any picture of slavery can be drawn from the records of Oxford is from the records of the Oxford United Church of Christ, Congregational.
    The Congregational Church was the establishment in this State until 1818, and its church rules reflect the general attitude of the state.
    Slavery was based on the Old Testament model, and slaves could sue their masters for freedom, and they were "persons under the law", both civil and religious law. Slaves could hold property and membership in the church. There is no record of any statute denying or limiting the instruction of the Negro in New England's early history.
    The seating of Negro slaves in church in Oxford as well as in the rest of the colony was not so much a racial question as one of social strata. Each group or class possessed clearly defined rights and duties.
    In 1738, the Connecticut Association of Ministers dealt with the question of slave membership in the church.