Ishmael was born about 1746.
He passed away on 27 January 1855 at Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, USA.[1]
Ishmael Titus (says the Springfield Republican) died in Williamstown, Mass., January 27th, 1855, at the extraordinary age of 109 or 110 years. He was born a slave in Virginia, and when Gen. Braddock set out on his ill-fated expedition, the master of Ismael was employed by the Commissary to transport subsistence stores for the army; and, as the wagon was heavily loaded, an additional horse was added to the team, and the boy Ishmael was placed on this third horse as rider; and in that capacity, he followed the army to the scene of its disaster. Like most of the slaves he had no distinct knowledge of his age; but, judging from his recollection of the event, and his own story, he must have been nine or ten years old at the time. His mental faculties were remarkably active for a person of his years, and after the lapse of nearly a century, he was wont to recount the striking impression made upon his young mind by the red coats of the British soldiers, which he supposed were "colored with blood," - unfortunately too true in this instance.[1]
He ran away from his master, and went into the vicinity of Springfield, Mass. about the close of the Revolution, and was then, apparently, thirty-eight or forty years of age. His story has always been consistent, and no one in that place has ever doubted its correctness. His mind seemed more than a match for his body, and physical infirmities crept upon him, until he seemed to realized all the evils which afflicted "Uncle Ned," and, like him, it is to be hoped that he has received his reward.[1]
Town and City Clerks of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Vital and Town Records. Provo, UT: Holbrook Research Institute (Jay and Delene Holbrook). IN: Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
Keyes Danforth, 1895. Boyhood reminiscences: pictures of New England life in the olden times in Williamstown. Gazlay Brothers, New York. 206 p. Available (11/12/2017) at https://archive.org/details/boyhoodreminisce00danf.
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