Jenny Slew was born about 1719 as the child of a free white woman and a black slave. She lived her life as a free woman until 1762 when she was illegally enslaved by John Whipple. Jenny Slew is believed to be the first person held as a slave to be granted freedom through trial by jury.
Author: Gordon Harris
Gordon Harris is a local historian living in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and publisher of the Historic Ipswich site. Follow him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordonrharris/
Crane Beach
Destination Ipswich: Strawberry Hill and Greenwood Farm
Take a walk with us at Strawberry Hill, an Ipswich open space property with a meadow trail that takes you to Smith's Island, a small elevated area in the Great Marsh. Across Jeffreys Neck Road from Strawberry Hill is Greenwood Farm, a Trustees of Reservation Properties that features an early 18th Century house and the abutments of the old road that connected the farm to Newmarch St.















