Othello

c. 1746 – 1818

Othello, who had been given his freedom, remained a faithful servant to Colonel Henry Bromfield.

In 1765, there were twelve inhabitants of African descent in Harvard. The majority were probably “servants for life” as enslaved people were then called. Othello, who had been freed, chose to remain in service to Colonel Henry Bromfield, who became a permanent resident of Harvard in 1777.

According to Nourse’s “History of Harvard,” Othello was “an eccentric character, as well known in Harvard as his master.” He was born in Africa, bought in England, and then brought to America about 1760. Later, after being given his freedom, he chose to remain with the Bromfield family and became an inseparable attendant to the colonel. Bromfield’s granddaughter, Margaret Blanchard, wrote that she remembered her grandfather walking to church. “Behind him followed his faithful servant Othello, who had been manumitted but chose to remain in service.” Othello died in 1818, two years before the colonel himself.

Othello’s grave stands by itself in the extreme northwest corner of Harvard’s Center Cemetery, behind the Congregational Church, at least 25 feet from any other grave in the cemetery.

The small slate marker reads: