sentence as a result of being found guilty of cruelty was a fine, 10 pounds and 10 shillings (ten "guineas"), but was suspended until a later date. At the time of the trial, Keen owned at least two hundred acres of land, and in 1712 his estate was valued at an annual worth of 7 pounds. All of the farms in York County were assessed by the government for tax purposes. Keen would not have been one of the wealthiest members of the community, but he was slightly above average in terms of estimated annual income. A fine of 10 pounds and 10 shillings would probably have exceeded the annual value of Keen's estate in 1695, which was likely the contributing factor to Keen's fine being suspended. However, the probate office in 1725, three years after Keen's death in 1722, appraised the total value of Keen's holdings at 705 pounds, which would have been a substantial amount of money. Keen's will details the distribution of lands and other household goods, but does not explicitly refer to any slaves. "Enslaved persons left to sons were often a bequest in entail...Daughters were far more likely to inherit enslaved persons in fee simple, unencumbered by entail." Consequently, if Keen had owned slaves at the time of writing his will, the distribution of the slaves amongst his inheritors would have been detailed rather than including enslaved peoples into the general category of "stock of creatures." Nathaniel Keen wrote his will on October 25, 1722, not long before his death, and at the time did not own any slaves. Rights of slaves in New England Slaves were generally considered property and the laws that governed the property rights over the owners. However, slaves did have some crucial legal rights that differentiated slaves from livestock. "Though in general regarded as property, slaves in some instances were recognized as persons. As a person, the New England slave had a right to life. Although a master might reasonably and moderately correct and chastise his servant or slave, the deliberate murder of his bondsman was a capital crime." There are very few instances in which a slave owner was charged with the murder of a slave. Greene argues that the economics of slavery disincentivizes slave owners from murdering their slaves as the primary cause for the rarity of a slave owner murdering a slave. References 17th-century African-American women 17th-century