Alexander Carrington

Alexander Carrington was the patriarch of a Black family living in Norwich, Connecticut. Alexander Carrington was born in 1851 in Virginia. His wife, Manzella Jackson (b. 1857) was born in Maryland. It is unknown whether Alexander or Manzella were enslaved. In the 1870s, the family moved to Norwich, Connecticut. They had two children: Nannette Carrington (1887-1977) and Alexander Harrison Carrington (1888-1993). Alexander Carrington Sr. was a cook by profession, and his services were often used for events at halls in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. In 1906, Carrington was offered a job as a cook at the North Hotel in Augusta, Maine, where he worked until 1908, when he returned to Norwich. He died on 30 July 1923.

His life is documented in a scrapbook he kept (Ms 101450) and other family papers (Ms 83879), which are in the Connecticut Museum collection.