He was memorialized in New York, Philadelphia and London as well as Westport upon his death in 1817.
Michael Wainer, son of a Native American woman and probably a Native American man, was born in 1748 in either Dartmouth or Martha’s Vineyard. In 1772 he married Mary Slocum, daughter of Cuff and Ruth Slocum and sister of Paul Cuffe, bought property and established a tanning/shoemaking business in Russells Mills in 1776, partnered with Paul Cuffe in building ships and coastal trading (1785-1800), bought the 100-acre former Eddy homestead on Drift Road in Westport in 1800 and resided there until his death in 1815. Six of his sons sailed on and captained the ships owned by their father and Paul Cuffe, including the trips to Sierra Leone. The sites on this Heritage Trail were important in their lives.