Tom was an enslaved American Indian boy born in about 1694. Tom may have been Tuscarora, as his enslaver, William Hancock, lived near that tribe's village of Heeruta on the Neuse River. In 1702 William Frayly sued Hancock in court, claiming that Hancock had promised to transfer the ownership of Tom over to Frayly, but had not yet done so. The outcome of the case was not recorded. Any further records about this individual have not been located.