Wiki but true:  "Anthony Johnson (b. c. 1600 – d. 1670) was a black Angolan who achieved freedom in the early 17th-century Colony of Virginia after serving his term of indenture. He became a property owner that owned slaves, and was one of the first people in Virginia to have his right to own a slave legally recognized." Johnson was also supposedly one of the first Black men brought to the colonies.  28% of Blacks in NOLA were slave owners. It was not common but it happened across the country.