New Jersey Slavery Records

New Jersey Slavery Records is a searchable database that documents the history of slavery in our communities using archival sources and digital maps.

You can explore the database in multiple ways:

• EVENTS — this is the main gateway to search and filter data by various criteria, including date, type of event, location, participant name, sex, and age, as well as the name of the enslaver involved
• PERSONS
• ORGANIZATIONS
• PLACES
• SOURCES

To see events by geographic location, you can also use the MAP.

For more detailed guidance, see our Research Guides:

• Understanding the Database explains the various browsing pages.
• Event Types vocabulary outlines the terms used in the database and the kinds of archival documents that are used to add various events.
• Database Scope lists the record sets that we have added to the database so far.
• We also have topical research guides for counties, universities, and records related to the interstate slave trade.

Manifest for the Sloop Thorn

We are expanding our coverage of the notorious slave trading ring organized by Jacob Van Wickle and Charles Morgan in Middlesex County. A new guide by Denise Rompilla provides a detailed, illustrated reading of the manifest for Charles Morgan’s Sloop Thorn, which took 39 enslaved people from Perth Amboy to New Orleans in 1818. The guide also highlights the laws that governed the slave traffic and established the requirements for ship manifests.

Check out Understanding Ship Manifests and the Interstate Slave Trade.

Somerset County Clerk's Records

We have partnered with the Somerset County Clerk's Office to scan all original archival documents held at the Clerk's Office in Somerville and make them accessible to researchers via our website. We published over 1,600 scans, with documents spanning from 1804 to about 1850. These documents include birth certificates and manumissions. Additionally, the records include removal registrations that point to a pattern of human trafficking in Somerset County contemporaneous with Judge Jacob Van Wickle's notorious slave trading ring in nearby Middlesex County.

Undergraduate research assistants Saketh Mandayam and Daniel Dias participated in this project.

Check out our new guide to Somerset County Slavery Records to browse the images.

Runaway Advertisements

We are working to add data about freedom seekers whose stories are documented in runaway advertisements. Undergraduate research assistants Kate Jackson and Xandria McKinley have been combing through newspapers to transcribe advertisements and index the names and locations mentioned. Our partners at the Princeton & Slavery Project also submitted a set of runaway advertisements related to the Princeton area.

To explore these stories, go to the EVENTS browsing page, use the Event Type drop-down menu and select Freedom seeking. This will show you all events where a Black person ran away from their enslaver or broke out of jail. Related event types include Capture and Jailing. When a person was apprehended and imprisoned as a suspected runaway, the jailkeeper would typically publish an advertisement notifying the public of the arrest.

Digital Maps

Our team is now working to create a series of maps that will allow you to explore records by location. Check out our new Map of Events, published in May 2024. This map allows you to filter records by Event Type and provides detailed information about each event.

Showcasing Student Work

Check out the map created by our undergraduate research assistant Saketh Mandayam. This interactive map provides a snapshot of birth, manumission, and freedom seeking events that we have added to the database as of March 2024. It also visualizes population data by county using statistics from the 1800 U.S. Census.

Sussex (and Warren) County Slavery Records

Undergraduate research assistants Daniel Dias and Saketh Mandayam have reviewed and indexed Sussex County birth certificates of enslaved chidlren from digitized microfilm records. Since the territory of present-day Warren County was historically part of Sussex until 1824, records related to Warren County communities are also included in this collection.

Check out the guide to Sussex County Slavery Records for details.

Middlesex County Slavery Records

We have scanned and indexed bound volumes of manumission certificates, removal certificates, and birth records from Middlesex County.

Check out the guide to Middlesex County Slavery Records for details.

Interstate Slave Trade and Kidnapping Documents

We have published a collection of removal certificates and newspaper articles that document kidnappings and human trafficking in New Jersey in the early 19th century. These records highlight the machinations of Judge Jacob Van Wickle's slave trading ring in Middlesex County and the practice of kidnapping Black people in New Jersey for sale to the Southerns states.

Check out Understanding Interstate Slave Trade & Kidnapping Documents for details.

Rutgers and Slavery

We have created a special index for Rutgers affiliates and namesakes and a virtual campus tour related to the themes of the Scarlet and Black project.

Check out our Rutgers & Slavery topic guide for details.