Lawrence township is located in Mercer County, New Jersey. The township was originally known as Maidenhead, formed in 1697. It was renamed Lawrence in 1816. For most of the slavery era, the township was part of Hunterdon County (until Mercer County was created in 1838). Thus, most records from the slavery era will refer to this area as Maidenhead, Hunterdon County.
In the 19th century, small portions of Lawrence township were moved to Ewing and to Trenton.
The original mansion house of Thomas Lawrence (1744-1823) was constructed in 1794. This is a confirmed site of enslavement as Sussex County records indicate that enslaved people lived in Lawrence's household in the early 19th century. It was located along present-day State Route 94 (Ames Blvd), about two-thirds of a mile west of Main Street.
Thomas's son, also named Thomas, used the foundation of the original mansion to build a new dwelling in 1841. That 1841 house has been preserved and is now on the National Register of Historic Places, known as Lawrence Mansion (NRIS ID 79001522).
Lebanon Township is located in the northernmost section of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, bordering Morris County and Warren County. Note that there are now two separate municipalities in Hunterdon County called Lebanon, the larger Lebanon Township and the smaller Lebanon Borough. Although they are now separate, the borough occupies an area that was originally part of Lebanon Township. Archival documents that mention "Lebanon" could be referring to locations in present-day Lebanon Borough, Lebanon Township, or one of the other surrounding municipalities that were originally part of Lebanon Township.
Lebanon Township was established in the early 18th century, sometime before 1731. The township was originally about three times larger than it is today. Early in Lebanon's history, in 1755, a large portion of its territory was annexed to form Tewksbury Township. In the middle of the 19th century, other municipalities began to break off from Lebanon Township. In 1841, a large portion of Lebanon Township was taken to create Clinton Township (and Lebanon Borough would later break off from Clinton). Smaller parts of Lebanon Township became High Bridge, Junction (now Hampton), Califon, and Glen Gardner. Documents related to slavery in all of these areas will be found among Lebanon Township records since all of them used to be part of Lebanon Township during the slavery era.
Madagascar is a large island off the southeastern coast of Africa. Beginning in the mid-17th century, it was one of the chief places that supplied captives for British slave traders. Madagascar played a particularly important role in the early development of the slave trade in New York and New Jersey. The first slave-trading voyage to drop anchor at Perth Amboy was called the Mariner's Adventure and it brought 114 enslaved Africans from Madagascar in 1686. About a thousand captives in total arrived in the region from Madagascar over the next 35 years, according to the data in the Slave Voyages database.
Manalapan is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The area of present-day Manalapan was part of Freehold Township until 1848, when Manalapan was incorporated as a separate municipality. Consequently, some historical records that mention slavery in Freehold Township are, in fact, referring to the area of present-day Manalapan. The Tennent neighborhood around the Old Tennent Church is the historical center of Manalapan, dating back to the Colonial era.
Mansfield Township in Warren County, New Jersey, is located in the northern part of the state. It was originally formed from portions of the Greenwich Township in 1754. The township was originally known as Mansfield-Woodhouse Township and changed to simply Mansfield in 1798. Originally, the township was part of Sussex County, and Sussex County slavery records contain multiple documents related to people who lived in Mansfield. In 1824, when a large portion of Sussex County broke off to create Warren County, Mansfield became part of Warren County. Throughout the 19th century, portions of Mansfield were taken to create other municipalities in Warren County, including Franklin, Washington, Oxford, and Hackettstown.
Not to be confused with Mansfield Township, Burlington County, in the southern part of New Jersey, which shares the same name.
Mapletown (or Mapleton) was a historical hamlet in South Brunswick Township near the Millstone River, established in the 18th century as a farming community. Present-day Mapleton Road and Mapleton Preserve in South Brunswick get their names from this community.
Matawan is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey. During the era of slavery, this area was known as Middletown Point. The name shifted from Middletown Point to Matawan in the 1850s.
The McCullough House, built in 1784, is on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Asbury Historic District in Franklin Township, Warren County (originally in Sussex County), New Jersey.
A historic marker in front of the house reads:
"1784
McCullough House
Built by Rev. War Colonel, Judge & Friend of Asbury. Wm. McCullough. Barn was early Methodist meeting place. Later owned by Thom. McElrath, co-owner of Greeley's Tribune."
This house may have been a historical site of enslavement. See related records for Colonel William McCullough.
Mercer County has the most complex boundary formation history among New Jersey's counties, and researchers of slavery in this area are encouraged to consult archival records related to the four surrounding counties which gave their territory to form Mercer in 1838. Mercer County was created by annexing Trenton, Princeton, and their surrounding areas from four separate counties that intersected in the vicinity of Assumpink Creek. Sections were taken from Hunterdon County (where Trenton was originally located), Somerset and Middlesex Counties (area surrounding Princeton), as well as Burlington County (area south of Trenton along the Delaware River).
See Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, and Burlington for more complete information about demographics and slavery in the area.
Historically, the community of Mill Hill was considered the county seat of Mercer County. Mill Hill has been annexed by Trenton and is now a neighborhood in the city.
Middlebrook is an unincorporated historical community located within present-day Bound Brook (and partly in Bridgewater) in Somerset County. It gets its name from the stream called Middle Brook, a tributary of the Raritan River.
Middlesex County was one of the original counties created in New Jersey in the 17th century. It is located at the mouth of the Raritan River across from Staten Island, New York. Many communities in the county were originally established by Dutch settlers. The City of New Brunswick is the county seat and the location of Rutgers University's historic campus (established in 1766 as Queen's College). Another important city in Middlesex is Perth Amboy, which served as New Jersey's main slave trading port since the 1680s.
Middlesex County slavery records for the early 19th century (birth, manumission, and removal certificates) are housed at Special Collections and University Archives at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. These records have been digitized and indexed by the Scarlet and Black research team and have been integrated into the New Jersey Slavery Records database. For details about these records, see our Middlesex County Slavery Records research guide, linked under Related Resources.
Note that, prior to 1850, Albany Street in New Brunswick served as the county boundary between Middlesex and Somerset, and thus the City of New Brunswick was actually split in half. A portion of the city (most of today's downtown) was located in Middlesex County and another portion (including all of the Rutgers College Avenue Campus) was officially in Somerset County. This situation was remedied in 1850 when the county boundary was redrawn to move all of New Brunswick into Middlesex County. But due to this history, researchers looking for slavery era records linked to Rutgers University's historic campus on College Avenue are encouraged to consult Somerset County records, which will contain many documents related to Rutgers affiliates.
Additionally, Middlesex County borders shifted in 1838 when a portion of the county around West Windsor and Princeton was annexed to form the new Mercer County. Middlesex County records contain many documents related to the West Windsor and Princeton area.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Middlesex County had 1,827 Black residents, making it the 4th in the state by Black population. The number of enslaved persons in the county was 1,564, with 85.6% of the Black residents living in slavery. In terms of population percentages, Middlesex County figures closely resembled Monmouth: 10.2% of Middlesex residents were Black, and 8.7% of Middlesex residents were enslaved. Middlesex had 263 free Black residents (14.4% of the Black population or 1.5% of the total population of the county). The total population of the county was 17,890, ranking 6th among New Jersey's 13 counties by population.
Established in the 18th century, the Middlesex County jail was located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on Prince Street (now Bayard Street), between George Street and Queen Street (now Neilson Street). It is typically called "Middlesex gaol" in primary sources from that period.
Mill Hill is a historic neighborhood in the downtown area of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. It was originally part of Nottingham Township in Burlington County since the Colonial era. Mill Hill was near Trenton, but was not part of the city until 1851. Historical records from the early 19th century typically refer to the area as "Mill-Hill, near Trenton."
In 1838, when Mercer County was first established, Nottingham Township became part of Mercer. The county courthouse was built at Broad and Market Streets in the Mill Hill section of the township, and thus Mill Hill was considered the county seat of the new Mercer County. By 1851, Mill Hill became part of Trenton.
Millstone is a borough located along the Millstone River in Somerset County, New Jersey. This community originally developed as a village within Hillsborough Township during the Colonial era. From 1738 to 1782, this village was the seat of Somerset County and the location of the county courthouse. Because of this, 18th-century documents typically refer to this village as "Somerset Court House." It later became known as Millstone. Millstone officially separated from Hillsborough Township in 1894.
Not to be confused with Millstone Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Monmouth County is located in the central part of New Jersey on the Atlantic Ocean and just south of the Raritan Bay. Freehold is the county seat. Monmouth was one of the original counties formed in the colonial era, and its first municipalities were Freehold, Middletown, and Shrewsbury. Monmouth County's earliest British settlers relied heavily on slavery in the 17th century, and Monmouth had one of the largest enslaved populations in New Jersey well into the 19th century. The county was originally twice as large as it is today until the southern portion of the county was split off to form the new Ocean County in 1850. Thus, slavery era records that mention Monmouth County may be referring to places actually located in the present-day Ocean County.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Monmouth had the second highest Black population in the state (2,101), after Bergen County. In terms of the number of enslaved persons, Monmouth was third in the state (after Bergen and Somerset) with 1,633 enslaved residents. In terms of population percentages, Monmouth's figures closely resembled Middlesex County: 10.6% of Monmouth residents were Black, and 8.2% of Monmouth residents were enslaved. A little over 3/4 of Monmouth Black residents were living in slavery (77.7%). Monmouth had 468 free Black residents (representing 22.3% of the Black population or 2.4% of the total population of the county). The total population of the county was 19,872, making Monmouth the 5th most populous county among New Jersey's 13 counties.
Montague is a township in Sussex County, New Jersey, located in the state's northwesternmost corner on the Delaware River and bordering the states of New York and Pennsylvania.
Montgomery Township is located in Somerset County, New Jersey. It was originally known as the Western Precinct of Somerset County, and its borders extended to Nassau Street in present-day Princeton. The township was incorporated in 1798. Portions of the township were broken off to form parts of present-day Princeton in 1813 and in 1838. Thus some early 19th-century records that list "Montgomery Township" as the location are actually referring to places in present-day Princeton.
Morganza is a village in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. It takes its name from the Morganza Plantation, which was established in the antebellum period by Charles Morgan who migrated from South Amboy, NJ, to Louisiana.
Morris County is located in the northern part of New Jersey west of the Passaic River. Morristown serves as its county seat. The county was formed in 1739 from a large northwestern portion of New Jersey that was formerly considered part of Hunterdon County. The original territory of Morris County included the entire area that would later be5come Sussex and Warren Counties along the Delaware River, but these boundaries were only in effect for 14 years until that area was separated from Morris County in 1753. Morris County borders have not changed since 1753.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Morris County had 875 Black residents, ranking 8th in the state by Black population. The number of enslaved persons in the county was 775. In terms of population percentages, 4.9% of the residents were Black, and 4.4% of the residents were enslaved. About 88.6% of the county's Black residents were living in slavery, while 11.4% of Black residents were free; this percentage breakdown closely resembles the nearby counties of Essex and Middlesex. Morris county had 100 free Black residents, representing only 0.6% of the county's total population. The total population of the county was 17,750, ranking 7th in the state.
Morristown is a town and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey. It originally developed as a village called New Hanover in the early 18th century, when this area was still part of Hunterdon County. When Morris County separated from Hunterdon in 1739, this village was selected as the county seat and became known as Morristown.
Natchez is a city in Adams County, Mississippi. It is located on the Mississippi River and played a central role in the development of the plantation economy in the area in the antebellum period.
The City of New Brunswick is the original location of Queen's College, which was chartered in 1766 and renamed Rutgers in 1825. Today, New Brunswick is home to the largest campus of Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
The city was formed by royal charter in 1730. From its founding up until the 1850s, the city straddled the border between Somerset County and Middlesex County, and portions of the city were considered to be in different townships and in different counties. The county border ran down the road known today as Albany Street in New Brunswick. The area around present-day College Avenue was considered to be in Somerset County (in Franklin Township), and some documents related to slavery in this area will be found among Somerset County records. The area of the city that was in Middlesex County (including downtown and the present-day Douglass Campus of Rutgers University) was considered to be part of North Brunswick Township, and early 19th-century records often refer to this area as "the City of New Brunswick in the Township of North Brunswick."
New Hampton is an unincorporated historic community located within Lebanon Township in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. New Hampton Historic District, where several 18th-century buildings have been preserved, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Penitentiary House in Trenton was erected in 1798 as the first state prison in New Jersey. It was the third correctional facility established in the United States (following the prisons in Philadelphia and New York). Today the historic Penitentiary House remains part of the New Jersey State Prison complex, an active men's correctional facility. The complex also includes the Fortress Penitentiary, which was completed in 1836, and the contemporary prison facility that was added in 1982.
This is not to be confused with the "Trenton gaol" which was part of the Hunterdon County Court House and functioned as the county jail since about 1721. The county jail was the facility where suspected runaways from slavery were typically held.
Largest city in the United States. Established by the Dutch West India Company in 1624 as New Amsterdam on an island known to the indigenous Lenape inhabitants as Mannahatta. Renamed New York under British rule in 1664. Capital of the United States from 1785 to 1790. Historically, New York City encompassed only Manhattan Island (New York County), and records referring to New York City in the 18th and 19th centuries refer only to Manhattan locations. The city was consolidated with Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island in 1898.
Newark is the largest city in New Jersey and the seat of Essex County. It was formed as Newark Township in 1693 and was originally much larger than it is today. Almost the entire territory of modern-day Essex County (excluding Livingston and Millburn) was originally considered to be part of Newark Township, but many surrounding municipalities broke off from Newark over time. The township became Newark City in 1836.
The town of Newton is the county seat of Sussex County, New Jersey. It was known as New Town or Newtown in the 18th century, and was officially changed to Newton in 1825.
The Newtown gaol (or jail) was located on State Street in Newtown, Bucks County, PA. It was built in the 18th century. Notices for runaways held at the Newtown jail sometimes appeared in Trenton newspapers in the 19th century.
Newtown is a historic community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was founded by William Penn in 1684. The historic center of Newtown is now known as Newtown borough, which is surrounded entirely by the larger Newtown Township. The borough was incorporated as a separate municipality in 1838.
Not to be confused with Newton in Sussex County, New Jersey, which was also originally known as Newtown (and was changed to Newton in 1825). Articles published in Trenton-area newspapers that reference Newtown are assumed to refer to Newtown, PA, which is close to Trenton.
North Branch is an unincorporated community in Somerset County, NJ. The North Branch Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, includes the 18th century Jacob Ten Eyck house and other examples of 18th and 19th century agricultural architecture.
North Brunswick is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. In the late 18th century, the area was known as "North Ward of New Brunswick" or "Northward of New Brunswick." North Brunswick Township was incorporated in 1798. The township was originally about three times larger than it is today. A large portion of the City of New Brunswick (including downtown and the present-day Douglass Campus of Rutgers University) was considered to lie within the borders of North Brunswick Township until the 1850s. Since the middle of the 19th century, several additional municipalities were formed from portions of the North Brunswick Township reducing its size.
The following modern-day municipalities were part of North Brunswick Township during the era of slavery: East Brunswick, South River, and Milltown. For this reason, documents related to slavery in these locations may be found among North Brunswick records.
Ocean County is located along the Jersey Shore and borders Monmouth County to the north and Burlington County to the west. The county seat is Toms River. Ocean County was created in 1850 from the southern half of Monmouth County. Because of its late county creation and Ocean's former inclusion in Monmouth County, slavery records for this area are primarily to be found among Monmouth County documents.
See the related Monmouth County record for area demographics and events related to slavery.
The Old Dutch Parsonage is an 18th-century historic house that was built in the area now known as Finderne in Bridgewater Township (in the Colonial era, this area was known as Raritan, not to be confused with the present-day borough of Raritan). The parsonage originally stood near the place where the railroad now crosses Finderne Avenue. In the early 20th century, to make way for the railroad and preserve the historic house, the Old Dutch Parsonage was moved west from its original location. It is now located near the Wallace House on Somerset Street in nearby Somerville. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The house was built in 1751 for the Dutch Reformed minister, the Rev. Johannes (John) Frelinghuysen, who pastored three congregations in the area. Frelinghuysen is considered an important figure in the developments that led to the founding of Queen's College (now Rutgers University), and although he died before the college officially received its charter, he is considered a progenitor of the college because he began educating future Dutch Reformed ministers in his home. It was here at the Old Dutch Parsonage that Frelinghuysen delivered theological instruction, most notably educating Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh who would go on to become the first president of Queen's College. After the Rev. Johannes Frelinghuysen died in 1754, Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh took over his churches, married Frelinghuysen's widow Dina Van Bergh, and moved into the Old Dutch Parsonage as his residence.
An essay about the Old Dutch Parsonage by Caroline J. Otis in the July 1913 issue of the Somerset County Historical Quarterly described the house this way:
"A very substantial 'Dominie's House' was this, with its firm stone foundation, strong brick walls and great chimneys. The slave-quarters were in the cellar, where two wide fire-places and the large oven would seem to indicate that the life of a pioneer missionary in the wilds of America was not all privation and discomfort."
The house is a historical site of enslavement. Various letters sent by Dina Van Bergh and Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh in the mid-18th century make mention of Black workers, but the names of the enslaved people who labored in their household are not known.
One very famous Black man who may have spent time at the Old Dutch Parsonage was Ukawsaw Gronniosaw who published his autobiography in England in 1772. His narrative was the first such book to be published by an author of African descent in England, and it traced his life experiences from Africa (where he was captured and enslaved) to New Jersey and then to Europe. In New Jersey, Gronniosaw was bought by the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen (1691-1747), who was the father of the aforementioned Johannes Frelinghuysen. Gronniosaw was manumitted by the elder Frelinghuysen on his deathbed, but Gronniosaw continued working for several of Frelinghuysen's sons in the 1750s. It is not known exactly where he lived after the death of the elder Rev. Frelinghuysen, but there is a possibility that he would have spent some time working at Johannes Frelinghuysen's home, i.e. at the Old Dutch Parsonage.
Note that the coordinates for the Old Dutch Parsonage in the New Jersey Slavery Records database (and the associated map) represent the approximate ORIGINAL location of the dwelling, rather than its present-day location. The coordinates for the approximate original location are: 40.559784, -74.580385. The present-day location coordinates are: 40.569661, -74.622081.
Old Queens was the first building constructed for Queen's College (now Rutgers University). For the first forty years since the founding of the college in 1766, instruction took place at a local tavern and in the homes of the school's patrons. By 1808, the college finally raised enough money for the construction of its first permanent building. Rutgers history books (and the historical plaques posted around Old Queens) assert that construction began in April 1809 when President Ira Condict ceremoniously laid the cornerstone for the building. But this story obscures the hard labor that was necessary before the president could lay the cornerstone with all the pomp and circumstance proper for such a momentous occasion.
In fact, construction workers, including enslaved laborers, broke ground on the building in the summer of 1808. Among those who toiled to lay the foundation for the building was an enslaved man named Will, and the nearby walkway was named Will's Way in his honor in 2017.
Old Queens now houses central administration offices, including the Office of the Chancellor of Rutgers University–New Brunswick. It is called Old Queens because the school was known as Queen’s College from 1766 until 1825, when it was renamed for Henry Rutgers. This building originally served as the residence hall, classroom space, library, and offices all in one.
Ouachita Parish is located in Louisiana. The term "parish" in Louisiana denotes a geographic region similar to a "county" in other U.S. states. Monroe is the parish seat.
Oxford is a township in Warren County formed from portions of Greenwich Township on May 30, 1754, while it was still a part of Sussex County. It was officially added to the newly formed Warren County on November 20, 1824.
Passaic County is located in northern New Jersey and is part of the New York metropolitan area. Its county seat is Paterson. The county was created in 1837 from former portions of Bergen County and Essex County. Due to this history and the county's late creation, slavery-era records for this area will be found among Bergen County and Essex County documents.
See the linked records for Bergen County and Essex County for information about the demographics of this area, which had a large enslaved population well into the 19th century.
The Perth Amboy City Hall was used as a courthouse and jail in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Provincial Assembly of New Jersey met here until 1775. Black people who were arrested as fugitives from slavery were held at the jail.
This site is also known as the place where, on March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson became the first African American to vote in an election under the provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The City Hall building was originally erected in the 1710s and was rebuilt multiple times after fires and expanded over the centuries to house the municipal government. Some of the 18th-century structure remains, and the building is still in active use. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Peter Windamute (1752-1830) built a stone house around 1791 in Stillwater. Sussex County records indicate that Peter held Black people in slavery in his household in the early 19th century.
Peter was the son of Johan Georg Windemuth, one of the German founders of Stillwater. The family is more commonly known as Wintermute in the Stillwater area (the family name spelling has many variations).
Peter's historic house is largely intact and is now part of a private property known as Bonnie Brook Farm. It is located on Route 521 (Maple Avenue) near the Old Stillwater Cemetery.
Piscataway is a township located north of the Raritan River in the northwestern part of Middlesex County, New Jersey. Its history is closely linked with the City of New Brunswick across the river, and it is home to
Livingston Campus and Busch Campus, which are part of Rutgers University–New Brunswick.
Piscataway was formed in 1693 and is one of the oldest townships in New Jersey. During the slavery era, Piscataway was larger than it is today. The communities of present-day South Plainfield, Middlesex Borough, Dunellen, Highland Park, and the western portion of Edison were all part of Piscataway until after the Civil War. Thus, records documenting slavery in these surrounding communities may be found under Piscataway.
Pittstown is an unincorporated community located within Hunterdon County, in the area where Alexandria, Franklin and Union townships intersect. Some historical records refer to this locality as Pitts Down.
Plainsboro is a township in the southern part of Middlesex County, New Jersey. It did not exist as a separate municipality during the slavery era. Plainsboro was created in 1919 from portions of South Brunswick and Cranbury townships, and records related to slavery in the area of present-day Plainsboro would be found among South Brunswick and Cranbury records.
Pointe Coupee Parish is located in Louisiana. The term "parish" in Louisiana denotes a geographic region similar to a "county" in other U.S. states. New Roads is the parish seat.
Preakness is an unincorporated community located within Wayne Township in Passaic County, New Jersey. The Lenape name Preakness (with countless spelling variations) has been associated with the surrounding area for centuries and predates European settlement in the area.
President's House (also known as Maclean House) is part of Princeton University's campus. The Alumni Association of Princeton University currently occupies the building.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was erected in 1756 and served as the primary residence for the university's presidents until 1878. At least five presidents held Black people in bondage while they lived at the house. The Princeton & Slavery Project has conducted extensive research about the Black people who were enslaved here, and their stories are told in the essay "Slavery at the President's House" by R. Isabela Morales.
A memorial plaque commemorating the 16 enslaved people who lived and worked on campus was installed outside of the house in 2019. The following is a transcript of the plaque:
"THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE, 1756-1878
In this house, home to Princeton University's presidents from 1756 to 1878, lived at least sixteen enslaved men, women, and children. All were the personal property of the Presbyterian ministers who served as presidents of this institution.
CAESAR
Household of Aaron Burr, Sr., 1756 to 1757
HARRY
Household of Aaron Burr, Sr., 1757
JOSEPH
Household of Jonathan Edwards, 1758
SUE
Household of Jonathan Edwards, 1758
PEG
Household of Samuel Finley, unknown dates between 1761 and 1766
TWO UNNAMED WOMEN
Household of Samuel Finley, sold from this site in 1766
ONE UNNAMED MAN
Household of Samuel Finley, sold from this site in 1766
THREE UNNAMED CHILDREN
Household of Samuel Finley, sold from this site in 1766
UNNAMED 11- OR 12-YEAR-OLD BOY
Household of Samuel Stanhope Smith (then professor, later president), advertised for sale in 1780
UNNAMED 25-YEAR-OLD MAN
Household of Samuel Stanhope Smith (then professor, later president), advertised for sale in 1784
BETSEY STOCKTON
Household of Ashbel Green, 1812; hired out from 1813-1816; manumitted by 1817; worked for wages in Green's household until 1822
PHOEBE
Household of Ashbel Green, 1813 to unknown date
JOHN
Household of Ashbel Green, 1813 to 1821 or 1822"
Princeton is a municipality in Mercer County and the site of Princeton University's campus. The university was established in 1746 in Elizabeth and then moved to Princeton ten years later in 1756; it was originally called the College of New Jersey and changed its name to Princeton University in 1896.
Due to the history of Princeton's development at the crossroads of Somerset and Middlesex counties, researchers looking for slavery records related to present-day Princeton will need to carefully review database records for Princeton, Montgomery, and West Windsor.
The first European settlement in the area of present-day Princeton was called Stony Brook and was established by Quakers in the 1690s. The community of Princeton was established in the early 18th century, and early records also refer to it as Princetown or Prince's Town. Although the settlement grew in importance after the College of New Jersey relocated to the area in the 1750s, Princeton remained an unincorporated community and did not have its own municipal government until the 19th century. Moreover, present-day Mercer County was not established until 1838. Princeton was originally located at the border between Somerset County and Middlesex County, and many documents related to Princeton before 1838 would be found among the historical records of those two counties. The northern portion of Princeton was originally part of Montgomery Township, Somerset County, and the southern portion of Princeton was part of West Windsor Township, historically in Middlesex County (West Windsor is now in Mercer County).
The downtown area of Princeton was first incorporated as the Borough of Princeton in 1813. The larger surrounding area was incorporated as Princeton Township beginning in 1838, and an additional portion was annexed from West Windsor in 1853. The smaller Borough of Princeton and the larger surrounding Princeton Township existed as distinct municipalities until 2013 when they merged into one entity that occupies the northeast section of Mercer County.
Prospect House is a historic mansion at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, which serves as a private dining club for faculty and staff. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion was erected in 1851 by Thomas Potter when he inherited the Prospect Farm from his father John Potter. The land that once comprised Prospect Farm makes up a significant portion of the Princeton University campus today.
The Potter family had relocated from Georgia to Princeton and purchased Prospect Farm in 1824. The Potters drew immense wealth from the vast plantations they owned in South Carolina and Georgia where hundreds of enslaved people toiled, and they continued investing in Southern plantations after moving to Prospect Farm.
Since the 18th century, Prospect operated as an active farm, with multiple generations of enslaved African Americans held in bondage there. Archival documents, some of which have been described by the Princeton & Slavery Project, confirm the presence of enslaved laborers at Prospect Farm while it was operated by the Morgan family. Accounting records of Col. George Morgan, who bought the farm in 1779, enumerate multiple transactions related to enslaved laborers on his farm. Morgan's records are held by Princeton University Archives and discussed in the "Prospect Farm" story on the Princeton & Slavery website.
Prospect Farm changed hands in 1804 when John I. Craig purchased it from the Morgans. John I. Craig was also an enslaver. During the time when he lived at Prospect Farm, he held in bondage a woman named Esther and her children. Esther gave birth to daughters Elizabeth (1805) and Maria (1807) at Prospect Farm. The birth records for Elizabeth and Maria are found among Middlesex County records for West Windsor Township, which are held by Rutgers Special Collections and University Archives and have been digitized by the Scarlet and Black Research Center (historically this section of Princeton was part of West Windsor, and West Windsor was in turn part of Middlesex County before the creation of Mercer County).
Historically, there have been multiple places called Providence in different parts of Pennsylvania. Providence, Montgomery County, refers to a historical township that was incorporated in 1729 and was originally considered to be part of Philadelphia County until Montgomery County split off in 1784. After 1784, the area around Providence was considered Montgomery County. In 1805, Providence was divided into two separate townships: Upper Providence and Lower Providence.
Rahway is a city in Union County, New Jersey. In the early 19th century, a substantial portion of present-day Rahway was in Middlesex County, in the township of Woodbridge. That section of Rahway was transferred to Union County in 1860.
Throughout New Jersey's history, several different communities have used the name Raritan, and care must be taken not to confuse the locations.
The modern-day borough of Raritan is a small municipality in Somerset County, New Jersey, located on the north side of the Raritan River just west of Somerville. This municipality was originally formed as Raritan town in 1868 and then became a borough in 1948.
It's important to note that the modern borough of Raritan, as we know it, did not exist during the era of slavery. At that time, this area was part of Bridgewater Township. References to "Raritan" in documents from the Colonial era or the early 19th century may actually pertain to other places in the Raritan River Valley. For example, the present-day neighborhood of Finderne in Bridgewater was commonly called Raritan in the Colonial era and was the location of the Reformed Dutch Church of Raritan that was famously pastored by the Rev. Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen. There was also a different place called Raritan Landing, which refers to a river landing in Piscataway, Middlesex County.
In the modern era, there is another municipality called Raritan Township located up the river in Hunterdon County. Additionally, present-day Hazlet Township in Monmouth County used to be known as Raritan Township from 1848 until 1967, when it was renamed Hazlet.
Raritan Landing is an unincorporated historical community in Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey. It developed as a center of trade on the Raritan River in the early 18th century.
Readington is a township located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. It was formed in 1730 from a portion of Amwell Township, and it was originally called Reading Township. Some Colonial era records refer to the area as "Readens Town." After the Revolution, in 1798, it was reincorporated as Readingtown Township, and the "w" was eventually dropped to make Readington.
A small portion of Readington's territory was annexed to the nearby Tewksbury Township in the mid-19th century. Aside from this transfer, Readington's boundaries have remained stable since the Colonial era.
Rocky Hill is the name of a small borough in Somerset County, located near the Millstone River. The borough was incorporated in 1889 from portions of Montgomery Township. The borough is named for the Rocky Hill Ridge, and the surrounding area has been known as Rocky Hill since the colonial era.
The town of Rosendale, NY, gets its name from a 17th century stone house known as Rosendale, which was expanded into a mansion known as Hardenbergh Hall in the 18th century. This was the home of the Hardenbergh family and the place of birth of Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh, the first president of Rutgers.
Salem County is located in the southwestern part of New Jersey on the Delaware River where the river flows into the Delaware Bay. It was one of the original counties formed in the Province of West Jersey in 1681. It was originally about twice as large as it is today until the eastern portion of the county was cut off to form the new Cumberland County in 1748. Salem County boundaries have not changed since 1748. The City of Salem serves as the county seat.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Salem County had 692 Black residents (representing 6.1% of the total county population) and ranked 10th in the state for Black population. The vast majority of the Black residents in the county were free, with 87.7% of Black residents being free and the remaining 12.3% still living in slavery. On this metric of freedom attainment among the county's Black population, Salem ranked 2nd in the state, closely trailing the neighboring Gloucester County (where 91.4% of Black residents were free). Salem led the state on another important metric: with 607 free Black residents, which represented 5.3% of the county's total population, Salem's population had the highest percentage of free Black residents in New Jersey. Enslaved persons numbered 85 (0.7% of the total county population).
Sandyston is a rural township in Sussex County, New Jersey, located on the Delaware River in the northwestern part of the state. It was founded by royal charter on February 26, 1762, from portions of Walpack Township.
Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It was formed from portions of South Amboy Township in 1876. Records related to slavery in the Sayreville area would be found under South Amboy.
Scott's Corner refers to a place in present-day Plainsboro township, where Scotts Corner Road and the Scotts Corner Conservation Area are located, near the township's border with South Brunswick. Historically, this area was all part of South Brunswick until Plainsboro was established as a separate municipality in 1919.
Shrewsbury is a historic community in Monmouth County, New Jersey. When it was originally formed in 1693, Shrewsbury covered an area of nearly 1,000 square miles, including all of the area known as Ocean County today and a large portion of present-day Monmouth County. Throughout the 18th and 19th century, many other municipalities broke off from Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury was further fragmented in the early 20th century, when Shrewsbury Borough broke off from Shrewsbury Township. Therefore records of events that list "Shrewsbury" as the location during the slavery era could be related to present-day Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, or one of the surrounding municipalities that was formerly part of Shrewsbury.
Six Mile Run is the historic name for an unincorporated community located in the area of the stream called Six Mile Run, which is a tributary of the Millstone River. The settlement originally formed around the Six Mile Run Dutch Reformed Church, which was established in 1710. The community of Six Mile Run was formally renamed Franklin Park in 1872, but many landmarks in the area continue to carry on the Six Mile Run name. This historic name is associated with a portion of present-day Franklin Township (Somerset County) and the adjacent sections of North Brunswick and South Brunswick (Middlesex County) along present-day Route 27 (which serves as the county line separating Somerset and Middlesex).
Somerset County is located in the central part of New Jersey, and its county seat is Somerville. It was one of the earliest counties formed during the colonial era in 1688. It later increased in size by annexing a section of Essex County in 1741. In 1838, Somerset County's southern section around the area of Princeton was taken to form a part of the new Mercer County when that county was first created. Additionally, a section of the City of New Brunswick (west of Albany Street) used to be in Somerset County until 1850. Due to this history, Somerset County slavery records include documents related to New Brunswick (which is now fully in Middlesex County) and Princeton (which is now in Mercer County).
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak:
In 1800, Somerset had 2,038 Black residents and was second only to Bergen County in key categories related to Black people and enslavement: second highest percentage of Black residents (15.9%), second largest number of enslaved persons (1,863), second highest enslaved population percentage (14.5% of the total population), and second highest rate of enslavement for Black residents (91.4% of Black residents living in slavery). Somerset had 175 free Black residents (8.6% of the Black population or 1.4% of the total population of the county). The total population of the county was 12,815, ranking 10th among New Jersey's 13 counties by population.
Somerville is a borough located on the north bank of the Raritan River in Somerset County, New Jersey. It has been the county seat since 1782.
Somerville developed as a village within Bridgewater Township in the Colonial era and was originally known as Raritan in the 18th century. By the early 19th century, the name Somerville was in use. Somerville officially separated from Bridgewater in 1863.
Sourland Mountain refers to a ridge in central New Jersey and the surrounding forest.
Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum (located at 189 Hollow Rd., Skillman, NJ) works to preserve and tell the history of the African American community in the Sourland Mountain region going back to the slavery era.
South Bound Brook is a borough in Somerset County, located on the south side of the Raritan River, across from the borough of Bound Brook. During the era of slavery, this community was still part of the larger Franklin Township. It did not function as a separate municipality until around the Civil War era. From 1869 to 1891, this community was known as the town of Bloomington. It then became South Bound Brook town within Franklin Township. It was finally separated from Franklin Township in 1907 as the borough of South Bound Brook.
The South River is a tributary of the Raritan River in Middlesex County, New Jersey.
Communities located along the river include South River (a borough which takes its name from the river), East Brunswick, Sayreville, and Old Bridge.
The borough of South River was established in 1898 and did not exist as a separate municipality during the era of slavery. During the slavery era, the area along the west bank of the South River (present-day municipalities of East Brunswick and South River) was a part of North Brunswick Township, while the area along the east bank (present-day Sayreville and Old Bridge) was part of South Amboy Township.
Spotswood (also historically spelled Spottiswoode or Spottswood) is a community established in the 17th century in Middlesex County. Records from the late 18th century describe Spotswood as part of South Amboy Township (South Amboy then encompassed a much larger area than today).
Spotswood was incorporated as a separate borough in 1908.
Staten Island is the southernmost borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County. It is located across Arthur Kill from New Jersey. It became part of New York City in 1898. Prior to 1898, Richmond County was made up of several separate municipalities, some of which had roots in colonial era villages established by Dutch and English settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Stewartsville is an unincorporated hamlet in Greenwich Township, Warren County, New Jersey. It is named for Thomas Stewart, a Revolutionary War soldier who lived in the area. Thomas Stewart was an enslaver according to Sussex County records (Greenwich was formerly part of Sussex County before Warren County was established).
Stillwater is a rural community in Sussex County, New Jersey. German settlers established Stillwater as a village in the mid-18th century. The village was then within the borders of Hardwick Township. In 1824, Stillwater was incorporated as a separate township and split off from Hardwick. In the early 20th century, portions of Stillwater Township were annexed to Fredon and Walpack townships.
The early German settlers of Stillwater were the Shafer and Wintermute families. Multiple 18th-century dwellings associated with these families have been preserved in Stillwater along Main Street near Paulins Kill. The Shafer family's mill is now on the National Register of Historic Places under the name Casper and Abraham Shafer Grist Mill Complex. A historical marker dedicated to Casper Shafer (1712-1784) stands in front of the 18th-century stone house he built on Main Street.
Stony Brook was the name of the first European settlement in the present-day Princeton area. It was a Quaker settlement.
The stream known as Stony Brook is a Millstone River tributary.
Sussex County is located in the northwestern section of New Jersey, bordering New York to the north and the Delaware River (with Pennsylvania across it) to the west. The county was formed in 1753 and was originally about twice as large as it is today for the first 71 years of its history. In 1824, the southern half of the county was split off to form Warren County. Thus, many slavery era documents related to the area of present-day Warren County can be found among Sussex County records.
County demographics from the 1800 U.S. census, when slavery in New Jersey reached its peak (and note that this description applies to the combined area of Sussex and Warren counties):
In 1800, Sussex County's demographics stood out among New Jersey's 13 counties for its large and overwhelmingly white population, and it was particularly different from other populous counties, most of which relied heavily on slavery and boasted a much higher Black population. Sussex was the most populous county in the state with a total of 22,534 residents. Yet at the same time, it had the lowest proportion of Black population in the state, with only 2.7% of the residents being Black. The county had a total of 616 Black residents, ranking 11th in the state by Black population totals (with only the state's least populous counties of Cape May and Cumberland counting fewer Black residents). The vast majority of the county's Black residents were enslaved, with 83.4% living in slavery, while 16.6% of Black residents were free. Enslaved persons in the county numbered 514 and represented 2.3% of the county's total population. Sussex had 102 free Black residents, meaning that free Black people represented about 0.5% of the total county population (the smallest percentage in the state).
Swartekill was the birthplace of Sojourner Truth. In the 18th century, Swartekill was considered to be in Hurley, and many historical references to Sojourner Truth simply state that she was from Hurley, NY. Due to shifting boundaries in the 19th century, her birthplace is no longer inside the boundaries of present-day Hurley. The place previously known as Swartekill became a part of Rifton, an unincorporated hamlet near Esopus.
Taunton is the county seat of Bristol County, Massachusetts, and is located on the Taunton River. It was founded in 1637 by members of the Plymouth Colony and is one of the oldest cities in the United States.
