New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery
- Alternate Name
- New Jersey Abolition Society
- Identifier
- NJS-ORG-00016
- Description
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The New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery was formed in 1793 and dissolved in 1817. It is sometimes referred to, more simply, as the New Jersey Abolition Society. The society advocated for the gradual abolition of slavery and supported the adoption of the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in 1804. The society also encouraged enslavers to individually manumit the people they held in bondage. The state society had several county-level branches, with the Burlington County branch being particularly central to the society's efforts. Many of the members were Quakers.
A collection of archival documents related to the New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and its Burlington County branch is held at the Burlington County Historical Society. It is the Abolition Collection (MSS 5). This collection was digitized by the New Jersey Slavery Records team in the summer of 2026. The collection documents the activities of New Jersey abolitionists, manumissions that took place in Burlington County in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and Black New Jerseyans' attempts to gain freedom through the courts and to bring back loved ones who had been sold away to Southern states.
Additional archival documents related to the society can be found at the Haverford College Quaker and Special Collections in Haverford, Pennsylvania, which holds the New Jersey Society of Promoting the Abolition of Slavery records (HC.MC-975-09-018). Haverford's collection consists of two bound volumes of meeting minutes from the state society and the Burlington County branch. These bound volumes have been digitized by the holding library. - References
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New Jersey Society of Promoting the Abolition of Slavery records, 1793-1809, Identifier HC.MC-975-09-018, TriCollege Libraries Archives & Manuscripts catalog, https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/resources/hcmc-975-09-018.
- Rights
- Image courtesy of Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections. Membership Certificate of the New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery, Allinson Family Papers (HC.MC-968), Local Identifier HC09-10061, Digital PID hc:136540, https://digitalcollections.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/object/hc136540.
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Sources
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New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery created:
- Letter from George Anderson to Robert Smith: Report of Blacks in Nottingham (Letter from George Anderson to Robert Smith: Report of Blacks in Nottingham, February 22, 1798. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Report of Blacks in Burlington and Willingborough (Report of Blacks in Burlington and Willingborough. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Report of Blacks in Chester Township (Report of Blacks in Chester Township, 1797. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Report of Blacks in Evesham and Egg Harbour (Report of Blacks in Evesham and Egg Harbour. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Report of Blacks in Northampton, addressed to Robert Smith Jr of Burlington (Report of Blacks in Northampton, addressed to Robert Smith Jr of Burlington. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Report of Blacks in Springfield and New Hanover (Report of Blacks in Springfield and New Hanover, 1797. Archival location: Burlington County Historical Society. Abolition Collection (MSS 5). Box 1, Folder 1: Negroes Census Records.)
- Linked Persons
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Persons affiliated with New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery:
- Linked Events
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Events related to New Jersey Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery:
- 1797 Registration: enslaved and free Black people in Northampton
- 1797 Registration: enslaved and free Black people in Springfield and New Hanover
- 1797 Registration: free Black people in Evesham
- 1797 Registration: free Black people in Egg Harbour
- 1797 Registration: enslaved people in Chester
- 1797 Registration: free Black people in Willingboro
- 1797 Registration: free Black people in Burlington
- 1797 Registration: English households with enslaved people in Burlington
- 1797 Registration: primarily French households with enslaved people in Burlington
- 1797 Registration: free Black people in Chester
- 1797 Registration: enslaved people in Evesham
- 1798-02-22 Registration: English households with enslaved people in Nottingham
- 1798-02-22 Registration: French households with enslaved people in Nottingham
- 1798-02-22 Registration: free Black people in Nottingham
- 1798-02-22 Registration: 2 indentured men in Nottingham
- Resource class
- Agent