Samuel Allinson (1739-1791)

Identifier
NJS-PER-04767
Given Name
Samuel
Family Name
Allinson
Birth Date
1739
Death Date
1791
Sex
Male
Occupation
Legal
Biographical Description
Samuel Allinson was a prominent Quaker abolitionist who lived in Burlington during the Revolutionary era. He was an attorney by profession. He tirelessly advocated for abolition in the late 18th century and was particularly influential in bringing New Jersey Governor William Livingston to the cause.

Archival documents pertaining to his life and his antislavery activities can be found in several repositories in the region.

Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections Library holds the Allinson Family Papers, 1710–1939 (Identifier: HC.MC-968). Some items from that collection have been digitized by Haverford College.

The Burlington County Historical Society holds the Abolition Collection (MSS 5), where some documents are written by (or addressed to) Samuel Allinson, most importantly the Book of Manumissions that Samuel Allinson maintained from 1776 to 1781. The Abolition Collection was fully digitized by the New Jersey Slavery Records team in 2026, and sources related to Allinson will be found at the bottom of his profile here. An additional collection at the Burlington County Historical Society, called the Allinson Collection (MSS 9), has a handful of documents related to Samuel Allinson.
Keywords
white person
Places
Burlington
References

Allinson Family Papers, Identifier: HC.MC-968, TriCollege Libraries Archives & Manuscripts catalog, https://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/5/resources/539.

For an analysis of Samuel Allinson's influence on Governor William Livingston, see James J. Gigantino II, The Ragged Road to Abolition: Slavery and Freedom in New Jersey, 1775-1865 (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014), pp. 27, 34.

This person is represented on the following page(s):
WikiTree: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Allison-2506
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Sources

Author:
Resource class
Agent