1829-07-20 Manumission: Hannibal Simpson

Identifier
NJS-EVE-01846
Source
Somerset County Register of Black Children and Manumissions, Book B, Page 118
Somerset County Register of Black Children and Manumissions, Book B, Page 119

Somerset County Register of Black Children and Manumissions, Book B, Pages 118 and 119. Archival location: Somerset County Clerk's Office. Manumission and Register of Blacks, Book B.
Event Description
Somerset County Register of Black Children and Manumissions, Book B, Page 118, contains a manumission record for Hannibal, who was released from slavery on 20 July 1829 in Montgomery Township. Hannibal was manumitted by Robert Field Stockton, owner of the Morven mansion in Princeton (which was then part of Montgomery Township). The manumission document states that Hannibal was an adult between 21 and 40 years old, but the exact age was not recorded.

The document was entered into the book by the County Clerk (Isaac Southard) on 21 July 1829. The manumission record was signed by the Overseers of the Poor for the township (Cornelius Kershow and Henry Duryea) and Justices of the Peace for Somerset County (William Cruser and Cornelius J. Stryker). Additionally, James S. Green signed as a witness.

The manumission deed and certificate did not record Hannibal's last name or his precise age, but later documents from his life indicate that he went by the name Hannibal Simpson and that he would have been about 27 years old at the time of this manumission event.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
July 20, 1829
Location of Event
Princeton
Montgomery
Primary Participants

Hannibal Simpson (ca. 1802-1869)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04793
Role: Manumitted Person
Age: 27
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Robert Field Stockton (1795-1866)
Verbatim description from source:
"male slave named Hannibal"
Additional Participants

Robert Field Stockton (1795-1866)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04801
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter

Isaac Southard (1783-1850)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-03397
Role: County Clerk

James Sproat Green (1792-1862)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04815
Role: Witness
Comment: witnessed the signature of Robert F. Stockton

Cornelius Kershow
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04208
Role: Overseer of the Poor

Henry Duryea
Person identifier: NJS-PER-03428
Role: Overseer of the Poor

William Cruser
Person identifier: NJS-PER-03014
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Somerset County

Cornelius J. Stryker
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04814
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Somerset County
Record Contributor
Kelsey Heflin
Resource class
Event