1806-04 Birth: Publius Vergillius Marr
- Identifier
- NJS-EVE-01975
- Source
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Birth record for three Black children, reported by David Sheppard
- Slaves in Cumberland County, New Jersey
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Birth record for three Black children, reported by David Sheppard, September 4, 1813. Archival location: Cumberland County Historical Society. Archive File S39.
"Slaves in Cumberland County, New Jersey," by Carl L. West (transcripts of records from the Cumberland County Courthouse), reproduced as an appendix in: Slavery and the Underground Railroad in Cumberland County, New Jersey, report by Ian Hughes, on file at the Cumberland County Historical Society. - Event Description
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Publius Vergillius Marr was born in April 1806 to an enslaved woman in the household of David Sheppard of Cumberland County.
Although New Jersey law required births of Black children to be reported within 9 months, Sheppard only reported the boy's birth 7 years later on 4 September 1813. The same record included information about two other children. It was recorded by County Clerk Jonathan Holmes in Book C, on page 21. The record did not explicitly state who the mother of Publius Vergillius Marr was. The same record indicated that there were at least two women of childbearing age in David Sheppard's household, named Juno and Violet, and one of them may have been the mother of Publius Vergillius Marr.
Although the Clerk's record did not state the locality, David Sheppard was a well-known resident of Bridgeton with a mansion in the center of town and a separate farm property in Fairfield Township. It can be inferred that the child was born at one of those locations, both of which have been preserved to this day.
The transcript of the record from the County Clerk's Book C, page 21, is as follows:
"This is to certify a female child named Agur was born August 8 1813 by my slave Juno. Also a black boy of my slave Violet named Enoch August 14 1808. Also a negro boy was born in April named Publius Vergillius Marr in the year 1806."
David Sheppard obtained a receipt from the County Clerk. The following is a transcript of the receipt:
"This is to certify that David Sheppard has this day filed in the clerks office in Cumberland County a certificate of the birth of three negro children by the name of Publius Vergillius Marr, Enoch and Agur.
Septem 4th 1813
J. Holmes Clk
NB. This is the first record of this sort on the Books of this County
And there never has been but one besides this braught forward that is not recorded.
[verso]
Rect of the Record of three negro Children
September 1, 1813
J. Homes Clerk
of Court C County" - Event Type
- Birth
- Date
- April 1806
- Primary Participants
-
Publius Vergillius Marr (b. 1806)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05491
Role: Child
Age category: Infant
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- David Sheppard (1757-1827)
Verbatim description from source:
"negro boy...Publius Vergillius Marr" - Additional Participants
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David Sheppard (1757-1827)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05490
Role: EnslaverJonathan Holmes
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05492
Role: County Clerk - Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
