1818-01-27 Manumission: Mariah Thomas

Identifier
NJS-EVE-01980
Source
Manumission certificate for Mariah Thomas, by John Sheppard
Slaves in Cumberland County, New Jersey

Manumission certificate for Mariah Thomas, by John Sheppard, January 27, 1818. Archival location: Cumberland County Historical Society. Archive File T2.

"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
On 27 January 1818, a Black woman named Mariah Thomas was manumitted by John Sheppard of Greenwich Township, Cumberland County. The original manumission certificate signed by two Overseers of the Poor of the township and two Justices of the Peace for the County has been preserved at the Cumberland County Historical Society.

The following is a full transcript of the certificate:

"Cumberland County to wit. We do certify on this twenty seventh day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred & eighteen John Sheppard of Greenwich in the county of Cumberland & State of New Jersey brought before us two overseers of the poor of the said township of Greenwich & two of the Justices of the Peace of the said County of Cumberland his slave named Mariah Thomas who on view & examination appears to us to be sound in mind & not under any bodily incapacity of obtaining a support & also is not under the age of twenty one years nor above the age of forty years in witness hereof we have hereunto set our hands the day & year above written

Job Stiles }
Reuben Hunt } Overseers of the poor

James B. Hunt }
John Mulford } Justices of the Peace

[verso]

Certificate
Mariah Thomas

Received January 29th 1818. And recorded in Book C of miscellaneous records in the Clerks office of Cumberland County Page 80

Ebenzr Seeley - Clk"


Additionally, a copy of the manumission deed signed by John Sheppard was entered by the County Clerk into Book C of Miscellaneous Records, page 80. The manumission deed stated that John Sheppard "Have liberated, manumitted, and set free my negro slave called Mariah Thomas, at the age of 21 years or thereabout, and discharge her from all services."
Event Type
Manumission
Date
January 27, 1818
Location of Event
Greenwich (Cumberland County)
Primary Participants

Mariah Thomas (b. ca. 1797)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05518
Role: Manumitted Person
Age: 21
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- John Sheppard
Verbatim description from source:
"negro slave called Mariah Thomas at the age of 21 years or thereabout"
Additional Participants

John Sheppard
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05517
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter

Ebenezer Seeley
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05519
Role: County Clerk

Job Stiles
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05520
Role: Overseer of the Poor
Comment: Overseer of the Poor of Greenwich Township

Reuben Hunt
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05521
Role: Overseer of the Poor
Comment: Overseer of the Poor of Greenwich Township

James B. Hunt
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05489
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Cumberland County

John Mulford
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05522
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Cumberland County
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event