1795-04-16 Manumission: Peter Hill

Identifier
NJS-EVE-01985
Source

Silvio A. Bedini, “Peter Hill, the First African American Clockmaker,” in A Question of Manhood: A Reader in U.S. Black Men’s History and Masculinity, ed. Darlene Clark Hine and Earnestine Jenkins, vol. 1, 2 vols. (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999), 252–73. See manumission record transcribed on p. 258.
Event Description
Peter Hill was manumitted in 1795 when he was 27 years old, with the deed of manumission signed by Joseph Hollinshead on 16 April 1795, and a certificate of manumission issued on 1 May 1795 by two Overseers of the Poor of Burlington Township and two Justices of the Peace of Burlington County following Peter Hill's appearance before the officials together with Hollinshead.

The following is a transcript of the manumission deed and certificate, as transcribed by historian Silvio A. Bedini from Burlington County property records and printed in his biographical essay about Peter Hill's life:

"State of New Jersey. To all whom it may concern I do hereby for myself & my Heirs Manumit and set free my Negro or Mulatto Man Peter Hill aged twenty seven years the 19th of July 1794. — In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my Hand & Seal at Burlington the place of my dwelling the 16th day of April 1795.

Jos. Hollinshead (Seal).
Sealed and delivered in the presence of John Thompson.

County of Burlington — We do hereby certify that on this first day of May A D 1795 Joseph Hollinshead of the Township of Burlington in the County of Burlington brought before us two of the Overseers of the Poor of said Township and two of the Justices of the Peace of said County his slave named Peter Hill who on view and examination appears to us to be sound in mind and not under any bodily incapacity of obtaining a support and also is not under twenty one years of age nor above thirty five. In Witness whereof we have hereunto put our hands the first day of May 1795.

Nath.l Fitz (Seal)} Overseers of the Poor of
Sam.l Stockton (Seal)} the Township of Burlington

W.m Love Junr (Seal)} Justices of the Peace for
Tho.s Adams (Seal)} the County of Burlington."
Event Type
Manumission
Date
April 16, 1795 – May 1, 1795
Location of Event
Burlington
Primary Participants

Peter Hill (1767-1820)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04782
Role: Manumitted Person
Age: 27
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Joseph Hollinshead Jr. (b. 1751)
Verbatim description from source:
"Negro or Mulatto Man Peter Hill aged twenty seven years the 19th of July 1794"
Additional Participants

Joseph Hollinshead Jr. (b. 1751)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05576
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter

Nathaniel Fitz
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05577
Role: Overseer of the Poor
Comment: Overseer of the Poor of Burlington Township

Samuel Stockton
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05578
Role: Overseer of the Poor
Comment: Overseer of the Poor of Burlington Township

William Love Jr.
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05579
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Burlington County

Thomas Adams
Person identifier: NJS-PER-04763
Role: Judge
Comment: Justice of the Peace for Burlington County

John Thompson
Person identifier: NJS-PER-05580
Role: Witness
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event