1822-01-16 Manumission: Ambo Harris

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See the Middlesex County Research Guide for information about related records.
Identifier
NJS-EVE-00015
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 351
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 353

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 351, 353. Middlesex County (N.J.). Records, 1688-1929 (MC 784.1). Vol. XI. Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
Slaveholder John Neilson manumitted Ambo Harris on January 16, 1822.

Ambo Harris would have been in her 30s at the time, but her exact age was not recorded on the manumission documents. The manumission certificate refers to her as "female slave named Ambo" and does not list her last name, but other archival documents indicate that her family name by marriage was Harris. The manumission certificate was signed by the Overseer of the Poor of the Township of North Brunswick (Abraham Van Arsdalen) and two Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (James Dunham and Nicholas Booraem Jr.). The original certificate was preserved in the Neilson Family Papers.

A manuscript copy of the manumission certificate for Ambo, dated January 16, 1822, appears on page 351 in the Book of Manumissions for Middlesex County; a copy of John Neilson's deed of manumission for Ambo, dated January 18, 1822, appears on page 353. The documents were recorded in the book by Middlesex County Clerk William P. Deare on January 16, 1822, and January 21, 1822.

Relatedly, John Neilson also manumitted Phillis Neilson on the same day.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
January 16, 1822
Location of Event
North Brunswick
Related Event
1822-01-16 Manumission: Phillis Neilson
Primary Participants

Ambo Harris
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00015
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- John Neilson (1745-1833)
Verbatim description from source:
"female 
slave named Ambo"
Additional Participants

Nicholas Booraem Jr. (1786-1869)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00332
Role: Judge

James Dunham
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00340
Role: Judge

Abraham Van Arsdalen (d. ca. 1825)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00276
Role: Overseer of the Poor

James Neilson (1784-1862)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00009
Role: Witness

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00008
Role: County Clerk

John Neilson (1745-1833)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00001
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event