1822-01-16 Manumission: Phillis Neilson

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See the Middlesex County Research Guide for information about related records.
Identifier
NJS-EVE-00019
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 351
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 352

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 351-352. 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 Phillis Neilson on January 16, 1822.

Phillis's exact age was not recorded on the manumission certificate, which noted only that she was not over 40 years old as required by New Jersey's law regulating manumissions. Since we know that Phillis was born before 1787 when she was sold with her mother to John Neilson, we can calculate that Phillis would have been between 35 and 40 years old at the time of the manumission in 1822.

Only Phillis's first name was recorded on the manumission certificate, but other archival documents from the African Association of New Brunswick indicate that she used the last name Neilson (or Nelson) in the 1820s.

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 Phillis, 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 Phillis, dated January 18, 1822, appears on page 352. 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 Ambo Harris on the same day.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
January 16, 1822
Location of Event
North Brunswick
Related Event
1822-01-16 Manumission: Ambo Harris
Primary Participants

Phillis Neilson
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00002
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- John Neilson (1745-1833)
Verbatim description from source:
"female slave named Phillis"
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