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1800, Unnamed Black woman [Hardenbergh], Appeal (Resistance)
Item
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Title
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1800, Unnamed Black woman [Hardenbergh], Appeal (Resistance)
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Identifier
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NJS-EVE-00031
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Primary Participant Description (verbatim)
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Negro wench
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Age
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35
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Event Description
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Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh Jr. (1768-1841) advertised a 35-year-old black woman for sale in Somerville, NJ. The ad was first issued on December 16, 1800, and ran for at least 3 months until March 1801, in the local New Brunswick newspaper called the Guardian, Or, New-Brunswick Advertiser. Hardenbergh was the Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Queen's College (later Rutgers) at the time when he placed this ad.
The ad noted that the woman was a cook and was being "sold for no other reason than being dissatisfied with the place of her master’s residence." This suggests a possible act of resistance on the part of the woman; perhaps she appealed to Hardenbergh to sell her to a more favorable location so she could be closer to family. Hardenbergh grew up in Somerville (at the historic site now known as the Old Dutch Parsonage), but he moved to New Brunswick in the late 18th century, and perhaps his move disrupted this woman's family life.
The following is a transcript of the ad, as printed in the March 27, 1801, issue of the newspaper:
"FOR SALE BY the subscriber, a Negro wench, of about thirty five years of age, a good cook, sober and honest, sold for no other reason than being dissatisfied with the place of her master’s residence. Apply to JACOB R. HARDENBERGH. Somerville, Dec. 16, 1800."
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Date
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16 December 1800
Slave sale ad for a 35-year-old woman, by Jacob R. Hardenbergh