1808-09-28 Hire: Will

Title

1808-09-28 Hire: Will

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00032

Source

Abraham Blauvelt, Queen's Building Construction Account Book

Entry 15. Blauvelt, Abraham, Account book, 1794-1809 (MC 720). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Event Description

An enslaved man named Will performed construction labor for the first permanent building for Queen's College (later Rutgers). The building is now known as Old Queens. Will's enslaver Jacob Dunham hired out Will to the college to work at the construction site.

Around September 1808, Will worked to lay the foundation for the building. On September 28, 1808, Abraham Blauvelt, chairman of the Queen's Building Committee, recorded a payment for $5.60 to Jacob Dunham for Will's labor on the foundation. Blauvelt's accounting record does not provide further details, but based on the cost of labor, one might estimate that the payment of $5.60 was for about one to two weeks of work.

Event Type

Commercial transaction: Enslaved hire

Date

28 September 1808

Date Certainty

Approximate

Location of Event

Old Queens Building, New Brunswick

Following Event

1809-11-30 Hire: Will

Primary Participant

Will

Enslaver

Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)

Additional Participant

Abraham Blauvelt (1764-1838)

Participant Details

DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

*** Will ***
Role: Leased Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)
Verbatim description from source:
"negro"

==========

DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:

Abraham Blauvelt (1764-1838)
Role: Hirer

Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)
Role: Enslaver - Lessor
Comment: received payment for Will's labor

Organization

Rutgers University

Record Contributor

Jesse Bayker