1808-09-28 Enslaved Hire: Will

Identifier
NJS-EVE-00032
Source
Abraham Blauvelt, Queen's Building Construction Account Book

Blauvelt, Abraham, Account book, 1794-1809 (MC 720). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. See entry 15.
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
Enslaved Hire
Date
September 28, 1808
Date Certainty
Approximate
Location of Event
Old Queens Building, New Brunswick
Following Event
1809-11-30 Enslaved Hire: Will
Primary Participants

Will
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00372
Role: Leased Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)
Verbatim description from source:
"negro"
Additional Participants

Abraham Blauvelt (1764-1838)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00371
Role: Hirer

Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00373
Role: Enslaver, Lessor
Comment: received payment for Will's labor
Organization
Rutgers University
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event