Title

1800, Harry Laing, Manumission

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00045

Event Description

Harry Laing was manumitted by Thomas Laing of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of Woodbridge (Richard Wright, Ezekiel Ayers) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Henry Marsh, Ichabod Potter) on May 10, 1800. The document stated that Harry Laing was examined in court and met the eligibility requirements for manumission in New Jersey, i.e. the person was 21 to 40 years old and was "sound in mind and not under any bodily incapacity" of obtaining a livelihood. Harry Laing's exact age was not recorded in the document. This manumission was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk on May 14, 1800.

Dick Laing and Huff Laing were manumitted on the same day by other Laing relatives in what appears to be a group manumission undertaken by the Laing family of Woodbridge.

Event Type

Legal: Manumission registration

Action Status

Completed

Date

10 May 1800

Location

Woodbridge, NJ

Related Event

1800, Huff Laing, Manumission

1800, Dick Laing, Manumission

Primary Participant

Harry Laing

Primary Participant Description (verbatim)

slave named Harry Laing

Sex

Male

Age

Adult

21 to 40

Freedom Status

Transition

Enslaver of Primary Event Participant

Thomas Laing

Officiator

Richard Wright

Ezekiel Ayers

Judge

Henry Marsh

Ichabod Potter

Source

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 13

Manumission of Harry Laing (certificate dated 1800-05-10), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 13. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Record Contributor

Isaac Guzmán

Jesse Bayker