1801-06-13 Manumission: Cato Stone

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00047
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 23
Archives of New Jersey, Series 1, Vol. 36 (Calendar of Wills, Vol. 7, 1786-1790)

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 23. Archival location: Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. Middlesex County (N.J.). Records, 1688-1929 (MC 784.1). Vol. XI.

Hutchinson, Elmer T., ed. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey. Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series. Vol. 36. Calendar of Wills, Vol. 7, 1786-1790. Trenton, NJ: MacCrellish and Quigley, 1941. See p. 216, Abstract of Will for William Stone, Woodbridge, NJ, August 24, 1787, proved October 14, 1788.
Event Description
Cato Stone was manumitted by Thomas Edgar, one of the executors of the estate of William Stone (1700–1788). The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of Woodbridge (George Harrison, Ezekiel Ayers) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Ichabod Potter, Jeremiah Manning) on June 13, 1801. The document stated that Cato Stone 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. Cato Stone's exact age was not recorded in the document. This manumission was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on June 17, 1801.

The certificate of manumission described Cato Stone as "slave named Cato Stone late a slave of the said William Stone decd [deceased] and by his will left to be set free."

The abstract of the will of William Stone (published in the Calendar of Wills, Vol. 7, 1786-1790) does not mention any enslaved persons; however, it is possible that the abstract is incomplete. The will was written on August 24, 1787, and William Stone died circa September 1788. Thirteen years passed between the death of William Stone and the manumission of Cato Stone.
Event Type
Manumission
Keywords
Estate (deceased enslaver)
Date
June 13, 1801
Location of Event
Woodbridge
Primary Participants

Cato Stone
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00442
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- William Stone (1700-1788)
Verbatim description from source:
"slave named Cato Stone late a slave of the said William Stone decd and by his will left to be set free"
Additional Participants

Ichabod Potter
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00032
Role: Judge

Jeremiah Manning (1736-1803)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00031
Role: Judge

George Harrison
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00027
Role: Overseer of the Poor

Ezekiel Ayers
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00028
Role: Overseer of the Poor

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00008
Role: County Clerk

William Stone (1700-1788)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00023
Role: Enslaver, Deceased

Thomas Edgar (1746-1812)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01341
Role: Executor or Administrator
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event