1801-11-30 Manumission: Sharper Roberson

Title

1801-11-30 Manumission: Sharper Roberson

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00058

Source

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 34

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 100

Manumission of Sharper Roberson (certificate dated 1801-11-30, deed dated 1801-11-30), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 34 and 100. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Event Description

The Freeman family of Woodbridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, manumitted two enslaved people on November 30, 1802. Sylvia Bloomfield was manumitted by Israel Freeman. Sharper Roberson (or Robertson), aged 38, was manumitted by Rheuben Freeman at the same time.

The certificate of manumission for Sharper Roberson was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of Woodbridge (Ezekiel Ayers, George Harrison) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (James Bonney, Ichabod Potter) on November 30, 1801. The document stated that Sharper Roberson 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. This manumission certificate was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on June 10, 1802.

A decade later, on April 29, 1811, the Middlesex County Clerk also recorded a copy of the original deed of manumission, which had been signed by Reuben Freeman on November 30, 1801, in the presence of Ichabod Potter and Matthias Freeman.

Event Type

Legal: Manumission registration

Date

30 November 1801

Location of Event

Woodbridge

Related Event

1801-11-30 Manumission: Sylvia Bloomfield

Primary Participant

Sharper Roberson (b. 1763)

Enslaver

Reuben Freeman

Additional Participant

James Bonney

Ichabod Potter

Ezekiel Ayers

George Harrison

Matthias Freeman

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)

Participant Details

DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

*** Sharper Roberson (b. 1763) ***
Role: Emancipated Person
Age: 38
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Reuben Freeman
Verbatim description from source:
"slave named Sharper Roberson; slave named Sharper Robertson"

==========

DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:

James Bonney
Role: Judge

Ichabod Potter
Role: Judge

Ezekiel Ayers
Role: Government Official

George Harrison
Role: Government Official

Matthias Freeman
Role: Witness

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Role: County Clerk

Reuben Freeman
Role: Enslaver - Manumitter

Research Guide

Research Guide: Middlesex County Slavery Records

Record Contributor

Isaac Guzmán

Jesse Bayker