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1803, Charles Hawkins, Manumission
Item
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Title
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1803, Charles Hawkins, Manumission
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Identifier
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NJS-EVE-00066
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Event Description
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Charles Hawkins was manumitted by Abel Slayback and Jesse Slayback of West Windsor, New Jersey, on January 27, 1803. It appears that Abel Slayback and Jesse Slayback jointly held legal ownership over Hawkins, and they appeared jointly before the court in order to manumit Hawkins.
The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of West Windsor (John Jones, Elijah Voorhees) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Jonathan Combs, Daniel Agnew) on January 27, 1803. The document stated that Charles Hawkins 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. Charles Hawkins's exact age was not recorded in the document. This manumission was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on February 5, 1803.
West Windsor was part of Middlesex County at this time, but it would later become part of Mercer County in 1838.
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Date
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27 January 1803
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Primary Participant Description (verbatim)
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their slave named Charles Hawkins
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Sex
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Male
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Age
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Adult
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21 to 40
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Source
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 42
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Manumission of Charles Hawkins (certificate dated 1803-01-27), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 42. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
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Record Contributor
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Isaac Guzmán
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Jesse Bayker