1803-05-03 Manumission: Broffo Bowles

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00069
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 44

Manumission of Broffo Bowles (certificate dated 1803-05-03), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 44. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
Broffo Bowles was manumitted jointly by John Combs and Lewis Combs of South Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, on May 3, 1803.

The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of South Amboy (Matthias Rue, William Toan) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (John Combs, Jacob Suidam) on May 3, 1803. The document stated that Broffo Bowles 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. Broffo Bowles's exact age was not recorded in the document. This manumission was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on May 4, 1803.

Note that the clerk's copy of the certificate of manumission lists one of the manumitters as John Combs and also lists one of the Justices of the Peace as John Combs. It is not entirely clear whether these are two different men, the same man, or an error on the part of the clerk.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
May 3, 1803
Location of Event
South Amboy
Primary Participants

Broffo Bowles
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00514
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- John Combs
- Lewis Combs
Verbatim description from source:
"slave named Broffo Bowles"
Additional Participants

Jacob Suidam
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00080
Role: Judge

John Combs
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00075
Role: Judge

Matthias Rue
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00077
Role: Overseer of the Poor

William Toan
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00078
Role: Overseer of the Poor

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

John Combs
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00075
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter

Lewis Combs
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00076
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event