Title

1804, Lenah, Manumission

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00080

Event Description

Lenah was manumitted by William Patterson of North Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseer of the Poor of North Brunswick (John Van Nuis) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Abraham Schuyler, Elijah Phillips) on July 2, 1804. The document stated that Lenah 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. Lenah's exact age was not recorded in the document. This manumission was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk on July 3, 1804.

Event Type

Legal: Manumission registration

Action Status

Completed

Date

2 July 1804

Location

North Brunswick, NJ

Primary Participant

Lenah

Primary Participant Description (verbatim)

negro woman slave named Lenah

Sex

Female

Age

Adult

21 to 40

Freedom Status

Transition

Enslaver of Primary Event Participant

William Patterson

Officiator

John Van Nuis

Judge

Abraham Schuyler

Elijah Phillips

Source

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 53

Manumission of Lenah (certificate dated 1804-07-02), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 53. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Author

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)

Record Contributor

Isaac Guzmán

Jesse Bayker