1807-04-17 Manumission: Benjamin James

Title

1807-04-17 Manumission: Benjamin James

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00093

Source

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 65

Manumission of Benjamin James (certificate dated 1807-04-17, deed dated 1807-04-17), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 65. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.

Event Description

Benjamin James, aged 25, was manumitted by Samuel Eli of East Windsor, Middlesex County, New Jersey. The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseer of the Poor of East Windsor (Jonathan Brown) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Andrew Rowan, John James) on April 17, 1807. The document stated that Benjamin James 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 was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on April 25, 1807.

Event Type

Legal: Manumission registration

Date

17 April 1807

Location of Event

East Windsor

Primary Participant

Benjamin James (b. 1782)

Enslaver

Samuel Ely

Additional Participant

Andrew Rowan

John James

Jonathan Brown

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)

Participant Details

DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

*** Benjamin James (b. 1782) ***
Role: Emancipated Person
Age: 25
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Samuel Ely
Verbatim description from source:
"negro slave called Benjamin James of the age of twenty five or thereabouts"

==========

DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:

Andrew Rowan
Role: Judge

John James
Role: Judge

Jonathan Brown
Role: Government Official

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

Samuel Ely
Role: Enslaver - Manumitter

Research Guide

Research Guide: Middlesex County Slavery Records

Record Contributor

Isaac Guzmán

Jesse Bayker