1809-04-29 Manumission: Abraham Glasgow

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00111
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 83
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 84

Manumission of Abraham Glasgow (certificate dated 1809-04-29, deed dated 1809-05-01), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 83-84. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
Abraham Glasgow was manumitted by Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756-1831) of North Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Andrew Kirkpatrick was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey and a prominent Rutgers trustee.

The certificate of manumission noted that the man was a "slave commonly called Glasgow, but who call himself Abraham Glasgow." The document stated that Abraham Glasgow 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. Abraham Glasgow's exact age was not recorded in the document, however, the judges stated that his aged was confirmed "as manifestly appears from his certificate of baptism, and from his own representation," thus revealing that Abraham Glasgow has been baptized as a child. This 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 (Asa Runyon, Thomas Hance) on April 29, 1809. The certificate was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on the same day.

Two days later, on May 1, 1809, Andrew Kirkpatrick issued a deed of manumission for Glasgow. In this document, Kirkpatrick wrote that he decided to set free Glasgow "especially for and in consideration of his faithful services to me heretofore rendered." This document was witnessed by Anna Maria Bayard and Mary Ann Kirkpatrick and then notarized by judge Jacob Van Wickle. The deed was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk on the same day it was issued.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
April 29, 1809
Location of Event
North Brunswick
Primary Participants

Abraham Glasgow
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00556
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756-1831)
Verbatim description from source:
"slave commonly called Glasgow, but who call himself Abraham Glasgow; negro man"
Additional Participants

Asa Runyon
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00034
Role: Judge

Thomas Hance
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00227
Role: Judge

John Van Nuis
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00054
Role: Overseer of the Poor

Jacob Van Wickle (1770-1854)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00068
Role: Witness

Anna Maria Bayard
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01722
Role: Witness

Mary Ann Kirkpatrick Howe
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01784
Role: Witness

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

Andrew Kirkpatrick (1756-1831)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00006
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event