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John Smith [Judge of Common Pleas]
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Person Record Title
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John Smith [Judge of Common Pleas]
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Identifier
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NJS-PER-00635
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Given Name
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John
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Family Name
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Smith
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Sex
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Male
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Biographical Description
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John Smith was a Judge of Common Pleas for Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the early 19th century.
In this role he was responsible for approving removal certificates to authorize the movement of enslaved people out of New Jersey to other states. In 1818, he colluded with the corrupt Judge Jacob Van Wickle and his associates who were engaged in a notorious slave trading operation in Middlesex County. Judge Smith signed about a dozen removal certificates that helped Van Wickle and his associates send Black New Jerseyans to the Deep South.
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See also a potentially related record for a man named John Smith [Identifier NJS-PER-00116], who was the Overseer of the Poor of East Windsor in the early 19th century. It is possible that this is the same man. The relationship between these records has not been confirmed.
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Record Contributor
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Jesse Bayker