Peter (b. ca. 1801)
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This person of African descent has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
This person was a victim of a notorious slave trading ring in New Jersey. To learn more about the scheme, see our guide to the Van Wickle Slave Trading Ring.
- Identifier
- NJS-PER-00699
- Given Name
- Peter
- Birth Date
- 1801
- Sex
- Male
- Biographical Description
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Peter was one of the victims of Jacob Van Wickle's slave trading ring in Middlesex County, New Jersey, in 1818. The legal documents related to the removal of Peter from the state of New Jersey to Louisiana suggest that he was born around 1801 and was aged 17 at the time of these events. These documents also list Peter as an indentured servant who had a remaining term of servitude of 11 years, suggesting that he was eligible for emancipation at age 28.
Based on this projected 28-year term of servitude, it appears that Peter was most likely born to an enslaved mother in New York, or possibly in Pennsylvania, where male children born in 1801 were eligible for emancipation at age 28 under the gradual abolition laws of those states (Peter's peers in New Jersey were enslaved for life as New Jersey did not pass a gradual abolition law until 1804).
However, by taking Peter to Louisiana, the Van Wickle slave trading ring effectively deprived him of his right to freedom at age 28 because enforcing his legal rights under northern gradual abolition laws would be nearly impossible in the Deep South. - Keywords
- African descent person
- Van Wickle victims
- trafficked South
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Events
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Primary Participant in:
- 1818-05-22 Removal Registration: Peter (Role: Relocated Person)
- Resource class
- Agent