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Title
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1818-02-26 Removal: Rachel, Rozenah
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Identifier
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NJS-EVE-00209
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Event Description
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A removal certificate authorizing enslaver Nicholas Van Wickle to remove Rachel, an enslaved woman aged 22, together with her infant daughter Rozenah, aged 6 weeks, from the State of New Jersey, was issued by the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County on February 26, 1818. The certificate was signed by two judges (Jacob Van Wickle and John Outcalt). The document stated that Rachel was examined by the judges and consented to move with Nicholas Van Wickle from Middlesex County, NJ, to Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, there to serve Nicholas Van Wickle and Charles Morgan or either of them (although only Nicholas Van Wickle appeared in court according to the certificate). The certificate was recorded by the County Clerk (William P. Deare) on May 20, 1818.
Rachel and Rozenah were two of the victims of the slave trading ring that revolved around Judge Jacob Van Wickle. Van Wickle and his associates exploited loopholes in New Jersey law in order to enrich themselves through the interstate slave trade. In 1818, Van Wickle falsified many removal certificates, signing the certificates without the consent of the enslaved people named in the documents, and then putting enslaved New Jerseyans on ships bound for Louisiana.
The details listed in the removal certificates issued by Jacob Van Wickle in 1818 are questionable. The dates of the supposed court appearances, the recorded ages, and the family circumstances of the enslaved individuals listed in the documents might have been falsified.
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Event Type
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Legal: Removal registration
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Date
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26 February 1818
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Date Certainty
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Questionable
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County (Modern)
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Middlesex
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County (Historical)
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Middlesex
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Participant Details
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DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:
*** Rachel (b. 1796) ***
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 22
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"female slave named Rachel aged twenty two years"
*** Rozenah (b. 1818) ***
Role: Relocated Person
Age category: Infant
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"female child named Rozenah aged six weeks"
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DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:
Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
Role: Enslaver (obtained removal certificate in New Jersey)
Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Role: Enslaver (prospective enslaver in Louisiana)
Jacob Van Wickle (1770-1854)
Role: Judge
John Outcalt (1770-1853)
Role: Judge
William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Role: County Clerk
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Record Contributor
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Jesse Bayker
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 229