1818-03-09 Removal Registration: Claresse, Hercules
- Research Tips
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To learn about the removal registration system in New Jersey, see What Is a Removal Certificate? You can use the Removal Records Index to review all removal registrations by origin, destination, and other criteria.
This event is related to a notorious slave trading ring in Middlesex County, New Jersey. See our guide to the Van Wickle Slave Trading Ring for more information.
- Identifier
- NJS-EVE-00221
- Source
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 235
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 241
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, pages 235 and 241. Middlesex County (N.J.). Records, 1688-1929 (MC 784.1). Vol. XI. Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
- Event Description
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A removal certificate authorizing enslaver Nicholas Van Wickle to remove Claresse, an enslaved woman aged 22 and 6 months, together with her son Hercules, aged 2 years 10 months and 7 days, from the State of New Jersey was issued by the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County on March 9, 1818. The certificate was signed by two judges (Jacob Van Wickle and John Outcalt). The document stated that Claresse 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 on p. 235 of the Middlesex County Book of Manumissions and Removals. A related document, dated April 23, 1818, appears on p. 241 listing Hercules among the young children who were sent to Louisiana.
Claresse and Hercules 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. - Event Type
- Removal Registration
- Keywords
- Removal signed by Judge Jacob Van Wickle
- Removal of mother and child
- Removal of person eligible for gradual emancipation
- Date
- March 9, 1818
- Date Certainty
- Questionable
- Primary Participants
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Claresse (b. 1795) {or Clarissa, mother of Hercules}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00669
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 Claresse aged twenty two years and six months"Hercules (b. 1815) {son of Claresse}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00670
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 2
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"male child named Hercules aged two years ten months and seven days" - Additional Participants
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Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00072
Role: Enslaver
Comment: obtained removal certificate in New JerseyCharles Morgan (1775-1848)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00073
Role: Enslaver
Comment: prospective enslaver in LouisianaJacob Van Wickle (1770-1854)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00068
Role: JudgeJohn Outcalt (1770-1853)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00035
Role: JudgeWilliam Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00008
Role: County Clerk - Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker