1818-02-10 Removal Registration: Lidiann, Harriet Jane
- 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-00226
- Source
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 237
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 241
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Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, pages 237 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 James Brown to remove Lidiann, an enslaved woman aged 22, together with her daughter Harriet Jane, aged 3 years 4 months 28 days, from the State of New Jersey was issued by the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County on February 10, 1818. The certificate was signed by two judges (Jacob Van Wickle and John Outcalt). The document stated that Lidiann was examined by the judges and consented to move from Middlesex County, NJ, to Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, "there to serve Colonel Charles Morgan as his slave." According to the certificate, James Brown appeared before the judges, but Charles Morgan did not.
The certificate was recorded by the County Clerk (William P. Deare) on May 20, 1818 on p. 237 of the Middlesex County Book of Manumissions and Removals. A related document, dated April 23, 1818, appears on p. 241 listing Harriet Jane among the young children who were sent to Louisiana, with her mother's name there listed as Lidia.
Lidiann and Harriet Jane 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
- February 10, 1818
- Date Certainty
- Questionable
- Primary Participants
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Lidiann (b. ca. 1796) {Lidia Ann, mother of Harriet Jane}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00674
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 22
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- James Brown
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"female slave named Lidiann aged twenty two years"Harriet Jane (b. 1814) {daughter of Lidiann}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00673
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- James Brown
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"female child named Harriett Jane aged three years four months & twenty eight days; female servant named Harriet Jane aged three years four months and twenty eight days child of Lidia" - Additional Participants
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James Brown
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00474
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