1818-04-22 Removal Registration: Silvey, Jacob

Research Tips

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-00261
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 268

Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 268. Archival location: Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. Middlesex County (N.J.). Records, 1688-1929 (MC 784.1). Vol. XI.
Event Description
A removal certificate authorizing enslaver Nicholas Van Wickle to remove Silvey, an enslaved woman aged 30, together with her infant son Jacob, aged 18 months, from the State of New Jersey was issued by the Court of Common Pleas of Middlesex County on April 22, 1818. The certificate was signed by two judges (Jacob Van Wickle and John Outcalt). The document stated that Silvey was examined by the judges and consented to move 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 June 15, 1818.

A notation appended at the bottom of the certificate stated, "The said male child to serve to the age of twenty five years." This was an acknowledgement that baby Jacob was eligible for emancipation at age 25 according to New Jersey's gradual abolition law. However, the move to Louisiana would deprive Jacob of the promise of freedom at age 25 because enforcing his rights under northern gradual abolition laws would be nearly impossible in the Deep South.

Silvey and Jacob 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
April 22, 1818
Date Certainty
Questionable
Location of Event
South River
Morganza, Louisiana
Primary Participants

Silvey (b. ca. 1788)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00709
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 30
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"female slave named Silvey aged thirty years"

Jacob (b. 1816)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00708
Role: Relocated Person
Age: 1
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
- Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Verbatim description from source:
"male child named Jacob aged eighteen months"
Additional Participants

Nicholas Van Wickle (1796-1865)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00072
Role: Enslaver
Comment: obtained removal certificate in New Jersey

Charles Morgan (1775-1848)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00073
Role: Enslaver
Comment: prospective enslaver in Louisiana

Jacob Van Wickle (1770-1854)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00068
Role: Judge

John Outcalt (1770-1853)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00035
Role: Judge

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00008
Role: County Clerk
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event