1818-04-13 Manumission: Thomas Titus

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00483
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 272

Manumission of Thomas Titus (certificate dated 1818-04-13), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 272. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
Thomas Titus was manumitted by Gerardus Beekman of South Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey. Gerardus Beekman and Thomas Titus both appeared in court to obtain a manumission certificate. The certificate was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of South Brunswick (Andrew McDowell and John Barricklo) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Nathaniel Hunt and John Bastedo) on April 13, 1818. The document stated that Thomas Titus was examined in court and met the eligibility requirements for manumission in New Jersey, i.e. the person was 21 to 40 years old and was "sound in mind and not under any bodily incapacity" of obtaining a livelihood. Thomas Titus's exact age was not recorded in the document; however, other historical sources indicate that he would have been about 33 years old at the time. This document was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on August 3, 1818.

See related events for Thomas Titus, which indicate that Gerardus Beekman promised to manumit him on March 1, 1817, after a 15-year term of service. The manumission paperwork was not finalized until April 1818, but historical evidence suggests that Thomas Titus was already living as a free man in 1817, considering that he bought a farm with his wife Sarah in the summer of 1817.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
April 13, 1818
Location of Event
South Brunswick
Preceding Event
1802-03-01 Term Indenture / Promise to Manumit: Thomas Titus
1814-08-18 Will (of Gerardus Beekman): Thomas Titus, Charlotte Titus
Related Event
1817-08 Property Transaction: Thomas Titus, Sarah TenBroeck Titus
Primary Participants

Thomas Titus (ca. 1785-1849)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01080
Role: Manumitted Person
Age: 33
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)
Verbatim description from source:
"slave"
Additional Participants

Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00282
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter

Nathaniel Hunt
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00107
Role: Judge

John Bastedo
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00108
Role: Judge

Andrew McDowell (1757-1834)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00093
Role: Overseer of the Poor

John Barricklo
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00269
Role: Overseer of the Poor

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