New Jersey Slavery Records · 1802, Thomas Titus, Agreement (Legal)

1802, Thomas Titus, Agreement (Legal)

Title: 1802, Thomas Titus, Agreement (Legal)
Identifier: NJS-EVE-00484
Event Description: An enslaved Black man named Thomas Titus and his enslaver Gerardus Beekman made an agreement that Beekman would manumit Titus after 15 years of service. The term of the agreement began on March 1, 1802, and was supposed to end on March 1, 1817.

It is uncertain whether a written agreement was created at the time of the original negotiation; it was probably a verbal agreement. Beekman mentioned this agreement in his last will and testament (which he wrote in 1814) to ensure that if Beekman died before Titus's term was over, the enslaver's heirs would have to honor the agreement.

Beekman eventually manumitted Titus in 1818.
Event Type: Legal: Agreement
Action Status: Completed
Date: 1 March 1802
Date Certainty: Inferred
Location: South Brunswick, NJ
Following Event: 1814, Thomas Titus, Will; 1818, Thomas Titus, Manumission
Primary Participant: Thomas Titus (1785-1849)
Sex: Male
Age: Young Adult; 17
Freedom Status: Enslaved
Enslaver of Primary Event Participant: Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)
Source: Will of Gerardus Beekman, South Brunswick, NJ; Will of Gerardus Beekman, South Brunswick, NJ. August 18, 1814.
Record Contributor: Jesse Bayker

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Items with "Preceding Event: 1802, Thomas Titus, Agreement (Legal)"
Title	Class
1814, Thomas Titus, Will	Event
1818, Thomas Titus, Manumission	Event