1802-03-01 Agreement: Thomas Titus

Title

1802-03-01 Agreement: Thomas Titus

Identifier

NJS-EVE-00484

Source

Will of Gerardus Beekman, South Brunswick, NJ

Will of Gerardus Beekman, South Brunswick, NJ, August 18, 1814. Reproduced in: Microfilm: Middlesex County, NJ, Surrogate Court Records, Wills, Vol. B (1813-1824). Page 546-547.

Event Description

A young 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. Titus was about 17 years old when the agreement was made.

It is uncertain whether a written agreement was created in 1802; it may have been 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 freed Titus and filed manumission papers in Middlesex County in 1818. Beekman and Titus lived in South Brunswick.

Event Type

Legal: Agreement

Date

1 March 1802

Date Certainty

Inferred

Location of Event

South Brunswick

Following Event

1814-08-18 Will (of Gerardus Beekman): Thomas Titus, Charlotte Titus

1818-04-13 Manumission: Thomas Titus

Primary Participant

Thomas Titus (1785-1849)

Enslaver

Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)

Participant Details

DETAILS FOR PRIMARY PARTICIPANTS:

*** Thomas Titus (1785-1849) ***
Role: Party
Age: 17
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)
Verbatim description from source:
"negro man Thomas"

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DETAILS FOR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:

Gerardus Beekman (1736-1822)
Role: Enslaver - Party

Record Contributor

Jesse Bayker