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This person of African descent has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.

Identifier

NJS-PER-01305

Given Name

Will

Family Name

Griggs

Alternate Name

Will Grigg

Will Rigg

Sex

Male

Biographical Description

Will Griggs was a Black man who lived in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the late 18th century. Information about his life comes from a runaway ad published by Edward Dunant of Philadelphia in 1793.

Will's date of birth and exact place of origin is uncertain. Dunant's runaway ad stated that Will "calls himself Will Grigg, after a former master" and that he "lately belonged to Caesar Trent, a negro in Princeton." This reveals that Will was at one time enslaved by Caesar Trent, a free Black man and a well-known resident of Princeton. The name "Grigg" printed in the paper almost certainly refers to the Griggs family associated with the historical community Griggstown (a few miles north of Princeton in Somerset County) and the surrounding area. Will likely grew up in the household of one of the members of the Griggs family.

By 1793 Will was residing in Philadelphia, where he was indented to Edward Dunant. He ran away from Dunant in January of that year. Will was well known to the residents of Princeton, Trenton, and Flemington in New Jersey, and witnesses saw him in all those places within a week after he left Philadelphia. His fate after his escape is uncertain.

Keywords

African descent person

Places

Flemington

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Princeton

Trenton

Enslaved by

Caesar Trent (d. 1813)

Edward Dunant (1764-1813)

Record Contributor

Jesse Bayker

Linked Events

Primary Participant in:

• 1793-01-12 Freedom Seeking: Will Griggs (Role: Runaway)