Person Record Title

James Morgan (1756-1822)

Identifier

NJS-PER-00246

Given Name

James

Family Name

Morgan

Birth Date

1756

Death Date

1822

Sex

Male

Occupation

Landowning

Military and Militia

Government

Biographical Description

James Morgan was an enslaver who resided in South Amboy, Middlesex County, New Jersey, in the area that is now Sayreville. He served as a U.S. Congressman from New Jersey in 1811-1813.

He was the brother of Charles Morgan and brother-in-law of Judge Jacob Van Wickle (via Van Wickle's marriage to James Morgan's sister Sarah Morgan), who were the leaders of a notorious slave trading ring that facilitated human trafficking from New Jersey to Louisiana and Mississippi. James Morgan was connected with the slave trading ring as well. A Black man named Simon, who was enslaved by James Morgan, became one of the victims of the slave trading ring. Morgan obtained a manumission certificate for Simon in February 1818, then immediately allowed his brother Charles Morgan to take Simon to Louisiana to toil in bondage there.

Keywords

white person

enslaver

Van Wickle and associates

Place of Significance

South Amboy

Sayreville

Enslaver of

Adam

Juday

Simon

Sibling of

Charles Morgan (1775-1848)

Sarah Morgan Van Wickle (1772-1835) (1772-1835)

Same As

Morgan, James 1756–1822 (Biographical Directory of the United States Congress)

James Morgan. Wikipedia

Research Guide

Research Guide: Understanding Interstate Slave Trade & Kidnapping Documents

Bibliographic Citation

Pingeon, Frances D. “An Abominable Business: The New Jersey Slave Trade, 1818.” New Jersey History 109, no. 3 (1991): 15–35.

Related Resource

Lost Souls Memorial Project website

Record Contributor

Isaac Guzmán

Jesse Bayker