Dinah

Research Tips

This person of African descent has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
Identifier
NJS-PER-01453
Given Name
Dinah
Sex
Female
Biographical Description
Dinah was a Black girl who lived in New Jersey in the early 19th century. She was enslaved by William DeGroot. On March 18, 1822, William DeGroot signed a deed of manumission for Dinah, noting that she was a minor under the age of 21 at that time. It is likely that Dinah went on to live as a free woman, but the legal outcome of her manumission process is uncertain.

Note that an enslaved person had to be an adult aged at least 21 (and not over 40) in order to be eligible for manumission under New Jersey law. The manumission process required the enslaved person's age and physical and mental ability to be certified by the local Overseer of the Poor and two Justices of the Peace for the county. This means that, if Dinah was a minor in 1822, she could not be officially manumitted under the law at that time. It is possible that William DeGroot would go on to complete the manumission process for Dinah at a later time when she reached age 21, but a certificate of manumission from county officials has not been recorded for her in the Middlesex County Book of Manumissions.

The manumission deed for Dinah lists the location as Middlesex County and does not specify a locality. As William DeGroot was known to be a resident of the township of Piscataway (based on other county records), it has been inferred that Dinah may have been a resident of Piscataway.
Keywords
African descent person
Places
Piscataway
Enslaved by
William DeGroot (1752-1840)
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
Linked Events

Primary Participant in:
Resource class
Agent