1822-05-18 Manumission: Miller

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00562
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 359
Manumission certificate for Miller, manumitted by Abraham S. Neilson

Manumission of Miller (certificate dated 1822-05-18), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 359. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
Miller was manumitted by Abraham Schuyler Neilson of North Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

The certificate of manumission was signed by the Overseer of the Poor of North Brunswick (Abraham Van Arsdalen) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (Nicholas Booraem Jr. and James Dunham) on May 18, 1822. The certificate identified the enslaver as "Abrm. S. Neilson of the firm James H. Neilson of the Township
of North Brunswick." The document stated that Miller was examined in court and met the eligibility requirements for manumission in New Jersey, i.e. the person was 21 to 40 years old and was "sound in mind and not under any bodily incapacity" of obtaining a livelihood. Miller's exact age was not recorded in the document.

The original certificate was preserved in Neilson Family Papers, held at Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. A copy of this document was recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on May 18, 1822, in his Book of Manumissions on p. 359.

The transcript of the original certificate follows:

"State of New Jersey
Middlesex County to wit, We do hereby certify that
On this eighteenth day of May in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred & twenty two, Abrm. S.
Neilson of the firm James H. Neilson of the Township
of North Brunswick in the County of Middlesex
aforesaid, brought before us, the Overseer of the poor
of the said Township of North Brunswick, and two
of the Justices of the Peace of the said County of
Middlesex, his male slave named Miller, who
on view & examination appears to us to be sound
in mind, and not under any bodily incapacity
of obtaining a support, and also is not under
the age of twenty one years nor above the age of
forty years.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our
hands the day & year above written

Abrm. Van Arsdalen } Overseer of the poor of North Brunswick

Nicholas Booraem Jr. }
James Dunham } Justices of the peace"
Event Type
Manumission
Date
May 18, 1822
Location of Event
North Brunswick
Primary Participants

Miller
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01456
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Abraham Schuyler Neilson (1792-1861)
Verbatim description from source:
"male slave named Miller"
Additional Participants

Nicholas Booraem Jr. (1786-1869)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00332
Role: Judge

James Dunham
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00340
Role: Judge

Abraham Van Arsdalen (d. ca. 1825)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00276
Role: Overseer of the Poor

William Philips Deare (d. 1826)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00008
Role: County Clerk

Abraham Schuyler Neilson (1792-1861)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00018
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event