1820-06-10 Manumission: George Wiles

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Identifier
NJS-EVE-00605
Source
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 345
Middlesex County Manumissions and Removals, page 346

Manumission of George Wiles (certificate dated 1820-06-10), recorded in Manumissions and Removals Book, p. 345-346. Middlesex County (N.J.) Records, 1688-1929, Vol. XI (MC 784.1). Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Event Description
George Wiles was manumitted by Benjamin James of East Windsor, Middlesex County, New Jersey, on June 10, 1820. The enslaver/manumitter in this case was a Black man (himself a formerly enslaved person who attained freedom from Samuel Eli in 1807).

The manumission certificate listed the enslaver as "Ben James blackman of the township of East Windsor." The certificate was signed by the Overseers of the Poor of East Windsor (John Hammell and David Silver) and Justices of the Peace for Middlesex County (William Tindall Jr. and John Hammell, who was also one of the Overseers of the Poor, so signed the document twice). The document stated that George Wiles 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. George Wiles's exact age was not recorded in the document. This document was received and recorded by the Middlesex County Clerk (William P. Deare) on September 17, 1821.

This is one of two manumissions recorded in Middlesex County where the enslaver performing the manumission is a Black person. It is possible that Benjamin James and George Wiles may have been related. African Americans in the early 19th century sometimes purchased and then manumitted their own family members as a way to secure freedom for their relatives. It is uncertain whether a familial relationship existed between Benjamin James and George Wiles.
Event Type
Manumission
Date
June 10, 1820
Location of Event
East Windsor
Primary Participants

George Wiles
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01448
Role: Manumitted Person
Age category: Adult
Status: Transition
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Benjamin James (b. 1782)
Verbatim description from source:
"slave named George Wiles"
Additional Participants

William Tindall Jr. (1784-1877)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01354
Role: Judge

John Hammell
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00214
Role: Judge

John Hammell
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00214
Role: Overseer of the Poor

David Silver
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00459
Role: Overseer of the Poor

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

Benjamin James (b. 1782)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00538
Role: Enslaver, Manumitter
Record Contributor
Isaac Guzmán
Jesse Bayker
Resource class
Event