New Jersey Slavery Records · 1793, Jef, Sale

1793, Jef, Sale

Item

Title: 1793, Jef, Sale
Identifier: NJS-EVE-00667
Event Description: Mr. Mattison of Princeton sold Jef to one Mr. Kelsey for the sum of 90 pounds when Jef was aged approximately 21 or younger. Subsequently, the sale was reversed and Jef was returned to Mattison's household at the request of Mr. Mattison's wife. The date of this sale event is unknown, but it occurred sometime before February 24, 1794, when Robert Finley of Princeton mentioned this situation in a letter to his friend Col. John Neilson of New Brunswick. Neilson had asked Finley about the possibility of purchasing Jef for 90 pounds. Finley wrote to Neilson about Jef: "He was once sold to Mr. Kelsey for the sum mentioned in your letter but taken back at the request of his present Mistress."
Event Type: Freedom status transaction: Sale
Action Status: Failed
Date: 1793
Date Certainty: Approximate
Location: Princeton, NJ
Related Event: 1794, Jef, Sale
Primary Participant: Jef (b. 1773)
Sex: Male
Age: Young Adult
Freedom Status: Enslaved
Enslaver of Primary Event Participant: Mr. Mattison; Mr. Kelsey
Seller: Mr. Mattison
Buyer: Mr. Kelsey
Currency: pound
Price: 90
Source: Letter from Robert Finley to John Neilson regarding Jef; Letter from Robert Finley to John Neilson regarding Jef. February 27, 1794. Neilson Family Papers, 1768-1908 (MC 933). Box 4, Folder 45: J & J Neilson - Papers relating to purchase of slaves. Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries.
Record Contributor: Jesse Bayker

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Title	Class
1794, Jef, Sale	Event