Ernestus Van Harlingen (1732-1824)
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This white person has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
This person is related to Rutgers University history. See our research guide Rutgers University & Slavery for more information about finding university affiliates and archival sources in our database.
- Identifier
- NJS-PER-01942
- Given Name
- Ernestus
- Family Name
- Van Harlingen
- Alternate Name
- Ernastus
- Ernestes
- Birth Date
- 1732
- Death Date
- 1824
- Sex
- Male
- Biographical Description
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Ernestus Van Harlingen was an enslaver who resided in Millstone, Somerset County, New Jersey. He was a farmer. Note that, during his lifetime, Millstone was a village within the township of Hillsborough, and records for Van Harlingen variously mention Millstone and Hillsborough while referring to his place of residence.
Van Harlingen had close connections with Queen's College (later Rutgers University) and allowed the college to relocate to his homestead so that classes could continue there during the Revolutionary War. At the same time, he held several Black people in bondage in his household. According to the Revolutionary War damages claims for Somerset County, a 26-year-old black man and a 19-year-old black woman left Van Harlingen's household during the war and went off with the British troops. - Keywords
- white person
- enslaver
- Rutgers University history
- Organization
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Rutgers University
- Relationship to Rutgers
- Trustee (1782-1807)
- Benefactor (use of homestead for college classes)
- Enslaver of
- Jack (b. 1748)
- References
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Bayker, Jesse, Christopher Blakley, and Kendra Boyd. "His Name Was Will: Remembering Enslaved Individuals in Rutgers History." In Scarlet and Black: Vol. 1, Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, edited by Marisa Fuentes and Deborah Gray White, 58–81. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1k3s9r0.7
This person is represented on the following page(s):
Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/62850413 - Record Contributor
- Xandria McKinley
- Jesse Bayker
- Kelsey Heflin
- Linked Sources
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Author:
- Runaway ad for Ben and Jack, by Leffert Waldron and Ernestus Van Harlingen (Runaway ad for Ben and Jack, by Leffert Waldron and Ernestus Van Harlingen, New-York Journal, or, the General Advertiser, June 15, 1769.)
- Linked Events
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Additional Participant in:
- 1769-06-10 Freedom Seeking: Ben, Jack (Role: Enslaver, Advertiser)