Sarah Armstrong Shaver (1761-1827)

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This white person has 1 related event in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.
Identifier
NJS-PER-02361
Given Name
Sarah
Family Name
Shaver
Alternate Name
Armstrong
Shafer
Birth Date
1761
Death Date
1827
Sex
Female
Biographical Description
Sarah Shaver née Armstrong was the wife of Abraham Shaver (also spelled Shafer), the prosperous proprietor of the Shafer Grist Mill in Stillwater, Sussex County, NJ. She was the daughter of Nathan Armstrong and Uphamy Wright.

The Shavers enslaved several Black people in their household as domestic laborers and industrial workers at their mill. Sarah's husband Abraham Shaver died in 1820, and in his will, he bequeathed to Sarah three enslaved people, enumerated thus: "my black girl Nance and my black boy Bob and her choice of one of my little black girls." Although listed as a "black girl" Nance was, in fact, an adult woman and the mother of at least four children born between 1807 and 1818. Bob likely refers to the 4-year-old Robert, son of Betty. The little Black girls in the household at this time were Nance's daughter Dinah (aged 7), Nance's younger daughter whose name is uncertain (aged 1), and Betty's daughter Ester (aged 3 and a half).
Keywords
white person
enslaver
Places
Casper and Abraham Shafer Grist Mill Complex, Stillwater
Stillwater
Enslaver of
Nance
Robert (b. 1815) {son of Betty and Nun}
Parent of
Nathan Armstrong Shafer (1786-1849)
Spouse of
Abraham Shaver (1754-1820)
References

Schaeffer, Casper, and William M. Johnson. Memoirs and Reminiscences Together with Sketches of the Early History of Sussex County, New Jersey, With Notes and Genealogical Records of the Schaeffer, Shaver or Shafer Family. Hackensack, NJ: Privately printed, 1907. https://archive.org/details/memoirsreminisce00scha
Record Contributor
Jesse Bayker
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