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This person of African descent has 3 related events in the database, listed at the bottom of this page.

Identifier

NJS-PER-02440

Given Name

Michael

Alternate Name

Jem

Sex

Male

Biographical Description

Michael was a Black man who grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, in the 18th century, where he was enslaved in the household of Albert Schenck. By the 1790s, he was living in Pennsylvania where he was enslaved by William McClellan of the borough of York. Michael made multiple attempts to escape from William McClellan and return to New Jersey. When he ran away from McClellan around December 1794, he went by the name Jem and was seen in Reading, PA, Trenton, NJ, and New York City. He worked for a while in Trenton for a man identified as "Mr. Vanbertie a foreign minister" and was eventually apprehended as a runaway near the end of 1796 and brought back to York, but he soon made another escape attempt from William McClellan. See Michael's related events for more information about his escape attempts and travels. The main source of information about Michael is the runaway advertisement that William McClellan published in June 1797 after Michael's second escape.

Keywords

African descent person

Places

Reading, Pennsylvania

York, Pennsylvania

New York City, New York

Princeton

Trenton

Enslaved by

Albert Schenck

William McClellan Jr. (1763-1831)

Related Person

Mr. Vanbertie

Record Contributor

Larissa Jimenez Gratereaux

Princeton & Slavery Project

Jesse Bayker

Linked Events

Primary Participant in:

• 1794-12 Freedom Seeking: Michael (Role: Runaway)
• 1796-12 Capture: Michael (Role: Captured Person)
• 1797-05-28 Freedom Seeking: Michael (Role: Runaway)