David Williamson (d. 1797)
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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 Princeton University history. See our Princeton University research guide for more information about finding Princeton affiliates and campus locations in the New Jersey Slavery Records database.
- Identifier
- NJS-PER-02474
- Given Name
- David
- Family Name
- Williamson
- Death Date
- 1797
- Sex
- Male
- Biographical Description
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David Williamson was an innkeeper who came to New Jersey from Scotland around 1730. He established a tavern at Road Hall (aka Rhode Hall) in South Brunswick Township, Middlesex County, and was one of the founding settlers of that neighborhood (which now lies at the border of South Brunswick and Monroe Township). He was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Cranbury.
David Williamson was an enslaver. One of the people he enslaved was a Black woman named Lydia. Williamson died in 1797 and appointed his four sons-in-law as executors of his will. In 1799, his four executors (Thomas McDowell, John Perrine, Stephen Johnes, and James Schureman) sold Lydia to Professor John Mclean Sr of Princeton University (then called the College of New Jersey). - Keywords
- white person
- enslaver
- Princeton University history
- Enslaver of
- Lydia
- References
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Will of David Williamson, abstracted with a biographical note. See p. 413 in: Hutchinson, Elmer T., ed. Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey. Archives of the State of New Jersey, 1st series. Vol. 38. Calendar of Wills, Vol. 9, 1796-1800. Trenton, NJ: New Jersey Law Journal, 1944. https://archive.org/details/calendarofnewjer00unse_3.
- Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker
- Linked Events
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Additional Participant in:
- 1799-01-19 Sale: Lydia (Role: Enslaver, Deceased)
- Resource class
- Agent
