1809-05-13 Abandonment: 8 Black children, including Aaron, Oliver, Sarah, Jude · New Jersey Slavery Records

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Identifier

NJS-EVE-01010

Source

Overseer of the Poor of North Brunswick seeks to bind out 8 abandoned Black children, by John Van Nuis

Overseer of the Poor of North Brunswick seeks to bind out 8 abandoned Black children, by John Van Nuis, Trenton Federalist, May 22, 1809, p. 3.

Event Description

In May 1809, John Van Nuis, the Overseer of the Poor of the township of North Brunswick, published a notice seeking to bind out eight Black children, i.e. to place them as indentured servants into white households until age 21 (for girls) or age 25 (for boys). These children were abandoned to the Overseer pursuant to the abandonment provision of New Jersey's gradual abolition law, which allowed enslavers to take 1-year-old infants away from their enslaved mothers and give them up to the Overseer of the Poor to be treated as paupers.

The following is a complete transcript of the source:

"The subscriber Overseer of the Poor in the township of North Brunswick, in the county of Middlesex, doth hereby certify the following to be a true list of the abandoned black children born since the 4th day of July, 1804, in said township. Any person wishing to take any of said children upon the terms prescribed in the act of the legislature of this state for that purpose made and provided, will please to apply to the subscriber.

1 Male Child, aged 4 years and 5 months,
1 ... 3 ... 3 do.
1 ... 3 ... 5 do.
1 ... 3 ... 2 do.

1 Female Child, aged 4 years and 7 months,
1 ... 3 ... 9 do.
1 ... 3 ... 5 do.
1 ... 3 ... 3 do.

JOHN VAN NEUS, Overseer of the Poor in the township of North Brunswick, New-Brunswick, May 13, 1809.
34-4w"

Note that the abbreviation "do." in the source document means "ditto," meaning "the same as above."

This notice appeared in the Trenton Federalist newspaper for 4 weeks from May 22, 1809, until June 12, 1809. The Overseer announced that any individual who wanted to take a Black child as an indentured servant could come forward and apply to take the child away. Note that the Overseer listed New-Brunswick as the location where he could be contacted; the City of New Brunswick was, at that time, considered to be part of North Brunswick township.

The names of the eight abandoned children were not mentioned in the notice, but their ages were listed. We can determine at least some of their names by calculating their approximate date of birth and consulting the Middlesex County birth records for enslaved children registered in North Brunswick. Using this method, we can infer that the following four children were most likely among the abandoned group.

The oldest boy listed was aged 4 years and 5 months. He would have been born in December 1804. This matches the birth record for Aaron, son of Kate, who was born on December 12, 1804. Aaron and his mother were enslaved by John Van Nuis, the very same Overseer of the Poor who placed this notice in the newspaper, and we can infer that John Van Nuis was among the first enslavers in North Brunswick to avail himself of the abandonment provision of the gradual abolition law.

The next boy was 3 years and 5 months old. He would have been born in December 1805. This matches the birth record for Oliver, son of Margaret, born on December 4, 1805, in the household of enslaver Samuel Brush.

The oldest girl listed was aged 4 years and 7 months. She would have been born in October 1804. There were no birth records listing North Brunswick township for this month, but there was a birth record for the City of New Brunswick (which was, as mentioned above, part of North Brunswick township at that time), for Sarah, daughter of Sarah, born on October 1, 1804, in the household of enslaver Ephraim Martin.

Another girl listed was aged 3 years 5 months. She would have been born in December 1805. This matches the birth record for Jude, daughter of Margaret, born on December 2, 1805, in the household of enslaver Garline Ockerman.

The identities of the remaining four children remain uncertain. One girl was listed aged 3 years 9 months, i.e. born in August 1805, but there is no matching birth certificate for that month. Potential matches may be Lydia, daughter of Violet, born July 6, 1805 (enslaver William Lawson) or Gin, daughter of Lary, born September 27, 1805 (enslaver Stephen Barkelew).

The youngest children would have been born in the winter/spring of 1806—girl and boy both aged 3 years 3 months (February 1806), and another boy aged 3 years 2 months (March 1806). However, there are no birth certificates on file for North Brunswick or New Brunswick with birth dates between January and May 1806.

Event Type

Abandonment

Date

May 13, 1809

Location of Event

North Brunswick

Preceding Event

1804-10-01 Birth: Sarah

1804-12-12 Birth: Aaron

1805-12-02 Birth: Jude

1805-12-04 Birth: Oliver

Primary Participants

Aaron (b. 1804) {son of Kate}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00777
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 4
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Male Child, aged 4 years and 5 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 25

Oliver (b. 1805) {son of Margaret}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00796
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Male Child, aged 3 years and 5 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 25

Sarah (b. 1804) {daughter of Sarah}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00895
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 4
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Female Child, aged 4 years and 7 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 21

Jude (b. 1805) {daughter of Margaret}
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00797
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Female Child, aged 3 years and 5 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 21

Black boy born Feb. 1806
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Male Child, aged 3 years and 3 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 25

Black boy born Mar. 1806
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Male Child, aged 3 years and 2 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 25

Black girl born Aug. 1805
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Female Child, aged 3 years 9 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 21

Black girl born Feb. 1806
Role: Abandoned Person
Age: 3
Status: Enslaved
Verbatim description from source:
"1 Female Child, aged 3 years 3 months"
Comment: to be bound out until age 21

Additional Participants

John Van Nuis
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00054
Role: Enslaver, Overseer of the Poor
Comment: Overseer of the Poor of North Brunswick, and original enslaver who abandoned Aaron

Samuel Brush
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01208
Role: Enslaver
Comment: enslaver who abandoned Oliver

Ephraim Martin (1733-1806)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-00120
Role: Enslaver
Comment: enslaver who abandoned Sarah

Garline Ockerman (d. 1817)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-01209
Role: Enslaver
Comment: enslaver who abandoned Jude

Record Contributor

Jesse Bayker