1789-11 Transportation: Forman's group of 60+ Black men, women, and children
- Identifier
- NJS-EVE-01095
- Source
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Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90
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Forman, Samuel S. Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke and Co., 1888. See especially pages 19-21.
- Event Description
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In the fall of 1789, General David Forman assembled a large group of over 60 Black men and women on his estate in the area of present-day Manalapan (but then part of Freehold Township), Monmouth County, New Jersey. Forman's plan was to send them to the Spanish-controlled Mississippi territory, where Forman intended to establish a tobacco plantation in Natchez, with his brother Ezekiel Forman acting as his agent and running the plantation. Some of the Black people who were part of this group had worked for Forman for a long time, and others were recently purchased from other enslavers in the area.
About the last of November 1789, the convoy set out from Manalapan. David Forman himself did not travel to Mississippi, but rather sent agents, associates, and family members to secure the convoy and oversee the business. The principal person in charge of the Black people on this journey was Forman's overseer Captain Benajah Osmun. Another leader of the group was Samuel S. Forman (David's much younger cousin). Ezekiel Forman did not come to Manalapan, but would join the convoy later in Pennsylvania. The journey took several months. The convoy traveled overland through Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh and then by boat down the Ohio River and the Mississippi River until they reached Natchez.
The convoy met with considerable scrutiny while traveling through Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was detained while the paperwork for the transportation of slaves through the area was reviewed and approved. Then in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, two Black people in the group attempted acts of armed resistance. They received assistance from free Black residents of Westmoreland, who furnished them with swords and pistols. They did not succeed in stopping the convoy, and it appears their plans were thwarted.
Information about this convoy and their journey comes from Samuel S. Forman's memoir, published years after his death and titled Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90. - Event Type
- Transportation
- Date
- November 1789 – 1790
- Related Event
- 1789-12 Rebellion or Plot: 2 Black men in Forman's group
- Primary Participants
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Forman's group of 60+ Black men, women, and children
Role: Relocated Person
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- David Forman (1745-1797)
- Ezekiel Forman (1736-1795)
Verbatim description from source:
"sixty odd colored people; There were sixty men, women, and children, and they were the best set of blacks I ever saw together." - Additional Participants
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David Forman (1745-1797)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02572
Role: Enslaver
Comment: principal enslaver who assembled the convoyEzekiel Forman (1736-1795)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02574
Role: Enslaver
Comment: second enslaver who joined the convoy in PittsburghBenajah Osmun (d. 1815)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02575
Role: Agent for Enslaver
Comment: overseer working for David FormanSamuel S. Forman (1765-1862)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02573
Role: Agent for Enslaver
Comment: convoy leader, recorded the events in his memoir - Record Contributor
- Jesse Bayker