1823-07-08 Freedom Seeking: Betty
- Identifier
- NJS-EVE-01105
- Source
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Runaway ad and warning not to extend credit to Betty, by Amos Day
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Runaway ad and warning not to extend credit to Betty, by Amos Day, "Notice is hereby given," Centinel of Freedom, July 15, 1823, p. 3.
- Event Description
-
Sometime before July 8, 1823, a Black woman named Betty ran away from her enslaver Amos Day, of Connecticut Farms in Essex County, New Jersey (present-day Union Township in Union County). Amos Day submitted a notice regarding Betty to a Newark newspaper called the Centinel of Freedom on July 8, but he did not mention how long Betty had been gone by that time.
The advertisement is rather unique because Amos Day did not offer any reward for Betty's return, nor requested that Betty be apprehended or jailed. Instead, the ad warned people in the neighborhood not to extend credit to Betty and said that Amos Day had no intention of paying Betty's debts. This was very unusual for runaway ads related to enslaved people, and this kind of notice was usually seen when wives ran away from their husbands. Amos Day's ad suggests that he believed (or knew) Betty did not go very far from his household.
Evidently, Betty continued to stay away from Amos Day's house. See another notice related to Betty a year later.
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Transcript of the source document:
"Notice is hereby given,
THAT BETTY, a coloured Woman, and a Slave to me, has eloped without my consent. This is to warn all persons not to trust or keep her on my account, as I will pay no debts of her contracting.
AMOS DAY.
July 8, 1823. 7" - Event Type
- Freedom Seeking
- Date
- July 8, 1823
- Location of Event
- Union (formerly Connecticut Farms)
- Following Event
- 1824-06-14 Freedom Seeking: Betty
- Primary Participants
-
Betty
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02595
Role: Runaway
Age category: Adult
Status: Enslaved
Enslaver(s) of this participant:
- Amos Day (1760-1830)
Verbatim description from source:
"BETTY, a coloured Woman, and a Slave to me" - Additional Participants
-
Amos Day (1760-1830)
Person identifier: NJS-PER-02594
Role: Enslaver, Advertiser - Record Contributor
- Kate Jackson