slavery in pennsylvania
York County, slaves in
the septennial census of 1800
The State of Pennsylvania took an enumeration of taxable inhabitants every seven years. Known as the Septennial Census, this enumeration also listed slaves in each county, by township, for some of the years. The amount of information on the slaves varies greatly. Some townships list the names of the slaves, others give only age and sex. A few townships also list the slaveholder's names.
Few slaves younger than 20 are listed, indicating that only the slaves born before March 1780 were enumerated, they being considered "Slaves for Life." Children of slaves born after that date were to be freed upon their 28th birthday, according to the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1780. These children, although held in bondage for 28 years, were officially called "servants," and often not counted in tax and census listings as slaves.
York County, 1800
- "Negro Female Slave named Gates, 24 Years"
- "Negro Male Slave, Aged 23 Years"
A Return of Slaves together with the owners names
- Henry, Welsh, Esq., Owner
- Male Slave, age 28 Years
- Karl, George, Owner
- Male Slave, age 34 Years
- Female Slave, age 20 Years
- Hupert, Adam
- Male Slave, 25 Years
- Eichelberger, Michael; Occupation-- Innkeeper
- Male Slave, 21 Years
- Kitzmiller, George; Occupation-- Miller
- Male Slave, 28 Years
- Male Slave, 22 Years
- Female Slave, 24 Years
- Morningstar, George; Occupation--Farmer
- Female Slave, 22 Years
- Sherman, Conrad, Esq.; Occupation--Innkeeper
- Male Slave, 43 Years
- Male Slave, 22 Years
- Male Slave, 46 Years
- Bales, Caleb; Occupation--Farmer
- Male Slave, 24 Years
- Tucker, Tempest; Occupation--Innkeeper
- Male Slave, 37 Years
- Barnitz, Jacob, Esq., Owner; Occupation--Recorder
- Mulatto Male Slave, 20 years
- Dinkle, Peter; Occupation--Storekeeper
- Negro Male Slave, 24 Years
- Gardner, Jacob, Esq.
- Negro Female Slave, 25 years
- Greer, Widow
- Negro Female Slave, 35 years
- Negro Female Slave, 22 years
- Hartley, Thomas, Esq.; Occupation--Attorney
- Negro Female Slave, 80 Years
- Hackendorn, John
- Negro Female Slave, 22 Years
- Irwin, George; Occupation--Storekeeper
- Male Slave, 67 Years
- Female Slave, 60 Years
- Kreber, Adam; Occupation--Blacksmith
- Male Slave, 27 Years
- Long, James; Occupation--Storekeeper
- Female Slave, 54 Years
- Ness, William; Occupation--Storekeeper
- Female Slave, 38 Years
- Pennington, Ephraim; Occupation--Cordwain
- Male Slave, 33 Years
- Spangler, Widow
- Female Slave, 30 Years
- Worley, Nathan; Occupation--Retailer
- Male Slave, 12 Years
- Day, Samuel; Occupation--Farmer
- Male Slave, 23 Years
- Wogan, George; Occupation--Farmer
- Female Slave, 38 Years
- "Negro Wench aged 35 Years"
- Mullatoe Wench Aged 30
- Negro Man
- Negro Wench
- Negro Man aged 45
- Negro Boy
- Gemmill, Robert
- Robert, male slave, age 21 years
- Patience, female slave, age 25 years
- Wiley, David
- Kate, female slave, age 40 years
- Ross, William; Occupation--Sadler
- Male Slave, 29 Years
- Gartner, Peter; Occupation--Farmer
- Male Slave, 26 Years
- Hoke, Fred; Occupation--Farmer
- Female Slave, 24 Years
- Downing, Alexander
- Female Slave, 50 Years
- Finley, Martha, Widow
- Female Slave, 34 Years
- Kelly, John
- Male Slave, age not specified
- Sprout, James
- Male Slave, 35 Years
- Female Slave, 30 Years
- Scott, Garvin
- Male Slave, 60 Years
- Female Slave, 40 Years
Fawn Township
- Reed, William
- Male Slave, 19 Years
- Ramsey, James
- Male Slave, 50 Years
- Female Slave, 35 Years
- Steel, Rachel
- Female Slave, 50 Years
- Sample, John
- Male Slave, 20 Years
- Female Slave, 50 years
- Scott, Patrick
- Female Slave, 52 Years
- Sample, Cunningham
- Male Slave, 36 Years
- Boyd, John
- Female Slave, 22 Years
- Cooper, Alexander
- Male Slave, 30 Years
- Female Slave, 26 Years
- Cooper, Stephen Thomas
- Male Slave, 38 Years
- Female Slave, 30 Years
Total number of slaves enumerated: 65. The Federal Census for 1800 enumerates 77 slaves in York County. That figure would include children of slaves, who are not listed here, indicating that there were an additional 12 slaves under the age of twenty years, residing in the county. However there were probably more children of slaves than that, as many were not counted as "slaves" but as "servants" because their term of bondage was not for life. The two terms, "slave" and "servant," were not used consistently in official recordkeeping.
Average (mean) age of all slaves listed: 33.4 years. This average does not include four slaves whose ages were not given in the original document.
Oldest slave enumerated: a female slave in York Borough, property of Attorney Thomas Hartley, who was listed as 80 years old. Fifteen of the sixty-five slaves whose ages are known, or 24.6%. are age 40 and over. This is the lowest percentage of older slaves for any county that I have found so far. It should be remembered that this represents data for the adult slave population, as children were not enumerated in this census (see the exception below).
Youngest slave enumerated: a male slave in York Borough, property of Nathen Worley, who was listed as 12 years old. His year of birth, if his age is accurately listed, would have been 1788. Since slaves born after 1780 were not to be considered "slaves for life," his presence on this list is unusual. Those slaves, who were held in bondage until their twenty-eighth year, were seldom listed on earlier Septennial Census records.
Source: Pennsylvania Septennial Census, 1800. Microfilm in the
Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg PA.
Go to the York County Septennial Census slave listings for 1807.
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