Slaveholders Listed On This Page
- Tates, Anthony (Slaves listed: Ann, Will, Tony)
- Tenant, Catharine (Slaves listed: Sarah, Euphamy, Nance, Titus, Mary, Jem, Prince)
- Thomas, Joseph (Slaves listed: Bill)
- Thomas, Martha (Slaves listed: Rose)
- Thomas, Richard (Slaves listed: Rose, Felis)
- Thompson, William (Slaves listed: Nat, Harry, Sal, Joe, Eve, Cartar)
- Thornton, Joseph (Slaves listed: Violet, Rose, Pompey, Cuff)
- Tomb, Hugh (Slaves listed: Prince, Joshua, Flora, Jud, Henry (born 1773), Henry (born 1727), Fema, Lena)
- Torbert, Lamb (Slaves listed: Sarah)
- Vanaisdalen, Elizabeth (Slaves listed: Sarah [born 1735], Phoebe, Sarah [born 1772], Thomas, Levi)
- Vanaisdalen, Garret (Slaves listed: Poll, Bill)
- Vanaisdalen, James (Slaves listed: Anthony, Mary)
- Vanaisdalen, Nicholas (Slaves listed: Sall, Mime, Cate)
- Vanaisdalen, Simon (Slaves listed: Thom, Cuffy, Rachel)
- Vanartsdalen, Garret (Slaves listed:
Tom)
- Vancourt, Cornelius (Slaves listed: Hannah)
- Vandegriff, John (Slaves listed: Jude, Silvia, Thom)
- Vandegriff, Joseph (Slaves listed: Flora, Hagar)
- Vandergriff, Abraham (Slaves listed: Samuel, Hannah, Scippio, Fortunatus)
- Vandyke, Jacob (Slaves listed: Will, Aram [born 1796], Ish, Aram [born 1779], Bet, Eff, Jack, Dinah, Pett)
- Vandyke, Lambert (Slaves listed: Isaac)
- Vanhart, Adam (Slaves listed: Agness Bent)
-
Vanhorn, Barnard (Slaves listed: Elijah)
- Vanhorn, Barnard, Administrator (Slaves listed: Cupid, Sarah, Betty)
- Vanhorne, Abraham (Slaves listed: Caesar, Subiah, unnamed man)
- Vanhorne, Isaac (Slaves listed: Caesar)
- Vansandt, Nicholas (Slaves listed: Ellen, Audy, Richard)
- Vansant, ? (Slaves listed: Lucy Brown [a.k.a. Sukey Brown])
- Vansant, Harman (Slaves listed: Isaac Farmer)
- Vansant, Jacob (Slaves listed: Jim [born 1770], Jim [born 1750])
- Vansant, Nathaniel (Slaves listed: Ishmael)
- Vansant, Peter (Slaves listed: Priscilla, Joseph, Richard Gibbs, Mike, William More, James, Peg)
- Walker, Richard (Slaves listed: Genn, Bett, Bill, James, Ruth)
- Walton, Jonathan (Slaves listed: Peet)
- Walton, William (Slaves listed: Nancy, Caesar, Joe, John, Hann, Isaac, Charles)
- Warder, Elizabeth (Slaves listed: Amy Cary)
- Watts, Arthur (Slaves listed: Aaron, Daphne)
- West, James (Slaves listed: Jean)
- Wikoff, Isaac (Slaves listed: Hester, Will, Phoebe, Pompey, Hannah)
- Willett, Augustin (Slaves listed: Rachel, Jude,
Priam)
- Willett, Jonathan (Slaves listed: Lid, Peg, Bell, Jude, Stace, Dine)
- Williams, Stephen (Slaves listed: Plymouth, un-named Negro Boy, seven un-named slaves)
- Willson, Francis (Slaves listed: Dinah)
- Wilson, John (Slaves listed: Samuel West)
- Wincke, James (Slaves listed: Dinah, Prudence, Phoebe, Archibald)
- Winder, James (Slaves listed: un-named Negro)
- Wright, Joshua (Slaves listed: Amanda, Julian)
- Wynkoop, Gerandas (Slaves listed: Flora)
- Wynkoop, Henry (Slaves listed: Tom, Toney, Belinda, Peter, Phoebe, Issabel, Tom, Oliver, Mary, Jeffery)
- Wynkoop, Nicholas (Slaves listed: Rosetta)
- Yardley, ? (Slaves listed: Joe, Rose, Jem, Fann)
- Yardley, Thomas (Slaves listed: Caesar, Rose, Dinah, Philip, Charles, Dick, Silvia, Andrew, George)
- Yeardley, Sarah (Slaves listed: Daniel Cuffy)
About The Data
Each listing represents a record of one
Black enslaved person or indentured servant (more on terminology below). The
list is sorted alphabetically according to the owner's surname. I felt
that this order would be the most useful for several reasons. It groups
slaves together who would have lived with the same owner, and increases
the likelihood of finding persons related to each other. Records of
slave surnames are rare, many being identified only through their given
name. You can search this listing for a specific slave given name by
using your browser's Find feature.
Dates of birth for the slaves, unless
specified in the original documents, have been calculated by
subtracting their given age from the date of the record. Very often,
their ages as reported in the original records are given as approximations
(such as "about 25 years of age"), indicated by a lower
case a following their age. The term Status refers to
the slave's relative freedom. Unless specified otherwise, slaves served "for
life" prior to Pennsylvania's Gradual Emancipation
Act of 1780. Children born to slave mothers after the passage of
that legislation were to serve until age 28, which was much of their
productive lives.
The term Description refers to the
main description of the slave as given in the original source (including
misspellings). This is often a means by which enslaved persons were categorized according to race and relative age. Source numbers
correspond to the accompanying list of sources used
in compiling these records.
Terminology, and Other Notes
The terms "slave" and "servant" were often
used interchangeably, especially in the earliest years of the time
period covered in this study. After the Gradual
Emancipation Act of 1780 was passed in Pennsylvania, the term "servant" frequently
came to mean either someone in indentured servitude or someone employed
by the head of the household. The passage from slave to servant was
often indistinct for many Blacks, many of whom remained with their
former owners after being legally emancipated. For simplicity, the term "slave" is used to represent all people who were
in bondage, even though some records list them as "servants."
The locations listed for the slaveholders, especially City
or Township are greatly mixed, and represent the location listed
in the original record. As township boundaries shifted and new townships
and counties were created, the original listing may be misleading.
Enslavement Data
- Slaveholder Name: Tates, Anthony, last name also spelled Tate and Teate
City or Township: Middletown Township (1780); Newtown (1767 escape ad)
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes: In February 1778, a force of 40 Loyalist troops out of Philadelphia raided Newtown and captured a supply of textiles that was intended to be made into uniforms for the Continental Army then encamped and suffering from the winter cold at Valley Forge. Several Patriot soldiers were killed in a firefight and dozens captured. Among those captured by the Loyalist troops was "Anthony Tate, a Grand Juror."
Grand Juries, during the American Revolution, were used by colonists as a legal counter-measure against abusive British laws and regulations, making them a thorn in the side of British authorities then occupying Philadelphia.
Sources: The Pennsylvania Evening Post, 21 February 1778; Richard D. Younger, "Grand Juries and the American Revolution," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 63, No. 3, Jul., 1955.
- Slave Name: Ann
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Will
Sex: Male
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1769 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Tony
Sex: Male
Age: 55 (registration in 1780); 35 or 36 (escape in May 1767)
Date of Birth: 1725 (calculated from 1780 registration); 1731 or 1731 (calculated from May 1767 escape ad)
Status: Slave for life
Description: "Negroe Man"
Sources: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves; The Pennsylvania Gazette, 21 May 1767 and 10 September 1767.
Date of Record: 21 May 1767 (first escape ad); 10 September 1767 (second escape ad); 1780 (county registration)
Notes: Tony escaped from Tate on 30 April 1767. Tate placed an ad in The Pennsylvania Gazette to recover him, which he apparently did, as Tony made a second escape on September 1st that same year. Tate placed another ad with nearly identical wording as the first. At some point he must have recovered Tony again, as the man was registered as a slave by Tate with the county in 1780. Text of the first ad from May 1767, below, gives a good physical description of this man:
RUN away, on the 30th of last Month, from ANTHONY TEATE, of Newtown, Bucks County, a Negroe Man, named Tony, a stout Fellow, near 6 Feet high, of a very yellow Complexion, smooth faced, has no Beard, except a little on his upper Lip, stoops a good deal, and speaks much in the Dutch Dialect. He is about 35 or 36 Years of Age, and had on a light coloured Coat, with white Metal Buttons, a Frize Jacket, Buckskin Breeches, grey Yarn Stockings, and Shoes without Buckles. He has remarkably long Feet. Whoever takes up said Negroe, and brings him home, or secures him, so that he may be had again, shall have FOUR DOLLARS Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by ANTHONY TEATE.
- Slaveholder Name: Tenant, Catharine
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: 00 Years and 04 Months
Date of Birth: 1780 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Status is presumed from the estimated date of birth,
which places this child born after the cut-off date of
March 1 1780 for slaves for life.
Slave Name: Euphamy
Sex: Female
Age: 28
Date of Birth: 1752 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Nance
Sex: Female
Age: 08
Date of Birth: 1772 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Titus
Sex: Male
Age: 03
Date of Birth: 1777 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Mary
Sex: Female
Age: 10
Date of Birth: 1770 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jem
Sex: Male
Age: 30
Date of Birth: 1750 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Prince
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Thomas, Joseph
City or Township: Plumstead
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Bill
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 1757 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Thomas, Martha
City or Township: Hilltown
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: Daughter of Richard Thomas, and mentioned in his will as the person to whom he bequeathed his slave Rose.
- Slave Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Birth: ?
Status: To be manumitted at age 30
Description: "Little Negro Girl"
Source: Will of Richard Thomas, 1772: Hilltown, Bucks County, PA
Date of Record: May 08, 1776
Notes: Will of Richard Thomas, dated 1772 and proved 1776, bequeaths Rose to his daughter Martha, and stipulates that Rose is to be freed at age 30. Partial text of will: "I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Martha the full and Just Sume of fifty Pounds of like money as affore said, and also my little Negroe Girl Called Rose Untill She attains to the age of thirty years, and my will is that then, if She lives to the age of thirty years, She Shall from thence forward be a free Negroe as although She had never been a slave."
- Slaveholder Name: Thomas, Richard
City or Township: Hilltown
Occupation: Yeoman
Slaveholder Notes: The will of Richard Thomas, dated 1772, bequeaths and provides for the manumission of two slaves, Rose and Felis.
- Slave Name: Felis
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Birth: ?
Status: To be manumitted at age 30
Description: Negro
Source: Will of Richard Thomas, 1772: Hilltown, Bucks County, PA
Date of Record: May 08, 1776
Notes: Will of Richard Thomas, dated 1772 and proved in 1776, stipulates that Felis is to be freed at age 30. Partial text of will: " I give and bequeath unto my Negroe Felis her freedom when she Attains to the age of thirty years and that She shall from thence forward to a free woman."
- Slave Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Birth: ?
Status: To be manumitted at age 30
Description: "Little Negro Girl"
Source: Will of Richard Thomas, 1772: Hilltown, Bucks County, PA
Date of Record: May 08, 1776
Notes: Will of Richard Thomas, dated 1772 and proved 1776, bequeaths Rose to his daughter Martha, and stipulates that Rose is to be freed at age 30. Partial text of will: "I give and bequeath unto my Daughter Martha the full and Just Sume of fifty Pounds of like money as affore said, and also my little Negroe Girl Called Rose Untill She attains to the age of thirty years, and my will is that then, if She lives to the age of thirty years, She Shall from thence forward be a free Negroe as although She had never been a slave."
- Slaveholder Name: Thompson, William
City or Township: Wrightstown
Occupation: Miller
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Nat
Sex: Male
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Harry
Sex: Male
Age: 01 Year and 02 Months
Date of Birth: 1779 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Sal
Sex: Female
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Joe
Sex: Male
Age: 33
Date of Birth: 1747 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Eve
Sex: Female
Age: 27
Date of Birth: 1753 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Cartar
Sex: Male
Age: 21
Date of Birth: 1759 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Thornton, Joseph
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: Slave ownership mentioned in Quaker Middletown Monthly Meeting Minutes, July 08, 1777: "The following Friends still persist in hold slaves: Jonathan Willett, Joseph Thornton,
John Jenks, and William Rodman [the latter having it under consideration]"
And in September 10, 1777 minutes: "Joseph Thornton has set two of his Negroes free." (Source: Middletown Monthly Meeting, Men's Minutes, Bucks County)
The is apparently the son of Joseph Thornton, Sr., owner of the Court Inn in
Newtown.
- Slave Name: Violet
Sex: Female
Age: 06
Date of Birth: 1774 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description: Mulatto
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Pompey
Sex: Male
Age: 10
Date of Birth: 1770 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "bound in the Jerseys."
- Slave Name: Cuff
Sex: Male
Age: 35
Date of Birth: 1745 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Tomb, Hugh
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Prince
Sex: Male
Age: 20
Date of Birth: 1760 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Joshua
Sex: Male
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Flora
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jud
Sex: Female
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Henry
Sex: Male
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Henry
Sex: Male
Age: 53
Date of Birth: 1727 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Fema
Sex: Female
Age: 04
Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Lena
Sex: Female
Age: 06
Date of Birth: 1774 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Torbert, Lamb
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: 12
Date of Birth: 1768 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanaisdalen, Elizabeth
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Phoebe
Sex: Female
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1769 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: 08
Date of Birth: 1772 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Thomas
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Levi
Sex: Male
Age: 01
Date of Birth: 1779 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanaisdalen, Garret
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Poll
Sex: Female
Age: 01
Date of Birth: 1787-September 05
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: February 10, 1789
Notes:
- Slave Name: Bill
Sex: Male
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1797-September 24
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: December 16, 1797
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanaisdalen, James
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Anthony
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Mary
Sex: Female
Age: 16
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanaisdalen, Nicholas
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Sall
Sex: Female
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1755 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Mime
Sex: Female
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Cate
Sex: Female
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanaisdalen, Simon
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Thom
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Cuffy
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
-- ran away in 1792 Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Ran away in 1792. Simon Vanaisdalen (spelled
Vanartsdalen in the advertisement) placed the following ad in the
Pennsylvania Gazette to recover Cuff:
FIVE DOLLARS REWARD.
RAN AWAY from the subscriber, living in Southampton township, Bucks county, on
the 1st of September instant, a Negroe Man, named CUFF, about 27 years of age, 5
feet 6 or 7 inches high, remarkable large feet and hands, and has lost several
of his upper teeth; had on when he went away, a full'd lightish brown colour
linsey coat, shirt, tow trowsers, and an old hat. Whoever takes up said Negroe
and brings him to his master, or secures him so that he may get him again, shall
have the above reward, and reasonable charges, paid by
SIMON VANARTSDALEN. - Slave Name: Rachel
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Date of Birth: 1763 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanartsdalen, Garret
City or Township:
Northampton Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age: Age not reported, but described as a "man." Date of Birth:
Not known. Adult in 1799 Status: Slave for life--runaway Description:
"Negro Man" Source: Advertisement in The Pennsylvania Gazette,
16 January 1799 Date of Record: 1799
Notes: Ran away:
One Dollar Reward.
RAN AWAY from the subscriber, living in Northampton township, on the 17th of December last, a Negro Man named TOM, about six feet high; had on when he went away an ash coloured coat, of fulled linsey, and brown cloth trowsers. Whoever takes up said negro, and delivers him to his master, shall have the above reward, but no charges paid.
GARRET VANARTSDALEN.
N.B. All persons are hereby forbid harbouring said Negro at their peril.
Jan. 7, 1799.
- Slaveholder Name: Vancourt, Cornelius
City or Township: Bristol
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Hannah
Sex: Female
Age: 06
Date of Birth: 1774 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vandegriff, John
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Jude
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Date of Birth: 1762 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Silvia
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Date of Birth: 1758 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Thom
Sex: Male
Age: 37
Date of Birth: 1743 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vandegriff, Joseph
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation: Innholder
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Flora
Sex: Female
Age: 03
Date of Birth: 1777 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Hagar
Sex: Female
Age: 44
Date of Birth: 1736 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vandergriff, Abraham
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Samuel
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Hannah
Sex: Female
Age: 08
Date of Birth: 1772 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Scippio
Sex: Male
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 1761 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Fortunatus
Sex: Male
Age: 65
Date of Birth: 1715 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vandyke, Jacob
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes: Surname spelled "Vandike" on 1780 Registrations.
- Slave Name: Will
Sex: Male
Age: 16
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description: Negro (Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, December 12, 1787)
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Sold to Alexander Allair in Philadelphia, who in turn
sold him to Tench Coxe. Will ran away in December 1787 from Coxe. Described in the runaway ad
as: "stout built, has good teeth, is rather thin, speaks
good English and Low Dutch, swears often. He was born in
Bucks county, in the family of Mr. Jacob Vandike, since
a slave to Mr. Alexander Allair, in this city. He has
been seen in Southampton township, and in this city
since he went away, when his eyes were sore from a cold
he caught lately, he has a cough of some standing, but
it is not very violent."
- Slave Name: Aram
Sex: Male
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1796-September 20
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: December 03, 1796
Notes:
- Slave Name: Ish
Sex: Male
Age: 06
Date of Birth: 1774 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Aram
Sex: Male
Age: 01
Date of Birth: 1779 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Bet
Sex: Female
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1769 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Eff
Sex: Female
Age: 04
Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jack
Sex: Male
Age: 38
Date of Birth: 1742 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: 32
Date of Birth: 1748 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Pett
Sex: Female
Age: 08
Date of Birth: 1772 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vandyke, Lambert
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation: Carpenter
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Isaac
Sex: Male
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1796-July 10a
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: September 10, 1796
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanhart, Adam
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Agness Bent
Sex:
Female Age: Not reported, but described as a "girl." Date of Birth:
Prior to 1781. Status: Probably slave for life
Description: "Mulatto
Girl" Source:
New Jersey Gazette, 1781 Date of Record: January 31,
1781 Notes: Agness ran away in late January, 1781. Text
of runaway ad placed by Vanhart:
Bucks County, January 31, 1781;
RAN AWAY, from the subscriber, on the 29th ult, a MULATTO GIRL named Agness Bent, had on when she went away, a dark linsey gown and petticoat, light coloured cloak, black bonnet, low heel'd shoes; and as she has taken with her sundry other clothes, she may alter her dress. Whoever takes up said Mulatto shall have Three Hundred Dollars reward, and reasonable charges, paid by me ADAM VANHART. N.B. All persons are hereby forbid to harbour her; if they do, they shall be prosecuted according to law.
- Slaveholder Name: Vanhorn, Barnard
City or Township: Upper Makefield
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: See next slaveholder entry: "Vanhorn, Barnard, Administrator."
- Slave Name: Elijah
Sex: Male
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description: Mulatto
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanhorn, Barnard, Administrator
City or Township: Upper Makefield
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: 1780 Registration includes this note: "Admr. To the
Estate of John Earles of Warminster decd."
- Slave Name: Cupid
Sex: Male
Age: 40
Date of Birth: 1740 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration includes this note: "Admr. To the
Estate of John Earles of Warminster decd."
- Slave Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: 04
Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration includes this note: "Admr. To the
Estate of John Earles of Warminster decd."
- Slave Name: Betty
Sex: Female
Age: 48
Date of Birth: 1732 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration includes this note: "Admr. To the
Estate of John Earles of Warminster decd."
- Slaveholder Name: Vanhorne, Abraham
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: Father of Isaac Vanhorne. See Isaac Vanhorne for mention of the estate inventory and last will of Abraham Vanhorne.
- Slave Name: Caesar
Sex: Male
Age:
Date of Birth: 1730 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Estate Inventory of Abraham Vanhorne. See Isaac Vanhorne, below.
Date of Record: 1770
Notes:
- Slave Name: Subiah (not sure of spelling)
Sex: Female
Age: "woman"
Date of Birth: No data available
Status: Slave for life
Description: None available
Source: Estate Inventory of Abraham Vanhorne. See Isaac Vanhorne, below.
Date of Record: 1770
Notes:
- Slave Name: Not named
Sex: Male
Age: "man"
Date of Birth: No data available
Status: Slave for life
Description: None available
Source: Estate Inventory of Abraham Vanhorne. See Isaac Vanhorne, below.
Date of Record: 1770
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vanhorne, Isaac
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes: Son of Abraham Vanhorne. Isaac probably gained ownership of Ceasar from his father's will, dated 1770, probated 1773. Though the will does not mention the disposition of any slaves, three slaves are counted in the estate inventory. Those slaves are Ceasar, another unnamed man, and a woman named Subiah (not sure of spelling). Isaac Vanhorne registered only Caesar in 1780. The fate of the other two slaves is not known at this time.
The 1790 Federal census appears to show a single slave for Isaac Vanhorne. No slaves are enumerated in his household by the time of the 1800 Federal census, nor does he show up in the list of slaveholders in the 1800 Septennial Census for Bucks County. (E-mail correspondence, Tim Conrad to Afrolumens Editor, December 16, 2002:
Caesar would likely be the slave of his father, Abraham Vanhorn. In the estate records for Abraham (will dated 7 Feb 1770, probated 7 Apr 1773), there
is an inventory that lists 3 slaves:
man called Caesar, woman called Subiah (? difficult to read), and another slave man (not named).
I would think that Caesar was probably passed on to his son Isaac who inherited part of the estate in the will (there is no mention of slaves in the
will).
I didn't see anything that looked like "Subiah" in your PA listings.
Isaac Vanhorn married his second (maybe third) in 1786 at a Presbyterian Church, but he later became a Quaker at the Friend's Meetinghouse in Wrightstown
(and is to be buried there). So I'm guessing that he wouldn't have been able to keep a slave while there. In the 1790 census, there's a couple of entries for Isaac Vanhorn, but I'm pretty sure the one for this Isaac has numbers "2-2-4-1-0", the last one indicating one slave. In the entry for 1800, he doesn't have a slave.
Feel free to pass this on to anyone researching slaves in Bucks County.
Tim Conrad, tconrad"at"alum.bucknell.edu)
- Slave Name: Caesar
Sex: Male
Age: 50
Date of Birth: 1730 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vansandt, Nicholas
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Ellen
Sex: Female
Age: 30
Date of Birth: 1750 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Audy
Sex: Female
Age: 10 years old
Date of Birth: 1770 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Richard
Sex: Male
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vansant, ?
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Brown, Lucy (a.k.a. Sukey)
Sex: Female
Age: ? (adult, married)
Date of Birth: ?
Status: Runaway
Description: "Negro Wench"
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, July 18 and September 08, 1778
Date of Record: July 18, 1778
Notes: Ran away from a new owner, Philip Moser of Philadelphia, in mid-1778. scaped with her husband, James Brown, a free Black. Lucy (also called Sukey) is described in the runaway ad as "tall. stutters when she speaks in a hurry." The ad also notes that she was "born and bred in Bucks County."
- Slaveholder Name: Vansant, Harman
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Farmer, Isaac
Sex: Male
Age: 50
Date of Birth: 1730 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vansant, Jacob
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Jim
Sex: Male
Age: 10
Date of Birth: 1770 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jim
Sex: Male
Age: 30
Date of Birth: 1750 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Vansant, Nathaniel
City or Township: Bensalem
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Ishmael
Sex: Male
Age: 38
Date of Birth: 1758 (calculated)
Status: Runaway
Description: Negro
Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 20, 1796
Date of Record: April 20, 1796
Notes: Ran away April 12, 1796. Described in the runaway ad as
"well set, about five feet eight inches high, very
sensible, and of a genteel behaviour, something of a
scholar, about thirty-eight years of age, his sight
somewhat bad, a blemish in one eye, if not both, but
scarcely perceivable, the little finger on his right
hand lays flat, the others on the same hand somewhat
stiff, with a cut near his elbow, which left a scar; he
is subject to drink."
- Slaveholder Name: Vansant, Peter
City or Township: Lower Makefield
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Priscilla
Sex: Female
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1796-April 30
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: August 30, 1796
Notes:
- Slave Name: Joseph
Sex: Male
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1799-October 04
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: March 07, 1800
Notes:
- Slave Name: Gibbs, Richard
Sex: Male
Age: 82
Date of Birth: 1698 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Richard Gibbs is the oldest slave to be registered in
1780 in Bucks County.
- Slave Name: Mike
Sex: Male
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: More, William
Sex: Male
Age: 34
Date of Birth: 1746 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: James
Sex: Male
Age: 04
Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Peg
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Date of Birth: 1754 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Walker, Richard
City or Township: Warrington
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Genn
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 1757 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Bett
Sex: Female
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Bill
Sex: Male
Age: 13
Date of Birth: 1767 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: James
Sex: Male
Age: 15
Date of Birth: 1765 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Ruth
Sex: Female
Age: 56
Date of Birth: 1724 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Walton, Jonathan
City or Township: Warminster Township
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Peet
Sex: Male
Age: 20a
Date of Birth: 1758 (calculated)
Status: Runaway
Description: Negro Man
Source: The Pennsylvania Packet, September 03, 1778
Date of Record: September 03, 1778
Notes: Ran away in August, 1778. Described in the runaway ad
as "five feet ten or eleven inches high."
- Slaveholder Name: Walton, William
City or Township: Bristol
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Nancy
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Date of Birth: 1758 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Caesar
Sex: Male
Age: 40
Date of Birth: 1740 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description: Mulatto
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "A Mollattoe Slave for Life."
- Slave Name: Joe
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: John
Sex: Male
Age: 03
Date of Birth: 1777 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Hann
Sex: Female
Age: 13
Date of Birth: 1767 (calculated)
Status: slave to age 31
Description: Mulatto
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at the age of 31
Years a Mollattoe."
- Slave Name: Isaac
Sex: Male
Age: 01
Date of Birth: 1779-December 25
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration gives exact date of birth for this
person.
- Slave Name: Charles
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Date of Birth: 1753 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Warder, Elizabeth
City or Township: Lower Makefield
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Amy Cary
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Date of Birth: May 2, 1766
Status: Slave for life, apparently manumitted at age 18
Description: "Negroe girl"
Source: Manumission document, recorded in the (Lower Makefield) Quarterly Meeting book, page 28, 15 January, 1781.
Document came up for public auction on eBay in April, 2004.
Date of Record: 15 January, 1781
Notes: Partial text of document: "I, Elizabeth Warder, of the Township of Lower Makefield, in the county of Bucks in
Pennsylvania, do hereby set free from bondage, my Negroe girl named Amy Carey when she shall arrive at the age of eighteen years
which will be on the second day of the fifth month, ano domini, one thousand seven hundred and eighty four." The document further
states at the bottom: "Memorandum: that ye above named Amy was born ye 2 day of ye 5th month, 1766."
- Slaveholder Name: Watts, Arthur
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Aaron
Sex: Male
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Daphne
Sex: Female
Age: 25
Date of Birth: 1755 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: West, James
City or Township: Warwick
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Jean
Sex: Female
Age: 04
Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Wikoff, Isaac
City or Township: Bristol
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Hester
Sex: Female
Age: 16
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Will
Sex: Male
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Phoebe
Sex: Female
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 1761 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Pompey
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Date of Birth: 1744 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Hannah
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Willett, Augustin
(General)
City or Township: Bristol
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes: The 1780 Registration for "Jude" lists Willet's township
as Bensalem, and his occupation as yeoman. I believe
this is the same person as listed here, though.
- Slave Name: Rachel
Sex: Female
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1781-August 14
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: n. d.
Notes: Registration is not dated.
- Slave Name: Jude
Sex: Female
Age: 25
Date of Birth: 1755 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Priam
Sex: Male Age:
Not recorded Date of Birth: Pre-1776 Status: Slave for life
Description:
"old slave" Source: THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA,
CHAPTERS L & LI, MANORS AND LARGE LAND GRANTS; NEGRO SLAVERY IN BUCKS COUNTY.
From the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M.,
1876 and 1905 editions. Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Donna
Bluemink. [email protected] Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
From Davis, History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "General Augustin
Willett, of Bensalem, had a favorite old slave who bore the high-sounding name
of Priam, who was with his master in the Revolutionary army, and accompanied him
in all his goings. The general's estate was charged with his support."
- Slaveholder Name: Willett, Jonathan
City or Township: Southampton
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: Slave ownership mentioned in Quaker Middletown Monthly
Meeting Minutes, July 08, 1777: "The following Friends
still persist
in hold slaves: Jonathan Willett, Joseph Thornton,
John Jenks, and William Rodman [the latter having it under consideration]"
And in April 12, 1778 minutes: "Jonathan Willett has
set one Negro free since last meeting." (Source: Middletown Monthly Meeting, Men's Minutes, Bucks County)
- Slave Name: Lid
Sex: Female
Age: 13
Date of Birth: 1767 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Peg
Sex: Female
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1769 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Bell
Sex: Female
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 1761 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jude
Sex: Female
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Stace
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Dine
Sex: Female
Age: 25
Date of Birth: 1755 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Williams, Stephen
City or Township: Milford Mills
Occupation: Miller
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Plymouth
Sex: Male
Age: "27 years of age"
Date of Birth: circa 1735
Status: Slave for life
Description: "Negro man"
Source: Pennsylvania Gazette, 26 February 1756
Date of Record:
Notes: Plymouth escaped from Williams in the winter of 1755-1756. Text of advertisement placed by Williams to recover him:
Went away from the subscriber, at Milford mills, on Neshaminey-creek, in Bucks county, a Negroe man, named Plymouth, 27 years of age, five feet nine inches high, square shoulder'd, smooth face, speaks good English, plays on the fiddle, and is well acquainted in Philadelphia; Had on, a hat whitened with meal, Germantown cap, a cloth colour'd frize waistcoat, whitened with meal, a linsey under waistcoat, with red, white and green stripes, leather breeches, grey yarn stockings, and peeked toed shoes. Whoever will take the said negroe to the Workhouse, or bring him to his master, shall have Forty Shillings reward, paid by the master of the workhouse, or STEPHEN WILLIAMS.
- Slave Name: Name not given in ad
Sex: Male
Age: Not stated, described as a "boy"
Date of Birth: Not known
Status: Slave for life
Description: "Negro Boy"
Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 06, 1756
Date of Record: May 06, 1756
Notes: Offered for sale in May, 1756. Ad text: "TO be sold by the subscriber, at Milford mills, on Neshaminy creek, in Bucks county, A very likely Negro boy; has had the small-pox, this country born; six months credit will be allowed the buyer, giving security. STEPHEN WILLIAMS."
- Slave Names: Not stated (seven slaves in all)
Sex: Male/Female
Ages: Various
Dates of Birth: Not stated
Status: Slaves for life
Description: "Negroe Man." "Negroe Woman," "Negroe Boy"
Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, September 28, 1758
Date of Record: September 28, 1758
Notes: Offered for sale in 1758 along with the premises of the mill. See the ad, below:
Millford Mills, Bucks County, September 14, 1758.
To be SOLD or LETT, for a Term of Years, by the Subscriber, living on the Premises.
THE Mills, known by the Name of Millford Mills, situated on Neshaminy Creek, in Bucks County, one Mile from Lawrence Growdon, Esq; nineteen Miles by Land from Philadelphia, and seventeen by Water from the Landing, which is two Miles from the said Mills; on which there is a good Storehouse and Wharff, where a Vessel may come with 1000 Bushels of Wheat in her. Also a Piece of Meadow Ground, that generally produces 15 or 20 Tons of the best Hay yearly. Likewise a decked Flat, capable of taking down all the Flour, Stuff, &c. made in the said Mills, and bringing up any Quantity of Wheat,
with a careful Negroe Man, that has constantly gone in her; and a Negroe Man, by Trade a Miller, who perfectly understands the Business, and something of a Cooper And Carter. Also another Negroe Man, by Trade a Dry Cooper, and a good Workman.
A Negroe Woman, a compleat Cook, can sew, wash, and iron well, and is a compleat Servant in a Family. The Remainder of a Servant's Time, who has done all my Carting Business, and is very careful.
And a Negroe Boy or two. The Mills are as well watered as any in the Country. There is a good Dwelling house, Stable, Barracks, Cooper Shop, and every other Necessary to compleat the same, and lies on the high Road, the nearest from Philadelphia to Trenton of any use, and without crossing Neshaminy Ferry, being a convenient Situation for a Merchant, where any Quantity of Pork may be taken in to barrel, or other Tradesmen. For further Particulars, enquire of the Subscriber, living on the Premises.
- Slaveholder Name: Willson, Francis
City or Township:
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: 16
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: March 12, 1783
Notes: Late registration. This slave probably should have been set free.
- Slaveholder Name: Wilson, John
City or Township: Buckingham
Occupation: Esquire
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Samuel West
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Date of Birth: 1779 (calculated)
Status: Manumitted
Description: Negro Man
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: December 04, 1806
Notes: Partial text of manumission papers: (The owner, John Wilson of Buckingham Township, does) "set free from Bondage and at liberty a certain Negroe Man named Sam or Samuel West duly registered a Slave in November 1780 then aged one year."
- Slaveholder Name: Wincke, James
City or Township: Lower Makefield
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Prudence
Sex: Female
Age: 02 Years and 06 Months
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Phoebe
Sex: Female
Age: 20
Date of Birth: 1760 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Archibald
Sex: Male
Age: 10 Months
Date of Birth: 1779 or 1780 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Winder, James
City or Township: Falls
Occupation:
Slaveholder Notes: Slave ownership mentioned in Quaker Monthly Meeting Minutes, Falls Meeting, July 11, 1764
- Slave Name: ?
Sex: ?
Age: ?
Date of Birth: ?
Status:
Description: Negro
Source: Falls Monthly Meeting, Men's Minutes, Bucks County
Date of Record: July 11, 1764
Notes: Mentioned in Quaker Monthly Meeting Minutes, Falls Meeting: "7/11/1764 - Reported that James Winder is evasive and unclear as to the Negro he had purchased and he had been concerned in horse racing and at another time quarreling and fighting. [ disowned ]"
- Slaveholder Name: Wright, Joshua
City or Township: Bristol Borough
Occupation: Innkeeper
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Amanda
Sex: Female
Age: 01 Year and 06 Months
Date of Birth: 1779 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Julian
Sex: Not Determined
Age: 18
Date of Birth: 1762 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Wynkoop, Gerandas
City or Township: Northampton
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Flora
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Wynkoop, Henry
City or Township: Northampton Township
Occupation: Judge, farmer
Slaveholder Notes: For a complete Wynkoop family history, visit the website "The Wynkoop Family Research Library." The life, family, and times of Henry Wynkoop are described in an old, somewhat romanticized but still valuable, account, found in "John Beatty's 3rd Record Book," at that site.
- Slave Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age: 68
Date of Birth: 1712 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Toney, or Tony
Sex: Male
Age: 31
Date of Birth: 1749 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life; Manumitted 1793
Description: Negro Man
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Manumitted by Henry Wynkoop in December, 1793 (Manumission papers of Henry Wynkoop of Bucks County). A partial text of Henry Wynkoop's manumission papers reads: "Know all then by these presents that I Henry Wynkoop of Northampton Township in the County of Bucks Esquire for divers good causes and considerations me thereunto moving and of my own motion without any pecuniary consideration have manumitted and set free my Negro Woman Slave named and registered by the Name of Phebe, also my Negro Man named and Registered by the Name of Tony (both above the age of twenty eight years) and also my Negro Man Tom registered by the Same Name and under the age of Twenty eight years and by these presents do manumit and set free the said three Slaves, Phebe Tony and Tom for ever. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal this sixteenth day of December in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety three." (Printed by permission of, and with thanks to, "The Wynkoop Family Research Library.")
)
- Slave Name: Belinda
Sex: Female
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Peter
Sex: Male
Age: 10
Date of Birth: 1770 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Phoebe
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Date of Birth: 1763 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life; Manumitted 1793
Description: Negro
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Manumitted by Henry Wynkoop in December, 1793 (Manumission papers of Henry Wynkoop of Bucks County). See a partial text of the manumission papers under slave "Toney," above.
- Slave Name: Issabel
Sex: Female
Age: 39
Date of Birth: 1741 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life; Manumitted in 1793
Description: Negro
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: Manumitted by Henry Wynkoop in December, 1793 (Manumission papers of Henry Wynkoop of Bucks County). See a partial text of the manumission papers under slave "Toney," above.
- Slave Name: Oliver
Sex: Male
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1769 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Mary
Sex: Female
Age: 58
Date of Birth: 1722 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jeffery
Sex: Male
Age: 41
Date of Birth: 1739 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Wynkoop, Nicholas
City or Township: Newtown
Occupation: Physician
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Rosetta
Sex: Female
Age: -
Date of Birth: 1796-October 25
Status: Slave to age 28
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: January 13, 1797
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Yardley, ?
City or Township: Newtown Township
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Joe
Sex: Male
Age: 34
Date of Birth: 1746 (Calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Jem
Sex: Male
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Fann
Sex: Female
Age: 17
Date of Birth: 1763 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slaveholder Name: Yardley, Thomas
City or Township: Lower Makefield
Occupation: Farmer
Slaveholder Notes: Slave ownership mentioned in Quaker Men's Monthly Meeting Minutes, July 01, 1767: "Makefield reports that Thomas Yeardley of Newtown hath purchased a Negro." (Source: 91)
- Slave Name: Caesar
Sex: Male
Age: 02
Date of Birth: 1778 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slave Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: 45
Date of Birth: 1735 (calculated)
Status: Slave for life
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes:
- Slave Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 1757 (calculated)
Status: slave to age 25
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 25."
- Slave Name: Philip
Sex: Male
Age: 21
Date of Birth: 1759 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slave Name: Charles
Sex: Male
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 1761 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slave Name: Dick
Sex: Male
Age: 14
Date of Birth: 1766 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slave Name: Silvia
Sex: Female
Age: 09
Date of Birth: 1771 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 25
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 25"
- Slave Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age: 05
Date of Birth: 1775 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slave Name: George
Sex: Male
Age: 07
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Status: Slave to age 30
Description:
Source: Bucks County Prothonotary Records; Register of Slaves
Date of Record: 1780
Notes: 1780 Registration notes: "to be free at 30"
- Slaveholder Name: Yeardley, Sarah
City or Township: Lower Makefield
Occupation: Widow
Slaveholder Notes:
- Slave Name: Daniel Cuffy
Sex: Male
Age: "about fifty five years"
Date of Birth: circa 1722
Status: Slave for life, apparently manumitted at age 55
Description: "Negroe Man"
Source: Manumission document, recorded in the (Lower Makefield) Quarterly Meeting book, page 12, 28 January, 1777.
Document came up for public auction on eBay in February 2005.
Date of Record: 28 January, 1777. Notes: Partial text of document: "I Sarah Yeardley, Widow, of the Township of Lower Makefield, in Bucks County & Province of Pennsylvania
do hereby set free from bondage, my Negroe Man Named Daniel Cuffy, aged about fifty five years,
and do, for myself, my executors and administrators, release unto the said Negro
Man Called Daniel Cuffy all my right, and all my claim whatsoever as to his
person, or to any estate he may acquire, hereby declaring the said Negro Man
Named Daniel Cuffy absolutely free, without any interruption from me, or any
person claiming under me."
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