Enslavementto
freedom
A series of pages exploring various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Enslavement in Pennsylvania
Dauphin County List of Slaveholders, 1798
Tax records for the year 1798, the Dauphin County Direct Tax lists, show who owned slaves, considered taxable property. The following lists are taken from the 4th Direct Tax Division, 3rd and 4th Assessment Districts, which covered Dauphin County as it then existed. No names of slaves are given, only numbers. This list can be used in conjunction with the Septennial Census returns for 1800, two years later, which lists only slave names by township or locality, but no slaveholder names.
The official title of this document is "General List of Slaves Owned, or superintended, on the first day of October, 1798, within the third assessment fourth division, State of Pennsylvania." Column headings were "Number," "Owner," "Whole Number of Slaves of All Ages," "Exempt," and "Number of Slaves above the age of 12 and under the age of 50, subject to taxation." In the tables below, we have eliminated the column for "exempt," because no one claimed any exempt slaves in this assessment. For comparison purposes, see the Dauphin County Septennial Census returns for 1800, which lists slaves for each locality by name.
| Townships and Towns with Slaveholders Listed | ||
| Harrisburg | Middletown | Lower Paxton |
| Middle Paxton | Derry | West Hanover |
| Statistics | Source | |
Slaveholder Data
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves Between ages 12 and 50 |
| 1 | John A. Hanna | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | John Irwin | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Henry Hall | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Elizabeth Hunt | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Alexander Graydon | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Andrew Lee | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | Galbraith Patterson | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | David Elder | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | John Wyeth | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Robert Harris | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 13 | 13 |
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves Between ages 12 and 50 |
| 1 | William Crabb | 2 | 2 |
| Note: numbering is continued on the list for Lower Paxton Township | Total | 2 | 2 |
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves Between ages 12 and 50 |
| 2 | Henry Stoner | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Edward Croutch | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Richard Foulton | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | Elizabeth Burd | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Ludwig Dagon | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Jacob Awl | 2 | 2 |
| 8 | Jane Duncan | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Joshua Elder | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Cornelius Cox | 3 | 3 |
| 11 | Archibald McAllister | 2 | 2 |
| 12 | John Kelso | 1 | 1 |
| 13 | Robert Gilchrist | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | James Wiggins | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | John Carson | 1 | 1 |
| 16 | George Sheiley | 1 | 1 |
| 17 | David Montgomery | 2 | 2 |
| 18 | David Patton | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Elizabeth Wiggins | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 25 | 25 |
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves between ages 12 and 50 |
| 1 | John Gross | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Cury (?) Cochran | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 2 | 2 |
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves between ages 12 and 50 |
| 1 | Christian Bear | 1 | 1 (male) |
| 2 | Samuel Johnson |
2 (1 male, 1 female) |
2 |
| 3 | Heirs of Col. Robert McKee | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 4 | 4 | |
|
Statement at end of document: "A list of the Slaves in the township of Derry in the County of Dauphin on the 2nd of October 1798. The above list of Slaves in Derry Township are all what have Come to my knowledge on the 22d day of March AD 1799. --Adam Hamaker." |
|||
| Number | Slaveholder Name |
Whole # of slaves |
Slaves between ages 12 and 50 |
| 1 | Rev. James Snodgrass | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Samuel Wilson "one sold to John Fox in May 1800" | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | John Rogers | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Samuel Sturgeon | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | William Allen | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Samuel Stewart | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Dr. William Symonton | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | David Ferguson | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | James Wilson | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | Samuel Bell | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 10 | 10 |
Total number of slaves recorded in county: 56
Total number of taxable slaves (those between ages 12 and 50 years of age) reported in county: 56
Enumeration dated 01 October, 1798
Notes: No slaves under age 12 were reported because this definition
for slave referred to slaves for life. With the passage of the Gradual
Abolition Act of 1780, all slaves for life would have been age 18 or
older. Some of these slaveholders certainly owned term slaves, or children
of slaves who were to be manumitted at age 28. These term slaves would not
have been reported as taxable possessions, however, and do not show up
here. A more pointed question is why no slaves older than age 50 were
recorded in the column for "whole number of slaves of all ages."
The 1800 Septennial census shows three in Lower Paxton Township age 60, who
should have been included here. It is possible that the tax assessors
simply excluded or ignored those slaves that were not considered taxable.
Source for this material
U.S. Direct Tax of 1798:Tax Lists for the State of Pennsylvania 4th Direct Tax Division, 3rd and 4th Assessment Districts (Dauphin County). Microcopy No. 372, 1798 Direct Tax Lists, Dauphin County, roll number 11. Microfilm in the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg, PA.