Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Slaveholders P - R

Slaveholders Listed on this Page

1. Patton, David (Enslaved persons listed: Isabella, Rachel, unnamed female, Hagar)
2. Patton, Elizabeth (Enslaved persons listed: Venus)
3. Peiffer, John (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named man)
4. Plunket, William (Enslaved persons listed: Toby, Ben)
5. Postlethwaite, John (Enslaved persons listed: Dick)
6. Ramsey, David (Enslaved persons listed: Dinah, Charles)
7. Reed, Mary (Enslaved persons listed: Dinah, Nancy, Jack)
8. Rees, Jeremiah (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named female, Rachel Thomas)
9. Richardson, Robert R., Jr. (Enslaved persons listed: Andrew Martin)
10. Ritchey, David (Enslaved persons listed: Peter, Violet, Dinah, Isaac Czar, Frank, Phebe, Cato, Bristol, Wine, Crist)
11. Roan, John, Reverend (Enslaved persons listed: Pero)
12. Rodgers, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Simon Jackson)
13. Rogers, Andrew (Enslaved persons listed: Samuel)
14. Rogers, James (Enslaved persons listed: Adam)
15. Rogers, William (Enslaved persons listed: Sue, Jack)

Editor's Notes

Each listing represents a record of one Black enslaved or indentured person. The list is sorted alphabetically according to the slaveholder's surname. This order is useful for several reasons. It groups enslaved persons together who would have lived with the same enslaver, and increases the likelihood of finding persons related to each other. Records of surnames belonging to enslaved persons are rare, many being identified only through their given name. You can search this listing for a specific given name by using your browser's "find" feature.

The locations listed for the slaveholders, especially "Township" are greatly mixed, and generally represent the location listed in the original record. As township boundaries shifted and new townships and counties were created through the years, the original listing may be misleading.

Enslavement Data

• Slaveholder Name: Patton, David
  Township: Paxton (Lower Paxton)
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation: Tanner
  Notes: The 1798 U.S. Direct Tax Roll lists David Patton of Lower Paxton Township with one slave (Source #42). Persons being held until age 28 were not regarded as slaves for tax purposes, so this individual may be the unnamed female who was sold as part of his estate in November of 1801. More specifically, it may be Hagar, a female slave belonging to David Patton, shown in a July 1800 list of slaves in Lower Paxton Township (Source #129).

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Isabella
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Rachel
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  3. Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): 24
     Date of Birth: 1777 (calculated)
     Status: Slave for life
     Date of Registry or Record: 11/25/1801
     Notes: This is probably Hagar, the female slave of the same approximate age belonging to David Patton, who was shown in a July 1800 list of slaves in Lower Paxton Township (see below). Being sold as part of the property of David Patton. See the owner memo, above.
     Text of sale advertisement:
     FOR SALE --David Patton selling 197 acres "plantation" including tannery and land in Londonderry (274 acres). LIKEWISE, will be disposed of, the time of a strong and healthy Negro Wench about 24 years of age (a slave for life.) For terms apply to the subscriber. Nov. 23rd 1801.
     Source: The Farmer's Instructor, and Harrisburgh Courant, November 25, 1801

  4. Enslaved Person's Name: Hagaor (Hagar)
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): 24
     Date of Birth: 1776 (calculated)
     Status: Slave for life
     Date of Registry or Record: July 1800
     Notes: This is most likely the female slave being sold in November 1801as part of the property of David Patton. See the listing above. Also possibly the mother of the slave children registered by the Pattons.
     Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807

• Slaveholder's Name: Patton, Elizabeth
  Township: Lebanon
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation:
  Notes: Widow of Robert Patton (?).

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Venus
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

• Slaveholder's Name: Peiffer, John
  Location: Harrisburg borough
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation: Tanner
  Notes: Estate, including an enslaved man, sold at public auction in April 1797

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Name not provided in ad
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): "aged about nineteen years"
     Date of Birth: circa 1778
     Description: "Negro Male Slave"
     
     Date of Record: 29 March 1797
     Notes: Status: Enslaved for life, sold at public auction on 12 April 1797. Complete text of estate sale ad published by the estate administrators:

     To be Sold,
     By public vendue, on Wednesday the 12th day of April next, at the late dwellinghouse of John Peiffer, deceased, in Harrisburgh, the following property, viz.
     TWO milch Cows, a pair of Oxen, a large assortment of soal and upper Leather, Harness and Calf Skins, finished and unfinished; a great quantity of Bark of the best quality; and all the utensils necessary for tanning and currying. Also,
     A Negro Male Slave, aged about nineteen years; Beds and Bedding; an eight day Clock; a Chest of Drawers; Tables, Windsor Chairs, ten plate Stoves, and a large variety of other household and kitchen Furniture, too numerous to insert in an advertisement. Sale to begin at ten in the morning, and continued from day to day till the whole is sold. Attendance and reasonable credit will be given by
     CHRISTIAN KUNKLE, and JACOB BUCHER, } Adm'rs.
     March 29, 1797.
     N.B. The House and Tan-Yard will be let on that day, for one or more years, if they are not previously rented.

     Source: Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburgh Advertiser, 29 March 1797.

• Slaveholder's Name: Plunket, William
  Township: Paxton
  County: Dauphin  (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
  Occupation: "Dr. of Physick"
  Notes:  Married Esther Harris, daughter of John Harris I. Plunket was a doctor and an officer of the provincial service, and was suspected of being a loyalist during the Revolutionary War. Blocked from joining the Continental Army, Plunket remained a civilian throughout the war. He retired to Sunbury where he died and is buried. Egle writes of his Dauphin County farm:

  In 1769 Doctor William Plunket owned and resided upon a farm of 187 acres in Paxtang township, fronting on the river and adjoining lands of Joseph Smith and John Buzzard. This tract was the moiety of 300 acres which John Harris--who died in 1746--gave to his two sons, Samuel and David Harris. On September 1, 1763, David Harris and his wife Mary sold their share to Dr. Plunket. (William Henry Egle, Notes and Queries, First and Second Series, Volume II, LXXXI, p. 428-429.)

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Toby
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): about 25 years old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," aged about 25 years."
     Sources: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Ben
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): about 23years old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," aged about 23 years."
     Sources: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

• Slaveholder's Name: Postlethwaite, John
  Township: Paxton
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation:
  Notes: Husband of Hannah Wright. Revolutionary War soldier. Moved to Mifflin County about 1789. The 1790 census for Mifflin County shows no slaves in the household of John Postlethwaite. (1790 Census, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania)
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Dick
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 23 or 24
     Date of Registry or Record: July 3, 1766. The same ad ran again on September 4, 1766
     Notes: Status: Self-emancipated. Dick escaped on May 19, 1766. Formerly owned by a Mr. Hunt "in the Jerseys." Spoke English, Low Dutch, French.
     Text of Advertisement:

     RUN away from the Subscriber, in Paxton Township, Lancaster County, on Monday, the 19th of May last, a certain Negroe Man, named Dick, about 5 Feet 6 Inches high, a slim built black Fellow, about 23 or 24 Years old, speaks good English, some Low Dutch, and some French; had on, when he went away, an old Hat, Blanket Coat, good Leather Breeches, old Stockings, good Shoes, but a good deal too large for him, tied with Strings. As he formerly lived with one Mr. Hunt, in the Jerseys, it is thought will make that way, or towards Philadelphia. Whoever takes up said Negroe, and secures him, so as his Master may have him again, shall receive Six Dollars Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by JOHN POSTLETHWAIT.

     Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, July 3, September 4, 1766

• Slaveholder's Name: Ramsey, David
  Township: Hanover
  County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
  Occupation: Farmer
  Notes: Ramsey did not travel to Lancaster to register his enslaved people in 1780, but had the task performed "by his attorney, James Andrews, of the same place."
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): 23
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," aged 23 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Charles
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 3 years old
     Date of Registry or Record: 10/25/1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy," aged 3 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

• Slaveholder's Name: Reed, Mary
  Township: Paxtang Township
  County: Dauphin  (Lancaster, at time of registration)
  Occupation: Widow
  Notes:

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): 27
     Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
     Notes: Has a daughter, Nancy, registered with same owner. Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Woman." Registered at Lancaster.
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Nancy
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): "9 years last November."
     Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
     Notes: "aged 9 years last November" This girl was the daughter of Dinah, a slave registered with this same owner. Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Molata, her [Dinah's] daughter."  Registered at Lancaster.
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  3. Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): One month old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
     Notes: 1 month old. Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Child." Registered at Lancaster.
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

• Slaveholder's Name: Rees, Jeremiah
  Location: Harrisburg Borough
  County:: Dauphin
  Occupation: Innkeeper, Golden Swan Inn
  Notes: Born, 1776; died 1861. Rees operated the Golden Swan Inn, in Harrisburg near the ferry, in 1810. This is documented in the book A Journey to Ohio in 1810, by Margaret Van Horn Dwight. Dwight wrote of staying at Rees' house in November, 1810, while waiting to cross the Susquehanna to East Pennsboro Township on the way to Ohio. While there, Dwight's party was accused by Rees' Black servant of theft.

  1. Enslaved Person's Name Not given in source
     Age Age not given in source, but described as a "girl."
     Sex: Female
     Date of Birth: ?
     Description: "black wench;" "black girl"
     Status: Not determined
     Notes: A servant for Jeremiah Rees at his inn in Dauphin County, "just in the edge of the town." Traveler Margaret Van Horn Dwight, wrote of staying at Rees' place in November, 1810, while waiting for the ferry to take them across the Susquehanna River. This person may be Phillis, an infant registered as the daughter of Tira, by Rees in 1793 (see Rees, Jeremiah on the Cumberland County pages) or it could be Rachel Thomas, below, who in 1821 noted that she had "served her time with Jerry Rees." Dwight's account of staying at Rees' place is below:

     Harrisburg-- P-- Thursday-- Eve--
     November--1^st 1810--
     . . .Mr. Jeremiah Rees is our landlord-- his wife is sick with a fever arising from the Hives at first-- He has a sister who seems to take the direction of the female part of the business-- She is a strange creature--. . .

     Sunday eve-- East pensboro' township-- P--
     We left M^r Rees' yesterday ten oclock-- & after waiting some time at the ferry house, cross'd the Susquehanna with considerable difficulty-- The river is a mile wide & so shallow that the boat would scrape across the large stones so as almost to prevent it from proceeding--. . .I should like to have staid at M^r Rees' till we reach home if it was possible, notwithstanding we had like to have all lost our characters there-- While we were at breakfast, the black wench miss'd nearly 4 dollars of money, & very impudently accused us with taking it, in rather an indirect manner-- I felt at first very angry, but anger soon gave place to pity for the poor girls loss-- It was money she had been saving to buy her a dress-- but she left it about very carelessly in the closet where any one might have taken it who was so disposed-- But had I been inclined to steal, I could not have stolen from a poor black girl-- I would rather have given her as much-- I never felt so queerly in my life-- To be suspected of theft was so new & unexpected to me, that I was wholly unprepar'd for it-- We went to M^r Rees & begg'd him to take some method to satisfy the girl we were innocent but we could not prevail on him to, tho' we really wish'd it-- He gave the girl a severe scolding & desir'd us not to remember it against them, or to suffer ourselves to be made a moment uneasy by it, & both himself and M^rs Rees were extremely sorry any thing of the kind had happen'd-- The girl continued crying & assuring us her money had been safe all summer till then & nobody had been near it but us-- I, nor any of us had any doubt that the landlord's sister, whom I before mention'd, had taken it--. . .

     Dwight gives the name of the sister as "Babby;" Rees had a sister named Barbara. Dwight also mentions that the money was not found before they left Rees' inn. Rees' wife was Lydia Powders, his second wife, whom he married on June 26, 1810, after the death of his first wife, Martha, who died on May 17, 1810. Lydia would die in April 1821 and Rees married for a third time in 1822.
     Date of Record 1810
     Source: Dwight, "A Journey to Ohio in 1810," pages 25-28; Information on Jeremiah Rees is from William Henry Egle, Notes and Queries, Series III, Volume 1, XVIII, page 107.

  2. ThomasEnslaved Person's Name: Rachel Thomas
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record: post 1788
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by Richard Dearmond and sold or transferred, at some point, to Jeremiah Rees, to serve out her time to age 28. The Harrisburg 1821 Registry of African Americans listed Rachel Thomas, aged 42, who was "brought up by Mr. Dearmon and Sarved her time with Jary Rees." Since she was registered some time after 1780 as the child of a slave, it seems apparent that someone overestimated her own age when she was entered into the registry.
     Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves" | "Harrisburg Registry of Free African Americans, 1821-1826," Archives of the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

• Slaveholder's Name: Richardson, Robert R. Jr.
  City: Baltimore
  State: Maryland
  Occupation:
  Notes:

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew Martin
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 26
     Date of Record: 26 July 1828
     Notes: Status: Escaped slave. Note that slaveholders below the Mason-Dixon line offered a considerably higher reward during the same time period than Central Pennsylvania slaveholders, indicating the decreasing value of slaves in Pennsylvania due to changing attitudes and the long term effects of the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1780.
     Source: Harrisburg Argus, July 26, 1828

• Slaveholder's Name: Ritchey, David
  Township: Paxton (Lower Paxton)
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation:
  Notes: Circa 1752-1822
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Peter
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Violet
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  3. Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  4. Enslaved Person's Name: Isaac Czar
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  5. Enslaved Person's Name: Frank
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  6. Enslaved Person's Name: Phebe
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  7. Enslaved Person's Name: Cato
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

  8. Enslaved Person's Name: Bristol
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 14
     Date of Registry or Record: 23 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," 14 years of age, "a slave."
     Sources: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  9. Enslaved Person's Name: Wine ("Winnie?)
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): 16
     Date of Registry or Record: 23 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Woman," 16 years of age, "a slave."
     Sources: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

  10. Enslaved Person's Name: Crist
      Sex: Male
      Age (Years): Not given in record
      Date of Registry or Record: October 25, 1788
      Notes: In a will dated June 1788 and proved October 25, 1788, John Duncan of Dauphin County left his "slave Crist" to his grandson-in-law David Ritchey.
      Source: "Slaves and Indentured Servants in Dauphin County Wills,"

• Slaveholder's Name: Roan, John
  Township: Londonderry
  County: Dauphin (Lancaster at time of record)
  Occupation: Reverend, Derry Presbyterian Church, and Paxton New Side Congregation.
  Notes: Born 1724, died 1775. Husband of Anne Cochran, married 1750 in Chester County.

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Pero
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 23a
     Date of Birth: 1750 (calculated)
     Date of Registry or Record: April 28, 1773
     Notes: Pero ran away in 1773, with an iron collar around his neck. Text of ad placed by Roan to capture him:

     THREE DOLLARS Reward.
     RUN away from the subscriber, in Londonderry township, Lancaster county, a Negroe Man, called PERO, about 23 years old, the insides of both his wrists are remarkably white, though one is whiter than the other; one knee is bent in towards the other, is a great talker and liar; had on a good lappelled jacket, and half worn breeches, both of a light colour, the button holes wrought with red, two shirts, one fine, the other coarse, half worn stockings, and bad shoes; he had an iron collar about his neck, but it is supposed the collar is taken off by some ill-disposed neighbour. Whoever takes up said Negroe, and secures him in any goal, so that his master may have him again, shall have the above reward, paid by
     JOHN ROAN.

     Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 28, 1773
  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in record
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): Age not given in record
     Date of Birth:
     Date of Registry or Record: August 28, 1776
     Notes: Offered for sale in 1776, probably to settle the estate of Roan, who died in October, 1775. Text of ad placed by Roan's executors:

     TO BE SOLD, A LIKELY young NEGROE MAN; any person inclining to purchase him, may be informed, by applying to Anne Roan, or Joseph Boyd, in Londonderry township, Lancaster county, executors of the estate of the Rev. John Roan, deceased, or to the goal keeper in Lancaster. July 17, 1776.

     Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, 28 August 1776.

• Slaveholder's Name: Rodgers, Robert
  Township: West Hanover Township
  County: Dauphin
  Occupation:
  Notes:

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Simon Jackson
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): ?
     Date of Registry or Record:
     Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
     Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves

• Slaveholder's Name: Rogers, Andrew
  Township: Hanover Township
  County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
  Occupation: Farmer
  Notes: Rogers' enslaved man was registered by Robert Boal, acting as his attorney.
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Samuel
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): 6 years old
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy, aged 6 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

• Slaveholder's Name: Rogers, James
  Township: Hanover Township
  County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
  Occupation: Miller
  Notes: Rogers' enslaved man was registered by Robert Boal, acting as his attorney.
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Adam
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): about 25 years old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man, aged about 25 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

• Slaveholder's Name: Rogers, William
  Township: Hanover Township
  County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at the time of the 1780 registration)
  Occupation: Blacksmith
  Notes: Rogers' enslaved persons were registered by Robert Boal, acting as his attorney.
  

  1. Enslaved Person's Name: Sue
     Sex: Female
     Age (Years): about 22 years old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench, aged about 22 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
  2. Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
     Sex: Male
     Age (Years): about 4 years old at registration
     Date of Registry or Record: 10/25/1780
     Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy, aged about 4 years, a "slave during life."
     Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

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