Study Areas

Enslavement

20th Century History

February 1751: Sarah Escaped from Judah Hays in New York

New-York, February 7, 1750-1.
RUn away last Sunday night, from Judah Hays, a Negroe wench, named Sarah, aged about 30 years; she is a likely wench, of a Mulatto complexion, was brought up at Amboy, in Col. Hamilton's family, and has had several Masters in the Jerseys: She dresses very well, has a good parcel of cloaths, and speaks good English. Whoever takes up the said wench, and brings her to her master, or secures her in any county goal, so that he may have her again, shall receive Forty Shillings reward, and reasonable charges. Whoever entertains said wench, shall be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law. All masters of vessels, boat-men, &c. are forewarned of conveying said wench away, as they shall answer the same.
N.B. Said wench has robb'd her said master, in apparel, &c. upwards of Fifty Pounds.

Notes: New Jersey born Sarah had already experienced being sold and re-sold by the time she ended up with Judah Hays in New York. Hays was a Holland-born merchant and ship owner who received a commission to operate his ship, Duke of Cumberland, as a privateer during the Seven Years War. He was also a conspicuous and combative member of New York City's Jewish community. A visitor in 1744 noted that Hays kept a sedan chair in a local stable, and owned slaves. As head of his family, he was described as "stern and despotic." After Sarah's escape on a Sunday night, Hays published the above notice of her escape and offered a reward. He wrote that she was "brought up at Amboy, in Col. Hamilton's family." This is likely a reference to Colonel John Hamilton (c1681-1747), a New Jersey politician and acting governor of the province.

Sources: The Pennsylvania Gazette, 19 February 1751, page 2. Charles Reznikoff, "A Gallery of Jewish Colonial Worthies, Some Loyalists, Some Patriots: II," Commentary, January 1955. "GM Hays," Masonic Genealogy.com, online at https://masonicgenealogy.com/MediaWiki/index.php?title=GMHays, accessed 09 January 2025.

June 1751: Sarah is Believed Hidden in Philadelphia

WHereas the subscriber hereof, has great reason to apprehend that his Negroe wench Sarah, formerly advertised in this paper, has been and is now harboured and concealed by some white person in this town; this is to give publick notice, that whoever brings said wench to me, or has her confined in goal, shall immediately receive from me Five Pounds as a reward: And farther, that whoever will give information upon oath, who it is that harbours and detains said Negroe wench, shall have Ten Pounds reward.
N.B. All masters of vessels, boatmen and others, are cautioned against taking said wench on board, as she has lately been seen in sailors dress.
JUDAH HAYS.

Notes: Four months after her escape from New York, Hays had not yet recovered Sarah. Information had come to Hays placing her in Philadelphia. Further, he believed she was being protected by a white sympathiser, and not by Philadelphia's active free Black community. Hays added a final, very interesting note that "she has lately been seen in sailors dress." Cross-dressing to escape detection was a tactic used by freedom seekers, but is rarely documented.

Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, 06 June 1751, page 4.

Covering the history of African Americans in central Pennsylvania from the colonial era through the Civil War.

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