Slave Manumissions, 1787-1844
RECORD GROUP: County Clerk
RECORD SERIES #: 1700
SERIES: Slave Manumissions
DATES: 1787-1844
VOLUME: 1 cubic foot (four books, 374 documents)

Negro Slave Sarah Johnson by owner Benjamin Meshue of Middletown
September 22, 1825 (title page only)
Deed of Manumissions, 1804-1844; 169 leaves, usually one slave per leave
Slave owner lists, 5, from 1771 & 1780 Shrewsbury, Stafford, Middletown, Freehold tax lists
Manumission Book C, 1815-1835, 185 manumissions
Manumission Book D, 1832-1850, 38 manumissions
Miscellaneous Book B, 1780-1816, 181 manumissions, (some repeated due to co-ownership)
Miscellaneous Book C, 1817-1833, 25 manumissions, (some repeated due to co-ownership)
Manumission Books C & D include both copies of the deeds of manumission and the certificates of examination by two overseers of the poor and two justices of the peace, attesting that the slave was of sound mind and body, and between the ages of twenty and forty.
At least one deed of manumission on file, that of Samuel Baily, a slave owned and freed by C. Hendrickson in 1835, was not recorded in either Manumission Book C or D.
Manumission records before 1791 are scattered in a variety of court records and other documents in the Monmouth County Archives and are not indexed with this series.
The Deeds of Manumission, Manumission Books C and D, and Miscellaneous Books B and C provide information concerning 429 manumissions, of which 428, excepting Baily, were published in Manumission Book of Monmouth County, New Jersey 1791-1844, compiled by Ellen Thorne Morris and edited by George H. Moss, Jr. This 75-page book was published in 1992 by the Jane G. Clayton, Monmouth County Clerk. Additional information regarding these records may be found in that publication.
Manumission Books C & D consisting of 224 digitized records are available online on the county website at Open Public Records Search System (OPRS). They are searchable by slave first name, slave last name, owner first name, owner last name, and date of manumission.
Miscellaneous Book B is online. It is not electronically searchable but the book does include an index.
An Access database is available offline, which includes 431 records from Manumission Books C & D and Miscellaneous Books B & C.
A copy of Manumission Book of Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1791-1844, is on file in the Archives reading room.
Miscellaneous Book B is arranged chronologically. Names of slave owners in the index in the front pages of the book are noted “Manumission.” The deeds of manumissions recorded in this 176-page book are interspersed with other records, such as the establishment of Baptist Church of Middletown; a report of the death of Patriot Abel Ivins mentioning that his wife Valeriah is now indigent; and other types. As there was no deadline for owners to file, the manumission dates are not in chronological order.
Manumission Books C & D are arranged chronologically as the clerk recorded the reports submitted by slave owners.
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Manalapan, NJ 07726
Phone: 732-308-3771