Category Archives: Newark
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Our Abolitionist Ancestors: Newark Born and Bred
March 31, 2019 13th Avenue Presbyerian Church, 1849 Negro Jubilee, 29th Infantry CT Colored Troops, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, 54th Regiment, A.M.E. Zion Church, Abolitionism in Connecticut, Abolitionists in New York, Abolitionists in NJ, Abraham O. King, Abraham Ogden, African-American History in Greenwich, African-Americans in 18th-19th Century Newark, NJ, African-Americans in Peekskill, African-Americans in Westchester County, African-Native abolitionists, AME Church, AME Zion Church, Amistad, Anti-Slavery Society, Bethany Baptist Church, Bishop Christopher Rush, Black Abolitionists, Black Abolitionists in Newark, Black Brigade, Black Loyalist, Blacks in Bergen County, Blacks in Nova Scotia, Blacks in Rockland County, Book of Negroes, Byram, Byram Cemetery, Caleb Bruen, Clinton Ave. Presbyterian Church, Colonel Tye, David A. Bruen, Degrasse, Deyo, Downing, Earky Black Abolitionists in Newark, East Port Chester, Emmanuel D'Angola, Fortune, Frederick Douglass, Free Backs in NJ, Free Blacks, Free Blacks in Newark, Freedom Church, Freedom Churches, George Butler, George E. Green, Green, Hangroot, Harriet Green, Hawley Green, Indigenous Slavery, Indigenous Slavery in New England, Jacob D. King, John Graves Simcoe, John V. Degrasse, King's Orange Rangers, Lewis Henry Douglass, Lyns Farm Schoolhouse, Lyon, Lyons, Lyons Family of New Jersey, Lyons Family of Newark, Lyons Farm, Malagasy Roots, Malagasy Slaves in New York, Native-American Slavery, Negro Jubilee in Newark, New Amsterdam, Newark, Newark Early Black Abolitionists, O'Fake, Oberlin College, Peter Vogelsang, Plane St. Colored Presbyterian Church, Queen's Rangers, Ramapough Lenape, Rev. Alexander Crummell, Rev. Amos G. Beman, Rev. Amos N. Freeman, Rev. Charles H. Thompson, Rev. Christopher Rush, Rev. E.P. Rogers, Rev. Elymas Payson Rogers, Rev. EP Rogers, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, Rev. Isaiah G. DeGrasse, Rev. James W. C. Pennington, Rev. Jehiel Beman, Rev. John A. Dungey, Rev. John A. King, Rev. Samuel Cornish, Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward, Rev. Simeon Jocelyn, Rev. Theodore S. Wright, Rose Fortune, Rutgers University, Rutgers University-Newark, Shiloh Presbyterian Church, Siolam Presbytertian Church, Slavery in CT, Slavery in NJ, Slavery in NY, St. CAtherines Parrish, St. Phillip's Church in Newark, The King Brothers, Undergound Railroad in NJ, Underground Railroad in Newark, Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls Region, Underground Railroad in Peekskill, Underground Railroad in Rochester, Underground Rairlroad in Greenwich, Van Wickle Illegal Slave Trade, Wallace King, Westchester CountyAbraham Ogden, Caleb Bruen, DAvid A. Ogden, Underground Railroad in Buffalo, Underground Railroad in NewarkMsVegatron
This blog is written as a supplement to the Agitate! The Legacy of Frederick Douglass and Abolition in Newark celebration taking place at Rutgers University-Newark on April 17, 2019. A special thank you goes to City of Newark Town Historian Junius Williams who several years ago invited me to add our Thompson-King family history to his website which is devoted to African-American political mobilization and activism in Newark and to his Rutgers University -Newark students Peter Blackmer, Noelle Lorraine Williams, and others. Dr. James Amemasor and the staff at the NJ Historical Society deserve special mention as they have all aided my research for almost a decade now along with my good friend Rich Sears Walling for his endless quest to bring the Van Wickle Illegal Slave Trade to light and seek social justice for the 177 Lost Souls–some of whom were our NJ ancestors. My best friend and purveyor of all the research items I need, Professor Rhonda L. Johnson, Head of Access Services at CUNY- Hostos Community College, my BlackProGen LIVE geneabuddies and fellow Truth Seekers, Muriel "Dee Dee"Roberts, Shannon Christmas, Calvin Schermerhorn, James J. Gigantino II, Joshua Rothman, Graham Russell Hodges, and others who have supported my research over the years.
The greatest thanks go to Chancellor Nancy Cantor, Peter Englot, Sr. VP Chancellor of Public Affairs and Chief of Staff, and Sr. VP Chancellor for External and Government Relations Marcia Brown and for inviting my extended family to this hisoric event and allowing me to speak as well as Dr. Consuella Askew, Director, John Cotton Dana Library. On behalf of our Thompson-King family, we look forward to working with Rutgers University in the near future.
This blog is dedicated to each and everyone of my extended family members who will join us at this event — in person or in spirit, especially my cousin-homie-sister-genealogy research partner, Andrea Hughes. Our Ancestor Angels will be watching us on this day happily knowing that it is in THEIR NAMES that their history of AGITATION will be remembered by all! I can imagine that they are also happy that we will be honoring a man whom they honored in life and that we are being united with his DESCENDANTS on this day. Indeed, this is a day that the Lord has made and we will be glad and rejoice in it.
On April 17-18, 1849, our Prophet of Freedom, Frederick Douglass, visited our hometown of Newark to speak at the Plane Street Colored Presbyterian Church as part of his tour of Northeast African-American churches after the publication of his first book and to drum up support for his newspaper, The North Star. When he arrived, he was introduced by Rev. Samuel Cornish, the pastor of the church at the time, as well as greeted by many of our ancestors among whom were the Thompson, King, O'Fake, Ray, Van Riper, Francis, Lewis, Jackson, Goosebeck, and Van Ness families among so many others.
Let it be known that our extended Thompson- King family has an over 400+ year history in Newark/Essex County, NJ as well as most counties across the state, and they were among the original foot soldiers of freedom who insitutionalized what became known as the Underground Railroad in the Northeast. They were the ones who founded churches, schools, anti-slavery societies (The Colored Anti-Slavery Society of Newark, the Anti-Slavery Society of Essex County, The New Jersey State Anti-Slavery Society, as well as the American Anti-Slavery Society), businesses, benevolent and mutual aid organizations, anti-colonization societies, Masonic lodges, literary societies, temperance societies, etc. as I have previously mentioned in my blogposts (1) From Slave to Stagecoach Owner: Thomas Thompson, (2)My Poor 3rd Great-Grandfather Cato, (3)The Underground Railroad House that Jacob D. King Built in Newark, (4) Rev. John A. King: Abolitionist, Preacher, and Planemaker and (5) The Blanchard Family of Orange, NJ: From Slavery to Freedom.
Our ancestors are descended from the Ramapough Lenape who have lived in C/NY/NJ for the millenia, Emmanuel d'Angola, one of the first "Spanish Negroes," other enslaved people from all over West Africa, the first enslaved people from Madagascar, and European (Dutch, Scots-Irish, British and French Huguenot) colonizers.
With the exception of our indigenous ancestors, all others arrived in the early 1600s (see Part II: The DNA Trail from Madagascar to Manhattan & Our Family's Malagasy Roots). We are especially proud of our African-Native roots because we know that our ancestors survived the triple horrors of genocide, colonization, and slavery so that we could tell their true stories — the good, bad, and ugly. It is their DNA of resistance that was handed down to us and which is embodied in our multi-racial family history working on the Underground Railroad.
The Abolitionist Context: Newark, NJ Pre-1849
Newark Daly Advertiser April, 8, 1864
Centinel of Freedom November 3, 1863
Like most colonial families, our ancestors fought on both sides during the War of Independance. The famed Black Loyalist, Colonel Tye, led the Black Brigade in acts of resistence against the Patriots by launching attacks on Long Island, Westchester County, Staten Island and all over East Jersey. At this time, New York City was under British control. Colonel Tye worked directly with General John Graves Simcoe's Queen's Rangers. These revolts occured in the same locations where our ancestors lived and labored for free. On the last ship out of NYC at the end of the Revolutionary War, were 3,000 Black Loyalists. Among them were Mary Thompson and her daughters May and Polly plus two small girls, who may have been daughters of either one, from Newark, Rose Fortune and her family, and Richard Goosbeck — all ancestors of ours that we know of at this time. That being said, it is also known that the true number of Black Loyalists who left for Canada was undercounted.
Slavery in Newark persisted after the Revolutionary War as you can see by the two newspaper clippings above. Though our ancestors migrated from the Tappan Patent (Bergan County, NJ and Rockland/Orange Countties, NY) up to Ulster County, and then down to Greater Middlesex County prior to the Revolutionary War, they ending up in Newark (Essex County) after the Revolutionary War. Some were emancipated as early as the 1790s, others were enslaved for a term under the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1804, and others remained enslaved for life. The mixed-status households that our ancestors resided in is the reason why they espoused political activism and mobilization. They saw the horrors of slavery up close and personal— from every angle. The fact that only some of them were freed earlier than others meant nothing to them if everyone was not free. They always saw the full humanity of their people. That our African-Native ancestors were disenfranchised, along with women in 1807, only added to their anger. They had lived through the Revolutionary War living and working side by side along well-known American Patriots, such as Abraham Ogden, and David A. Ogden, Caleb Bruen, and had believed in the American Dream from its inception only to have their fundamental right to vote snatched from their hands. They never gave up on the American Dream though.
It must be noted that after the founding of the AME Zion Church in Newark in 1822, there was an exodus of our ancestors and other African-Americans from the First Presbyterian Church who ended up joining the AME Zion Church. Our ancestors only came back to their Presbyterian roots when the Colored Presbyerian Church was founded in 1836. Both of these churches can be considered "Freedom Churches" as the early Newark African-American community was united in their embrace of abolitionism. Both churches engaged in abolitionist activities whereby the early Black community routinely attended events at each church. We seen this in the early Colored School as the school alternated between both churches in its early years. Likewise, we see this in the First of August celebrations held in Lincoln Park where opening and closing prayers were held at both churches and ministers from each church spoke at these celebrations.
Starting in the early 1800s and up until 1900, our abolitionist ancestors knew all the early abolitionists from their participation in both the AME Zion Church that our King Family founded alongside of Rev. Christopher Rush and the Colored Presbyterian Church where our Thompsons were among the founding families. [Later, our ancestors would be among the founding families of St. Phillip's Church and Bethany Baptist Church in Newark.] Rev. Samuel Cornish, John B. Russwurm, Rev. Theordore Hunt, Rev. E.P. Rogers, Rev. Theordore S. Wright, David Ruggles, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, Rev. James McCune Smith, Rev. Peter Williams and his son Rev. Peter Williams, Jr., Isaac Hopper, Thomas Shipley, Charles L. Reason, Rev. Alexander Crummel, Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward, Gerrit Smith, Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Rev. James C. W. Pennington, Harriet Tubman, Sojouner Truth, Rev. W. T. Catto, James Forten, Robert Purvis, Rev. Simeon Jocelyn, Angelina Grimke Weld and Sarah Grimke, Rev. William O. Jackson, William Lloyd Garrison, Rev. John S. Rock, Rev. Daniel A. Payne, John Brown, William Still, Rev. Daniel Vanderveer, Mary Ann Shadd Cary, William C. Nell, John Teasman, Rev. Bishop James Varick, Rev Jehiel Beman and his son Rev. Amos G. Beman, Martin Delaney, and William Wells Brown are just of the some of the abolitionists my ancestors personally knew.
When Frederick Douglass came to Newark in 1849, Newark was already an epicenter of abolitionism and could hold its own among other Northeast epicenters like New York City and Albany/Troy, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Boston and New Bedford, MA, Providence, RI, and Hartford, CT.
Our Lyon Family Legacy: From CT to NY/NJ
Connecticut Puritans settled in Newark (Essex County) and all over East Jersey in the early 1600s. Among Newark's original settlers were the New Jersey Branch of our CT Lyon Family. Our Lyon ancestors have a strong abolitionist history with our Lyon-Green-Merritt ancestors who have always been linked by blood and kinship. The following blogposts detail our united family history that spans centuries up to TODAY: (1) A Look at Northern Slavery Personified: The Greens and Merritts of Greenwich, CT, (2) My Ancestors Are Now Buried In Someone's Front Lawn, (3) Coming to the Table In Honor of Jack Husted, (4) Hangroot Was Our Hood: Reclaiming Black Greenwich History, (5) Our Ancestors Willed It And So It Came To Be, and (6) Off the Battlefield, But Still Suffering from PTSD. Most of our ancestors on our NJ Lyon line were Patriots during the Revolutionary War.
This 1806 map is in the Special Collections of Rutgers University http://mapmaker.rutgers.edu/NEWARK/Newark_1806.jpg
However, some Lyons, who migrated to New Jersey and New York, were Loyalists and ended up in Nova Scotia and Upper Canada West. One of our Lyon cousins, Pamela Lyons Neville, has documentation, both oral and written, that her ancestor, John Lyons, settled in Upper Canada West (Toronto, ON) at the request of the First Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada John Graves Simcoe. His father, Thomas Lyons, fought in the King's Orange Rangers under Colonel John Bayard. The Canadian Loyalists Lyons, when joined by our Patriot Lyons from CT/NY/NJ, represent the full scope of our multi-racial abolitionist history in the Tri-State (CT/NY/NJ) area.
Lyons Farm Schoolhouse, Library of Congress (https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.nj0497.photos?st=gallery) This school was the first schoolhouse erected in Newark 1728 and was burned during the Revolutionary War in 1782, but later rebuilt.
Writing Our Other UGRR Abolionist Ancestors Back Into the Historic Record
This blogpost is nothing short, as Nicka Smith states, "an act of restorative social justice" for our ancestors. It is our duty as descendants to honor the legacy that out ancestors bequeathed to us. For far too long our ancestral stories have been lost, remained hidden in archives, or have been rendered silent. We owe it to our ancestors to write them back into the historic record without hestitation, for every individual has a life story that is worthy to be told. We can count among our extended Thompson-King line many other abolitionist ancestors like Dr. John V. Degrasse and his brother Rev. Isaiah G. DeGrasse, Thomas Downing and his son George T. Downing who are related to us via our Van Salee/Hedden line. Below, however, are our ancestors who are inextricably tied to the City of Newark through blood and marriage.
Rev. Dr. Charles H. Thompson, (1820-1902)
Rev. Charles H. Thompson was the second Thompson-King family member to take up the cause of voting rights after the death of our Rev. John A. King in 1849. He deserves special mention here because of his life-long commitment to the civil rights and education of our people. Rev. Thompson was born in Little York, PA, near Harrisburg, in 1820. He was the son of John Thompson, a brother of our Thomas Thompson. As a young person, he traveled back and forth from Little York, PA to Newark, NJ and Brooklyn, NY. In 1845, he married Elizabeth Berry of Brooklyn, NY and they had several children.
In the early 1850s, Rev. Charles Thompson became involved with the American Missionary Association (AMA), an abolitionist group led by Rev. Simeon Jocelyn, one of the original lawyers for the Amistad captives who landed in New Haven, CT in 1839. The AMA was founded in 1846 by political abolitionists, Black and White, who were also opposed to colonization and wwere members of Presbyterian or Congregationalist churches. Unlike the Quakers, members of the AMA insisted on full equality between the races in their organization. Some of the Black founding members were Rev. James W. Pennington, Rev. Theodore S. Wright, Rev. Samuel Ringgold Ward, and Charles B. Ray. Rev. Samuel Cornish, Rev. Amos N. Freeman, and Rev. Henry Highland Garnet also served as officers in later years.
In the late 1850s, with sponsorship from the AMA and Reverend Jocelyn, Rev. Thompson enrolled in Oberlin College, known for its commitment to abolitionism, in Oberlin, OH. He was among one of the first Black graduates in 1860. According to records in The Black Abolitionist Papers, Rev. Charles H. Thompson maintained a close relationship with Rev. Simeon Jocelyn often writing to him asking for money to help enslaved people as he was also ministering while being a student.
After graduating from Oberlin, Rev. Charles H. Thompson became a minister at Siloam Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, NY. It is not surprising that he ended up in Brooklyn as his wife's family was from Brooklyn. Charles served three years as the reverend of this church. He later ministered at Shiloh Presbyterian Church in New York City.
In 1861, Rev. Charles H. Thompson became the minister of the Plane Street Colored Presbyterian Church. There can be no doubt that he became the minister of this church because of his family's known ties to the church and also because of his political activism. While a minister at this church, he took up the cause of voting rights prior to the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870 and actively challenged the NJ State Legislature to restore the voting rights of people of color. According to an article titled "Have Negroes the Right to Vote in New Jersey" in the Camden Democrat newspaper written on October, 27, 1866, it mentions that Rev. Charles H. Thompson was one of three plaintiffs who filed both a State Supreme Court and a Circuit Court of the United States lawsuit that challenged the disenfranchisement of people of color. On October 25th, 1870, the Centinel of Freedom mentioned how Rev. Charles H. Thompson addressed a meeting of a colored Republican group and admonished Black voters to vote Republican. As we know, the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln at that time. Earlier that year, he spoke at the "Negro Jubilee," an event organized by a lot of our ancestors and other Newark abolitionists, held in Lincoln Park on April 20th, 1870 where Black Newark celebrated their right to vote. The 15th Amendment was finally ratified in New Jersey on February 21, 1871.
Rev. Charles H. Thompson stayed at the Plane St. Colored Presbyterian Church for 11 years. After earning a D.D degree from Avery College in Harrisburg, PA in 1870, he became an educator, as well as a minister, with the AMA. The AMA played a major role in educating newly freed Blacks in the post-Civil War era. It was instrumental in founding Howard University, Berea College, Hampton Institute, Atlanta University, Fisk University, Straight University (now Dillard), Tougaloo College, Talladega College, LeMoyne (now LeMoyne-Owen) College as well as other historically black universities and colleges. Rev. Charles H. Thompson left the church and became a professor at Straight University (now Dillard University) as well as a minister at St. Philips Church in New Orleans. After his stint at Straight University, he moved on to teaching at Alcorn State University and ministered at St. Mary's Church in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He later served at St. Matthews in Detroit, MI, St. Mary's in Augusta, GA, and St. Andrew's Missions in both Lexington, KY and Cincinnati, OH. He passed away in Cincinnati in 1902 and is buried in "the Colored American Cemetery near Madisonville," according to the Diocese of Lexington, KY.
Centinel of Freedom April 20, 1870-The "Negro Jubilee" was the day that the city of Newark celebrated the ratification of the 15th Amendment. As in all of Newark's First of August celebrations, this historic event took place in Lincoln Park, the only park in the city large enough to hold thousands of people.
Hawley Green (1810-1880) and his wife Harriet Peterson Green (1816-1886)
Hawley Green, a photo taken by a cousin, circa 1870
When my 2nd great-grandparents married, their union represented the merger of two early abolitionist families, The Thompsons of Newark, NJ with the Greens of Greenwich (Byram/Glenville), CT and Peekskill, NY). Hawley Green was a cousin of my 2nd great-grandfather George E. Green. Hawley and his wife Harriet owned an Underground Railroad House located at 1112 Main Street in Peekskill, NY. He bought this house from James Brown, a well-known Quaker anti-slavery proponent, for 9 years before selling the home in 1839 to William Sands, another Quaker. Hawley Green and his wife went on to own several other properties in Peekskill. In addition, Hawley Green was one of Peekskill's best known barbers —an occupation that enabled him to surreptitiously gather intelligence related to "fugitives."
Hawley and Harriet Green's UGRR House at 112 Mainstreet in Peekskill. From John J. Curran's 2008 book , Peekskill's African American History: A Hudson Valley Community's Untold Story.
Hawley Green was a well-known UGRR stationmaster, like our Jacob D. King, who was a member of the AME Zion Church in Peekskill. It was said that, if a self-emancipating man made it to Hawley's House, the next stop was Canada. Peekskill, NY was right on the Hudson River and transporting enslaved people would have been easy because of his UGRR home's location. As a member of the AME Zion Church, he also helped form a Colored School located there, along with J. W. Purdy. The AME Zion church also routinely hosted agents from Black Abolitionists newspapers like the Colored American and The Emancipator. David Ruggles, Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, and Harriet Tubman certainly knew Hawley and Harriet Green as did all major abolitionists of the day. Gerrit Smith, the wealthy abolitionist gave Hawley a land grant in the amount of 160 acres in Upstate New York which was 4 times the land given to other African-American abolitionists so that they could vote as land owners. Other Peekskill abolitionists such as Hawley's brother, Goodman Green, son-in-law George Butler, Riley Peterson, Abraham Ray, Henry Jackson, and Moses Stedell also received 40 acre land grants from Smith.
Photo taken by Teresa Vega of a section of a 1837 Map of Peekskill. The full map is in the Collection of the Field Library, Peekskill, NY.
Other notable descedants on Hawley and Harriet Green's line include the Deyo and Bolin families from Ulster County and Poughkeepsie, NY.
From: Colin T. Naylor, Civil War Days in a Conutry Village, Peekskill,NY: Highland Press, 1961:58. Note: He was only married to Harriet who, like other colonial people of African descent had Native-American, West African and Malagasy ancestry.
The Highland Democrat, Peekskill, NY November 29, 1919
Rev. John Wesley Dungey (1783-1866)
Rev. John Dungey is the father of my 3rd great grandfather Cato Thompson's 2nd wife, Rosetta Dungey whom he married after my 3rd great-grandmother, Susan Pickett Thompson, died in the late 1850s. Cato met Rosetta through his sister Catherine Thompson who married, Mattias (Thomas) Hedden, Rosetta's uncle. Rosetta's mother was Sarah Heady. The Heddens/Headys are Westchester County's oldest Free Black family. Thomas Hadden (1694-1761) of Scarsdale, NY had a long-term relationship with Rose (1727-1777), his slave. When he died in 1761, in his 5 page will, he freed Rose and their 7 children, gave Rose a house to live on the same property as his white wife and children, provided for his "mulatto" children's education, and left them an inheritance. Both Sarah and Mattias were the children of his son, Lazaraus Heady, Sr. (1751-1850). It should be noted that the Heady family is also linked to both our Green and Lyon families of Byram (also at times known as East Port Chester and Rye. NY), Greenwich, CT.
Rev. John Dungey was born in Richmond, VA in 1783. He was born to an enslaved mother, Isabel Dungey, and her slave owner with the surname Overton. His father was said to have descended from an English nobleman. When his father's family moved to Kentucky, they wanted John to come with him. He refused to go as he was married to an enslaved woman at the time. He stayed in Virginia and learned the shoemaking trade and ultimately obtained his freedom.
His first wife died shortly after their son was born. Because his wife was enslaved, his son was also a slave. When she died, he offered to buy his son for $250 from the woman who owned him, but she refused his offer. It was then that he left Virginia and landed in New York City.
He married his 2nd wife, Sarah Heady, after arriving there and she bore him 5 children. However, we only know about two of them. By that time, he already had a large wholesale and retail shoe store at 24 Chatham Street and employed around 20 white men. His shoe store was right next to the New York Free School (which was different from the African Free School). Rev. James Varick, one of the founders of the AME Zion Church and it's first Bishop, used to be a shoemaker and the two men probably first met to discuss his business as well as community issues. By 1812, Rev. John Dungey became a minister in the AME Zion Church. When Sarah died of an illness, he was left with 5 young children and his business suffered a downturn that left his family impoverished. It was then that he took stepped out on his faith and became a full-time minister.
Rev. John Dungey established AME Zion churches in Flushing and Ossining, NY, New Haven, CT and finally the last one in Troy, NY. He was a minister for over 50 years in the AME Zion Church. He attented Colored conventions, spoke at numerous abolitionist events, and aided those who sought freedom in the North.
The New York Tribune October 5, 1862
The Times Record, Troy new York June 13,1942
Rev. George Weir, Sr. (circa 1800- 1862) and Rev. George Weir, Jr. (1822-1882)
Rev. George Weir, Sr. was married to Rev. John Dungey's daughter Nancy Dungey. Both he and his son, from his first wife, Rev. George Weir, Jr., were UGRR stationmasters in Buffalo, NY, Rochester, NY and Upper Canada West. Rev. George Weir, Sr. was the first permanent pastor of the Vine Street AME Church (which was later named the Bethel AME Church). He served as pastor from 1838-1847). The Vine Street AME Church was very active in the Abolitionist Movement from its inception and was known as a "Buffalo Station." Among the abolitionists known to have ties to this church were Abner Francis, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, William Wells Brown, Lewis Baker, Henry Moxley, George DeBaptiste, Thomas Hamilton, and James Whitfield among many others. Buffalo, NY was the station on the other side of Niagara Falls from the final destination of self-emancipating people fleeing slavery. Both Rev. Weirs represent our family's UGRR ties to Upper Canada West, especially St. Catherines Parish. Hand in hand, working with both Black and White abolitionists, they ferried people across Lake Erie starting in the late 1830s and escalating after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act.
Rev. Weir, Sr. was a member of the National Negro Convention Movement, Buffalo Anti-Slavery Society, Temperance Movement, and routinely gave anti-slavery lectures across the North. He regulary traveled to Newark and New York City and was routinely feature in the Colored American and the North Star. Likewise, Rev. George Weir, Jr. owned a grocery store and was one of Buffalo's weathiest Black residents and his home was also a known UGGR depot. He was a regular contributer to Frederick Douglass, North Star. Our Newark ancestors also made visits to Buffalo, Rochester, and Upper Canada West no doubt to visit family, friends, and engage in abolitionist activities.
The Buffalo Daily Republic August 8, 1849 Rev. Weir organized the first First of August Celebration in Buffalo.
North Star, March 20, 1851
The Liberator, June 27, 1862
Six Degrees of Separation: Frederick Douglass and Our Ancestors
Frederick Douglass had a 50-year intergenerational relationship with our ancestors that also included some of his family members. At times, it seems like there is six degrees of separation between the descendants of Frederick Douglass and our Thompson-King Family.
His son, Frederick Douglass, Jr. was married to our cousin Muriel "Dee Dee" Robert's 3rd great-grandmother's niece, Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett. On Dee Dee's line, her ancestors were both Black Loyalists and Patriots. Her Thompson line is connected to Jeremiah Lott, an original settler of Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY.
Frederick Douglass, Jr., husband of Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett
Pvts. George Butler, son-in-law of Hawley Green, and his brother Albert, were members of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment along with Peter Vogelsang and Dr. John Van Surley DeGrasse, two of our other ancestors who are on our Van Salee-Hedden line that goes back to New Amsterdam. Frederick Douglass' two sons, Sergeant Major Lewis Henry Douglass and First Sergeant Charles Redmond Douglass, also served in the 54th Regiment. All five were our "Glory" ancestors, the epitome of Patriots!
George Butler, Peter Vogelsang, and Dr. John A. DeGrasse
Lewis Henery and Charles Redmond Douglass
Finally, our own ancestor, Wallace King, son of William King and Phyllis Goosbeck (Thompson), was an abolitionist, Prince Hall Mason, and one of the most famous internationally known Black opera singers and minstrels in the post-Civil War era. Of him, Frederick Douglass commented that he was "among his most gifted proteges."
San Francisco Chronicle, February 22, 1903
On Honoring Our Ancestors and Newark History
For 10 long and illuminating years, my cousin Andrea and I have been researching our "Radiant Roots." This precious time has been filled with joy, anger, tears, grief, and laughter. As we near the completion of our research, we have decided to further listen to the voices and messages of our ancestors and publish a book on our extensive family history. In this way, we will place them back into the historical record. This blogpost is just an inkling of what we have uncovered…
The Insidiousness of Slavery: No Justice and the Van Wickle Slave Ring
December 13, 2018 Ackerman, Banks, Banta, Barkelew, Beekman, Black Loyalist, Blacks in Bergen County, Blacks in Nova Scotia, Blanchard, Blauvelt, Bogardus, Bogart, Bolin, Book of Negroes, Brouwer, Brower, Brown, Buckelew, Chapman, Cisco, Claeson, Clarkson, Clawson, Conover, Cook, Corlies, Cortleyou, D'Angola, Day, De Vries, DeFreese, Degrasse, DeGroat, DeGroot, Demarest, Deveaux, Devoe, Devoe Family, Devoe Family of Ulster County, DeWitt, Dey, Deyo, Domestic Slave Trade, Du Bois, DuBois, Feich, Fortune, Francis, Francisco, Genealogy Research, Goosbeck, Gould, Greenwich, Groesbeck, Hampton, Haring, Heady, Hedden, Hicks, Hill, Hoagland, Hooper, Hopper, Huff, Indigenous Slavery, Jackson, Jennings, Johnson, Lewis, Louw, Lyon, Lyons, M23, M23 Haplogroup, Mabie, Madagascar, Madagascar Slave Trade, Malagasy Roots, Malagasy slaves, Malagasy Slaves in New York, Malagasy Surnames, Mandeville, Mann, Manuel, Mathis, Moore, Morris, Nanticoke Lenn-Lenape, Native-American Slavery, New Amsterdam, New Orleans Slave Trade, Newark, O'Fake, Peekskill, Phillips, Pickett, Ramapough Lenape, Ray, Remson, Rich Sears Walling, Richard Sears Walling, Richardson, Rickett, Schenck, Scudder, Shipley, Sisco, Slater, Slavery in NJ, Slavery in NY, Smith, Snyder, St. Helena Island, Stillwell, Stives, Stockton, Suydam, Tappan Patent, Ten Broeck, Ten Eyck, TenBroeck, TenEyck, The Lost Souls Public Memorial Project, Thomas, Thompson, Thopmson, Titus, Turner, Van Blanck, Van Cleef, Van Der Zee, Van Dike, Van Donck, Van Dunk, Van Duyne, Van Dyck, Van Gaasbeek, Van Gasbeck, Van Horn, Van Horne, Van Liew, Van Ness, Van Neste, Van Riper, Van Salee, Van Surlay, Van Winkel, Van Winkle, VanBuskirk, VanClieff, VanderZee, Vandunk, Washington, Wheeler, Williams, Wortendyke, Wyckoff, ZabriskieMsVegatron
This blogpost is written as a supplementary addition to the December 16th, 2018 historic Day of Remembrance at the East Brunswick Public Library as part of The Lost Souls Public Memorial Project. A special thank you goes to Rev. Karen Johnston, Mae Caldwell, the NJ Council for the Humanities, The Unitarian Society, New Brunswick Area Branch of the NAACP, Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society – NJ Chapter Sons & Daughters of the Us Middle Passage Society, East Brunswick Human Relations Council, East Brunswick Senior Center and the East Brunswick, Library. Additional thanks goes to my BlackProGen geneabuddies and fellow Truth Seekers, Muriel "Dee Dee" Roberts, Shannon Christmas, James Amemasor and the staff at the NJ Historical Society, Junius Williams, Rhonda Johnson, James J. Gigantino II, Calvin Schermerhorn, Joshua Rothman, Grahan Russell Hodges, and others who have supported my research over the years. I am most indebted to Rich Sears Walling for his endless quest to bring this horrific travesty to light and to seek social justice for these 177 Lost Souls.
This blogpost is dedicated to all my ancestors and to my M23 cousins who decided to take mtDNA and autosomal DNA tests that have enabled us to reconnect with our DNA cousins who share our Native-American, Malagasy, West African, and European ancestry and find out our true family history. A big shout out to my cousin-homie-sister- genealogy partner Andrea Hughes, Mildred Armour, Robert Armour, Sharon Anderson, Ray Armour, Tashia Hughes, our late Cousin Helen B. Hamilton , Alan Russell, Frances Moore, Lois Salter-Thompson, Dorothy Miller, Brenda Ryals-Burnett, "Donnie", Sharon Baldree, Rhoda Johnson, and Barbara Pitre and her mother Pearl Kahn.
On Insidiousness….
The Van Wickle Slave Ring was insidious from its inception. The word origin of insidious comes from the Latin insidiosus meaning cunning, deceitful, artful and from from insidiae (plural) meaning to plot, snare, and ambush.
In 1818, there was a conspiracy of slave speculators who stole African-American and mixed-race free, enslaved for a term, and enslaved for life people out of New Jersey and New York and transported them to Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama with the full collusion of Judge Jacob Van Wickle and his judicial cronies. They operated in full violation of a 1812 New Jersey state law that clearly stated that no person of African descent or other person of color who was a servant, slave for life or slave for a term could be taken out of the state without their consent if they were of age or their parents' consent if underage. This law was put into effect to further strengthen the Gradual Emancipation Act of 1804 that declared that any child born, after July 4th, 1804, to a slave mother had to first serve a term — 25 years if male and 21 years if female — as a servant for their mother's owner and then they would be free. In order to make a profit from slave speculating, Van Wickle and his devious gang devised a plan where they would procure People of Color in New Jersey and New York by any means necessary and sell them South as slaves for the rest of their lives without their knowledge or consent. Most of the 177 individuals that we know of today were in their teens or early 20s though there were many children under the age of 10 –the youngest two being just 2 days and 6 weeks old. Freedom was snatched from all of them with a blink of an eye and with Jacob Van Wickle's signature all over the place. Among them, were some of my maternal ancestors. Any emblem of justice was denied to them.
Two years ago, I wrote my blogpost Part II: The DNA Trail from Madagascar to Manhattan & Our Family's Malagasy Roots where I discussed my maternal ancestors' migration out of New Amsterdam to the Tappan Patent (Bergen County, NJ/Rockland and Orange Counties, NY) and our Full Sequence M23 mtDNA Cousin matches at that time. Two years later, this blogpost expands on our most recent findings. We now know that while Lewis Compton, James Brown, Charles Morgan, Nicholas Van Wickle, and others, on November 13th-17th, 1818, were in a Pennsylvania courtroon answering to the charges of removing People of Color from New Jersey and New York without their consent, my ancestors were among the 48 individuals already on their way to serving lives of involuntary servitude in the South. Crammed onboard a ship outfitted with plantation supplies and equipment, they were on the last documented slave ship out of South Amboy, the Schoharie, which sailed on October 25th, 1818. That they were unwitting pawns in a system designed to further dehumanize them is the epitome of the insidiousness of slavery indeed!
If Fred Could See Us Now: On the Uses of DNA Testing for Slave Ancestor Research
In 1855, the late great Frederick Douglass stated, "Genealogical trees do not flourish among slaves." Boy, if Fred could see us now. DNA testing has opened wide doors for those of us who are seeking to find out more about our formerly enslaved/enslaved ancestors. The 1870 brick wall that has blocked us from discovering our ancestry in the past no longer exists as a barrier. DNA testing, along with a host of other documents that help us trace our enslaved ancestors, has proven that walls are meant to be broken down. Thanks to mtDNA, Y-DNA, and autosomal DNA testing, what was once impossible to prove has now been rendered possible. The pepper in salted histories can be now seen by all and can no longer be denied. DNA testing also allows us to see the true humanity inherent in earch individual and to connect us with our DNA cousins of all backgrounds.
In addition, DNA testing provides us with DNA migration maps that document where our ancestors originated and the geographical areas they dispersed to over time. I live in NYC where my Native ancestors have resided for the millenia and where my West/East African and European ancestors have lived since 1620. That's a 400+ year family sojourn that speaks volumes about our family history and resonates in #NoEllisIslandHere. We are, and have been, true Americans before America was even America. Facts matter!
Early Colonial Native and African-American Endogamy in Rural Communities
Our ancestors were the descendants of Native and African people formerly enslaved/enslaved by Dutch, Swedish, French Huegenot, and Puritan/Quaker slave owners in colonial NJ, NY and CT. These colonial rural communities were tri-racial and multi-racial from their inception as slave owners migrated up and down the Hudson River Valley and into New Jersey in search of land, wealth and religious freedom. They, of course, brought their formerly enslaved/enslaved servants with them. Though there were laws on the books and societal sanctions against interracial relationships of any sort, these types of relationships did in fact occur. The migration journey that our ancestors took was out of New Amsterdam (including Westchester County, NY and Greenwich, CT which were also intrinsic parts of the Dutch colony), to the Tappan Patent, and then migrated up and down the Hudson river during the 1600 and early 1700s. They later migrated further into New Jersey ending up in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon, Monmouth, Burlington, Gloucester, and Cumberland Counties in the early to mid-1700s just before the American Revolution before finally settling in the city of Newark in the late 1780s and early 1800s.
State of NJ, County lines 1753-1824. Based on map created by R. Ryan Lash with information from Minnesota Population Center, National Historical Geographic Information: Pre-release Version 0.1, 2004. Reprinted in James Gigantino II's The Ragged Road to Abolition: Slavery and Freedom in New Jersey, 1775-1865.
DNA testing confirms that the same surnames and shared DNA shows up in our DNA cousin matches across color lines which would be expected in small rural communities. These surnames can be traced to the founding families of all these counties. To date our list of our NJ and NY colonial surnames include the following: Ackerman, Anderson, Banks, Banta, Beekman, Blanchard, Blauvelt, Bogardus/Bogart, Bolin/Bolling, Brower/Bouwer, Brown, Barkalew/Buckelew, Chapman, Cisco/Sisco, Claeson/Clawson, Clarkson, Conover, Cook, Corlies, Cortelyou, D'Angola, Day, De Vries/DeFreese, Degrasse, DeGroat/DeGroot, Demarest, DeWitt, Deveaux/Devoe, Dey/Deyo, DuBois, Fortune, Francis, Francisco, Groesbeck/Goosbeck, Gould, Hampton, Haring, Hedden, Hendricks, Hicks, Hill, Hoagland, Hopper, Hooper, Huff, Jackson, Jennings, ]ohnson, Lewis, Lyon/Lyons, Mabie, Mandeville, Manuel/Mann, Mathis, Moore, Morris, O'Fake/Feich, Phillips, Pickett, Ray, Remson, Richardson, Rickett, Schmidt, Scudder, Schenck, Shipley, Slater, Smith, Snyder, Stillwell, Stives, Stockton, Suydam, Ten Broeck/Timbrook, Ten Eyck/Teneyck, Thomas, Thompson, Titus, Turner, Van Blanck, Van Buskirk, Van Clieff/Van Cleef, Vanderzee, Van Dunk/VanDonck, Van Duyne, Van Dyck, Van Horn, Van Gaasbeek/Van Gasbeck, Van Liew/Louw, Van Ness, Van Riper, Van Salee/Van Surley, Van Wickle/ Van Winckle, Washington, Wheeler, Williams, Wortendyke, Wyckoff, and Zabriskie, among others.
1850 Newark Census that shows my ancestors (Thompson, King, Hedden, O'Fake, Gould, Brower, Jackson, and Francis) living next to other people whose ancestors came from Middlesex County.
The issue of endogamy within colonial America must be discussed as it relates to formerly enslaved/enslaved people in these Northern states. Given that so few People of Color resided in these states in the 17th-19th centuries, it is not surprising that intermarriages and/or relationships were very prominent among the same African-American and mixed-race families in those places. Unlike endogamy among Ashkenazi Jews and Puerto Ricans due to close cousin or family intermarriage, People of Color at this time tended to marry or form relationships with people living nearest to them just like everyone else. Because of the nature of slavery and lack of genealogy records on formerly enslaved/enslaved people, descendants of these people would not necessarily know that they shared a common gene pool with the same families, especially as they migrated away from these rural communities towards burgeoning cities, like Newark and NYC, where they increased their pool of marriageable partners and became less endogamous. As descendants of these people, we need to be cognizant of the fact that we may be related to a person based on many shared ancestors and not just one or two.
The DNA Trail from Madagascar to Middlesex County, NJ: The Case of the Slave Ship Schoharie
An October 26, 1818 Schoharie slave ship manifest listed the names of 48 individuals who were stolen away from their families, their communities, and their home state. The ship first sailed to Norfolk, VA and then to La Balize on the Mississippi River where the human cargo was checked before traveling onward to New Orleans and elsewhere. Unlike the other Van Wickle Slave Ring victims whose names were changed to hide their true identities or who forever remain nameless, the 48 individuals on the last documented slave ship out of New Jersey had their real names written down. At the time of their departure, those responsible for their removal made no attempt to hide who they were or what they did. They were very transparent in their conniving ways knowing full well that the laws were made by them and for them. Our ancestors' lives weren't worth anything beyond their production labor value. They were seen as no different from any work animal or old tool — easily replaceable and disposable.
These innocent victims were:
William MClare, m, 25, 5;8:, light negro
Jafe Manning, m, 21, 5 5 ¾, black, same
Robert Cook, m, 17, 4 9 ½, light, same
Ben Morris, m, 22, 5'1" black, same
Sam Prince, m, 19, 5'10", light, same
Sam Peter, m, 30, 5'4", black, same
George Phillips, m, 18, 5'3", black, same
James Thompson, m, 5'5 ¼" light, same
Edward Gilbert, m, 22, 5'3 ½" blk, same
Dan Francis, m, 20, 5'1" light, same
James, m, 15, 4'11" black, same
Charles, m, 19, 5'2 ¾" black, same
Susan Wilcox, f, 36, 5'2" light
Nelly, f, 18, 5' ¼" black, same
Betsey Lewis, f, 28, 5'1" black
Jane Clarkson, f, 23, 5'5" black, same
Eliza Thompson, f, 21, 5' 1 ¾" light, same
Jane Cook, f, 15, 5' ¾", light, same
Ann Moore, f, 29, 4' 9 ½", black, same
Julian Jackson, f., 21, 5' ¼" dark, same
Jane Smith, f, 33, 4' 10 3/4" light, same
Peggy Boss, f, 21, 5' 3" dark, same
Mary Harris, f, 21, 4' 10 ½" light, same
Sally Cross, f, 20, 5'1" blk, same
Rosanna Cooper, f., 22, 5'3" blk, same
Mary Simmons, f, 18, 4'11" dark
Hannah Jackson, f, 18, 5' 1 ¼" do
Hanna Crigier, f, 18, 4, 10 ¼" black
Harriet Silas, f, 15, 4'11" light
Fanny Thompson, 14, 4'7" dark,
Elizabeth Ann Turner, 16, 4'8" black
Susan Jackson, 20, 4'8" black
Hanna Johnson, female, 20, 4'9" black
Hannah, eighteen, 4'9 ¼" dark
Cane, m, 22, 5'1/2"
Jack, m, 22, 5'6" dark, same
Lewis, 22, 5'8" black, same
Peter, 14, 4' 6 ¾" black, same
Frank, 21, 5'2" dark
Caleb Groves, 50, 5' 2 ½" dark
John, 21, 5'3" black
Collins, 35, 5'3" blk
Othello, 16, 4'10" light
Anthony Fortune, 21, 5'2 ¼" dark
Joseph Henricks, 19, 5'5", dark
Jane, f, 23, 5'5 1/4" light
Susan, f, 21, 4'10 ½" light
Lena, f, 38, 5'2" dark
When I first saw this list of names, I cried tears that were based on my belief that there is no separation between us, the living, and those who came before and those who shared a journey with us when they were among the living. Death is nothing but a natural happenstance. Nothing has changed. My tears flowed knowing the historic trauma all 48 people went through torn away from their family and community to labor in the sugar and cotton plantations of the South. And I cried most of all because the surnames were ones I knew all too well because they were our own.
Over the past two years, we have been working hard to discover how our Full Sequence mtDNA cousin matches are related to each other. Looking for these ancestral connections is not for the faint of heart. Unlike Y-DNA where paternal surnames stay the same and paternity can often be established through male cousin matches, mtDNA cousin matching is a different beast due to women changing surnames upon marriage. Now, just add the institution of slavery, colonization, and genocide which were crimes against humanity that interrupted our family trees in a massive way for centuries, and you got a genealogical puzzle with a million missing pieces. Just ponder that for a minute. Despite this, with both mtDNA and autosomal DNA testing, we were able to connect many surnames to other enslaved/formerly enslaved families as well as to their slave owners. Oh, if Fred could see us now!
Please note that the screenshots below are taken from AncestryDNA which I use to unearth family connections among the many family trees of known relatives as well as our DNA cousin matches. They also show the colonial endogamy I've spoken about above. Because AncestryDNA does not have a chromosome browser, we are all prevented from doing the level of DNA triagulation that is necessary for 100% certainty which is a shame. At this point, all we can do is compare surnames among our DNA matches and see what surnames and geographical areas we have in common. We have had some luck with DNA cousins who uploaded to Gedmatch, but with the recent changes there, I know that Gedmatch's triangulation usefulness for People of Color who have enslaved ancestors has been compromised (Please see Nicka Smith's blogpost on this topic).
As children of the African Diaspora, we are considered to be "admixed" and are rarely 100% of any one ethnic/racial group. As I have said many, many times before, ethnic admixture itself doesn't tell you anything beyond the continental categories of Sub-Saharan African, Native American/Asian, and European. You MUST be committed to digging a whole lot deeper to find your family truth and that involves connecting with your DNA cousins whoever and wherever they are in addition to looking at genealogical records and local history! Click here to see my Genetic Genealogy page for the necessary tools/website links to do so if you are up to the challenge and I am challenging you all to do so. Now, you know.
Here are some examples of early African-American colonial endogamy and clearly show some of the surnames of those whom were sold South from Middlesex County.
Reclaiming Our Lost Community of Ancestors and Their Descendants
In 2015, my cousins Andrea and Helen took FTDA's Full Sequence mtDNA test to see what else we could find out about our maternal Malagasy line. Three years later, we have 14 Full Sequence mtDNA cousin matches who share our M23 haplogroup. I have been in touch with 9 of our 14 FS mtDNA cousins.We have learned that 4 out of our 9 mtDNA cousins have ties to the NY/NJ area along with my family. Three mtDNA cousins, Brenda, "Donnie", and Dorothy are actually 5th cousins who share the same set of 4th great-grandparents who were born in Nova Scotia. Their 5th great-grandmother Rose Fortune was born in VA and who, as a 10-year-old girl, boarded a ship in NYC to Nova Scotia in 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War. Her parents were Black Loyalists and their family is documented in The Book of Negroes. We have found some documentation that their 6th great-grandparents were from Philadelphia and were owned by the Devoe family.
Brenda, her mother and Grandmother Mary who was Rose Fortune's 2nd great-granddaughter
The Devoe family were French Huguenots who arrived in New Amsterdam in the late 1600s and who settled up and down the Hudson River before some of their descendants moved to NJ and PA, including Philadelphia. Clearly, the Devoes had acquired Malagasy slaves in NY and the children of those slaves would have been inherited by their descendants.
The Alice Applyby DeVoe House in East Brunswick, NJ
The DeVoe family was also in East Brunswick, South Amboy, and elsewhere in Middlesex County as were the Fortune family. Could Rose Fortune's maternal line come from the this line of the DeVoe family? We can't say for sure at this time, but it may be worth further study.
My 2nd great-grandmother Laura Thompson, Frances who represents Lois Salter-Thompson's line, Dorothy Miller and her maternal aunt.
We have identified the family line of the two other M23 mtDNA cousins, Lois/Frances and Dorothy, who also match my family along the Timbrook-Titus line and this line originates in the Greater New Brunswick, NJ area. In the 1870s, my family has a Rev. Isaac B. Timbrook living with our Thompson-King ancestors in Newark, NJ and his niece Violet Timbrook is living in a house owned by our 3rd great-grandfather Cato Thompson, who was married to our M23 3rd great-grandmother Susan Pickett. In 1850, Isaac was a laborer on Judge Van Wickle's nephew, Stephen Van Wickle's farm.
The Timbrooks are related to our Malagasy descended Thompson-Pickett-Snyder-Scudder line from the Tappan Patent. Lois's 4th great-grandparents were Thomas Titus and Sarah TenBroeck/Timbrook. Isaac is her nephew, the son of her brother Edward Timbrook. We have been able to identify the slave owner who purchased Sarah and Edward's mother, Phebe. His name was Abraham Barkelew hence the B. in Rev. Issac's name is most likely Barkelew. We have also come across Frederick Barkelew's 1791 will that mentions "a free negro" by the name of "Fortune." We also found Abraham Barkelew's 1809 will where he bequeathed a "negro woman Phebe" to his granddaughter Anne. Dorothy is connected to a Fanny Titus who is related to this family line as well. We are still sorting out the family relationships due to the sharing of many surnames (colonial endogamy), but it is now fairly certain that this is the extended family line that links us to our common Malagasy ancestor. In addition, it should be noted that our line sided with Patriots during the Revolutionary War.
Alan Russell, his daughter, and mother whose M23 line comes from St. Helena Island in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.
Our mtDNA cousin Alan has a maternal grandmother who was half-Malagasy/half British and who was born on the island of St. Helena. This island was the first stop on the return trip from Madagascar. An import tax was paid in the form of Malagasy slaves on ships that arrived in St. Helena's port. For Alan to be related to all of us means that we either shared a common ancestor in Madagascar whose descendants ended up in two different locations or maybe two females ancestors became separated when a ship from Madagascar stopped in St. Helena on its way to New York. Alan's connection to our M23 cohort is of particular interest as it shows the importance of St. Helena as a stopover point on the way from Madagascar to New York. Alan can trace his maternal ancestry back to his 3rd great-grandmother, Sarah Bateman, who was born in 1815 on the island of St. Helena. Her maternal ancestors were Malagasy for certain.
Rhoda Johnson, Barbara Pitre-McCants, and her mother Pearl Kahn whose ancestors were sold South from New Jersey in the Van Wickle Slave Ring.
Through mtDNA testing, we have now FOUND our cousins whose ancestor were sold South in the Van Wickle Slave ring. Rhoda, Barbara and her mother Pearl's ancestors were bought by the John Morrisette Family of Monroe County, AL and passed down to their descendants as property. Their ancestors ended up in Monroe, Wilcox, Dallas, and Hale Counties in Alabama. Today, Hale County, AL is a 4 hour drive to New Orleans, but their ancestors would have walked in a coffle there to labor in sugar and cotton plantations.
Barbara also tested at AncestryDNA as well. She has numerous DNA cousin matches that link her maternal side to New Jersey via some of the same surnames we have like Ten Broeck/Timbrook, Slater, Conover, Van Ness, Deyo, Schenck, Shipley, Wyckoff, and many, many more. We have also been cross-checking with many other DNA cousins who have MS, AL, LA, and VA familiar roots and they are highly likely related to some of these other individuals who were sold South. We can rest assured that it is possible to flesh out our family trees despite slavery. In the future, I hope and pray that the more People of Color take DNA tests, the more we can prove that slavery was not 100% successful because we are still here to represent those who came before us.
On Being A Descendant of Survivors of Slavery…
I tell people that I do "ancestor-guided" research and that my ancestors are with me wherever I go. I consider it an honor to dig up and tell their true stories. I am a proud descendant of the enslaved and the free. My ancestors lived in households that were of mixed status where some were free, some were slaves for a term, and some were slaves for life in NJ, NY and CT. In 1818, they knew without a doubt who was sold and where these folks ended up. They were the witnesses to this atrocity at the time that it occurred. They did not sit back and accept their place in history. Instead, they made America greater by becoming early abolitionists who built schools, churches, joined fraternal organizations, mutual aid societies, and then got to work on the Underground Railroad. We have been blessed to have 4 Underground Railroad homes (Newark, NJ, Peekskill, NY, Greenwich, CT, and Buffalo/Rochester/Upper Canada West) operated by both sides of the color line. In due time, I will be writing a book on our larger family history.
Today, all of us are witnesses to the Van Wickle Slave Ring episode in American history. The 177 individuals who were smuggled out of NJ can rest in peace knowing that they are remembered and that their historical erasure is no more.
In addition to the above 48 individuals, there were 129 other people smuggled out of the state of New Jersey in 1818.
First group sent Louisiana on March 10, 1818/*Mothers are grouped with their children
Peter 15
Simon no age listed, free man
Margaret Coven, no age, free woman
Dianna 7 months
Rachel 22
Regina 6 weeks
Hager 29
Mary 2
Florah 23
Susan 7 months
Harry 14
James 21
Elmirah 14
George 16
Susan Watt 35
Moses 16
Lydia 18
Betty 22
Patty 22
Christeen 27
Diannah 9
Dorcas 1
Claresse 22
Lidia 22
Harriett Jane 3
Rosino
Charles (child)
Elias (child)
Robert (child)
Thirty-nine individuals.
Second Group, departed May 25, 1818
Leta 21
Dorcus 16
Sam Johnson 32
Margaret 21
Jane 25
Mary Davis 23
Phyllis 25
Harvey 22
Elizer (f) 19
Frank 21
Hester 18
Susan Silvey 30
Jacob 18 months
Betsey 22
Jonas 16 free person
William 22
Henry 21
Amey 22
Juda (f) 26
Samuel 2
George Bryan 18
Hannah 16
Joseph 2 days
Peter 17 free person
Jack Danielly 21
Jude [no judicial certificate]
Caroline, 18
Ann, 18
Jeanette, 12
Third Group departed in late August 1818 and arrived in New Orleans in September.
39 unknown individuals.
Fourth Group departed in mid-October overland through PA, 1818
Cain 22
Lewis 22
Elijah 31
Mary 27
Phebe 21 free person
Susan 23
Charles 43
Pettes 14
Twelve names.
Let us say their names so that they will ALWAYS be remembered!
The Underground Railroad House that Jacob D. King Built in Newark
January 4, 2014 A.M.E. Zion Church, Abolitionists in NJ, African-Americans in 18th-19th Century Newark, NJ, Black Abolitionists in New Jersey, Family, Newark, The King Brothers19th Century Newark, A.M.E. Zion Church, Black Abolitionists, King, Newark, Underground RailroadMsVegatron
This post is in honor of all my King ancestors. Jacob D. King and his family, including my 3rd aunt Mary Thompson King, stood up against the evil that was slavery in 19th century Newark, NJ and triumphed.
Shortly after finding out that Jacob D. King, my 3rd great-uncle by marriage, built his Underground Railroad house at 70 Warren Street in Newark in 1830, Andrea and I set out to find out more about him and his family. After looking through probate records, census records, church records, and newspaper articles, we were able to piece together parts of his life.
One of the first things we found out, via his daughter Harriet Brown's obituary in a New York Age newspaper article on 9/12/1912, was that the King family had been in Newark since the mid-1700s.
NY Age Newspaper 9/12/1912
However, my 5th cousin Eleanor Mire, who descends from Jacob's daughter Martha, told me that King oral history has indicated that they were in New Jersey during King Philip's War (1675-76). From our research, we have learned that King family was in Essex and Morris counties prior to the mid-1700s.
One of the things Andrea and I are doing now is researching the Essex and Morris county' slave owners who are affiliated with our family — the Ogdens, Riggs, Thompsons, Canfields, Morris families among others. DNA is also confirming the links to these slave owners families. For example, Andrea's uncle Robert matches almost 20 centimorgans with a descendant of Edward Riggs, an original settler of Newark. Newark was founded in 1666 by Puritans from Connecticut which means that our ancestors were probably there close to its founding which makes us one of the oldest African-American families to continuously reside in Newark, NJ from the start.
Jacob was born in Newark on April 6, 1806 to Lucy, formerly owned by Abraham Ogden, and a Scots-Irish man named Dublin King. His father was the late sexton of Trinity Church in Newark. Unfortunately, church records did not record his name.
Jacob's 1806 Trinity Church Baptism Record
He was one of 8 chilldren born tho his parents. The others being Abraham, John, Henry, and Charles. She also had a daughter named Venus. Lucy and Dublin had two other infant sons who died and who were later buried with their father. One of her sons, Abraham Ogden King was named after her slave owner, Abraham Ogden, a Patriot.
Abraham Ogden's Inventory featuring Lucy King
It should be mentioned that Trinity Church in Newark was founded by Josiah Ogden and was the Ogden family's home church as well as Hercules Daniel Bize's church.
Mary Thompson married Jacob King in 1829 in the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, NJ. At the time, my Thompson ancestors were members of the First Presbyterian Church and her marriage to Jacob reflects her family's membership in his church. However, the King family were founding members of the first African Methodist Zion Church, later known as the Clinton Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church. This church was founded in 1822 by Rev. Christopher Rush, who was one of the first missionaries of the black Methodist movement.
NYPL Digital Collection, Schomburg Center
Bishop Christopher Rush was born in Craven County, NC in 1777. He escaped to New York City in 1798 and became a member of the A.M.E. Zion Church which gave him a license to preach in 1815. He was ordained as a deacon in the church in 1822 was also charged with founding an A.M.E. Zion church in Newark, NJ. In 1828, he became the Bishop of the A.M.E. Zion (aka Mother Zion Church) in NYC. I should also mention that my 3rd great-grandfather's 2nd wife Rosetta Thompson's father, Rev. John A. Dungey, was also a founding member of this church as well.
The A.M.E. Zion church, it should be noted, was known for it's Underground Railroad activity. In addition to Jacob D. King and his family, later Black abolitionists of this church included Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Bishop Christopher Rush advocated helping fugitive slaves escape slavery and he charged the early A.M.E. churches with helping with this task. And they did.
In 1830, Jacob King bought land from Rev. Christopher Rush in the amount of $100. According to the deed, Rev. Christopher Rush was already a resident of NYC. I should mention that Jacob's brother, Rev. John A. King, was a minster in the Newark A.M.E. Zion church.
Jacob D. King's 1830 Land Deed
It is on this land that Jacob built an Underground Railroad house at 70 Warren Street in Newark. Jacob was a cooper by trade and two of his brothers were also involved in the carpentry field. Abraham was a carpenter and John was a planemaker, one of three African-American planemakers in the United States prior to the Civil War. Their brother-in-law Cato Thompson, was also a carpenter and we assume he learned the trade from his in-laws and also helped to build this house.
After I found the photo of Jacob's house in Charles F. Cumming's article, I went to the NJ Historical Society to see I could locate the actual article since Cummings didn't give the date the article was published. I am so thankful for the staff at the NJ Historical Society, especially James Amemasor. James has gone above and beyond in helping me find the documents needed for my research. He helped me go through a year's worth of the Newark Sunday Call newspaper. Thank God it was just a weekly paper! On the first day of looking, I didn't find anything after 5 hours of looking. But, when I arrived back home an hour later, James had left me a message saying that he thought the article on Jacob's house was in the magazine section. So, I went back a couple of days later. It took a while, but we found the article and James was right. It was in the magazine section and it included 4 more photos! I am so glad I went to look for the source of the photo. I believe my ancestors were guiding me.
Here are the photos of the inside of Jacob's Underground Railroad house in 1937, a year after Jacob's daughter Ellen passed away. It should be noted again that this house stayed in the family for 106 years. I wish this house could talk because I would love to hear all the stories that could be told.
Full Sunday Newark Call Magazine Article, 10/3/1937
Newark Sunday Call Magazine, 10/3/1937
My 3rd great-aunt Mary Thompson King's Dutch oven
Words cannot express how excited I was to see these photos. I ran home and had to tell everybody about this find.
One of my favorite photos is of my 3rd great-aunt Mary's old Dutch oven. For too long, the role of everyday, drylongso African-American women has been absent from the historical record as it pertains to the Underground Railroad. Yes, we know about the role of Black men and the role of white male and female abolitionists on the UGRR. But, what about the wives, daughters, and sisters of Black abolitionists? Weren't their roles just as important?
I am reminded of a post on my cousin Dawn Terrell's Answering The Ancestor's Call blog, where she writes about an ancestor calling her out to be remembered. When I saw Mary's Dutch oven, I know she was calling me out and reminding me that she, too, had helped fugitive slaves. We now know that it was Mary and her daughters, and maybe even her sisters, who cooked for the slaves hidden in the basement at 70 Warren Street. They probably also washed and repaired fugitive slaves' clothes, helped out with childcare, comforted frightened fugitive slaves, and did other things that were typically defined as "women's work." I am so thankful for this photo. I may not have a photo of Mary, but praise God I have this remembrance of her and the important work that she was doing along with Jacob and the rest of my ancestors. Praise God indeed.
On a whim, I then went to the Schomburg Center for Research and Black Culture to see if I could find even more info on Jacob's Underground Railroad activities. I came across The Black Abolitionist Papers, an account of Black abolitionists from the 1830s until the Civil War. In this multi-volume set, I found the names of both my Thompson and King ancestors. Regarding Jacob D. King, I found the following:
From The Black Abolitionist Papers
According to the Weekly Anglo-African newspaper, Jacob was a treasurer in a Relief Association which was a local organization, that assisted fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad.
Weekly Anglo-American Newspaper, 10/15/1859
From the time Jacob built his UGRR house in 1830 until the 1860s, Jacob was non-stop in his abolitionist activities. I should also add that, in the article above, Thomas Washington was Jacob's son-in-law, the husband of his daughter Martha. Hence, King black abolitionism was a family affair
Jacob passed away at 74 years old on 5/3/1880 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Newark. He devoted more than half his life to fighting against the evils of slavery. He is a man who should definitely be remembered.
Charles F. Cummings Was a Friend of Mine
December 31, 2013 African-Americans in 18th-19th Century Newark, NJ, Black Abolitionists in New Jersey, Family, Newark19th Century Newark, Black Coachmen, Charles F. Cummings, Goosbeck, Hedden, King, Newark, O'Fake, Thompson, Underground RailroadMsVegatron
This article is in memory of Charles F. Cummings, the noted Newark, NJ historian who left behind a trail for me to follow in seeking my ancestors.
I became familiar with Charles F. Cummings a few years ago. We never met in person because he passed away in 2005. But from the start, he was a friend, as Wendy Williams would say, in my head. I remember how we were introduced. I had recently located the names of my two 3rd great-aunts, the sisters of Cato Thompson, and their families. Catherine Hedden was living in 1850 with her 2 daughters and her mother, Ann. Right next door to her was her sister Mary King and her family.
1850 Census Record
I decided to google my 3rd great-aunt Mary's husband's name, Jacob D. King, to see if anything popped up on him. I found an article, "The Sounds of the Underground Railroad Resonate Throughout New Jersey" written by Peter Genovese in 2000 that mentioned Jacob.
"The Sounds of the UGRR Resonate Throughout NJ" Article
I can't tell you how PROUD I was to find this significant piece of my family history. I will be doing the happy dance for the rest of my life. LOL I have to thank Charles for documenting this.
When I first learned that both my 3rd and 4th great-grandfathers were well off in the early 1800s, I wanted to know about what type of men they were. Finding out that Cato was trained by Jacob and his brothers and that both Thomas and Cato lived right next to Jacob in 1830, meant that they both probably aided Jacob in the building of his house, as well as, the harboring of fugitive slaves on the road to freedom. Thomas Thompson was a well-respected coachman after all.
After reading this quote, I wished that Charles F. Cummings was alive so I could ask him all the questions I wanted to know about Jacob. That could not happen obviously. I reckoned that the next best thing I could do was to read his books to learn about Newark's history.
One day, when I was at the New Jersey Historical Society, accompanied by my friend Dee Dee Roberts, President of the New Jersey Chapter of AAHGS, I came across his book, A History of Newark, 1666-2002. In his book, there were two articles that pertained to African-Americans in Newark. One article was titled, "Slavery in New Jersey: A Shame that Spanned 3 Centuries," and it detailed slavery in New Jersey. On the 2nd page of the article, I came across this photo:
Jacob D. King's Underground Railroad House in Newark, NJ
Woohoo again!Slaves' Haven! Now, I had a picture of Jacob's house in 1937. His house stayed in his family for 106 years. As an FYI, Rutgers University, in downtown Newark, was built over the 70 Warren St. location. Thank you, Charles, for including this photo in your book. I did another happy dance in front of Dee Dee then I immediately let Andrea know of my find.
I then came across another Cummings article in the same book, "Blacks in New Jersey: The Journey Towards Economic Freedom." This article made reference to my 4th great-grandfather, Thomas Thompson.
"Blacks in NJ:The Journey Towards Economic Freedom"
Cummings mentioned Thomas Thompson (though he referred to him as Thompson Thompson) as being "the wealthiest man of color," according the 1821 Newark Tax Ratable. I was able to confirm his information by looking at the 1821 Tax Ratable.
1821 Newark Tax Ratable
Cummings also listed a number of other Free Blacks in Newark. Over the past couple of years, Andrea and I have been documenting the links between these families via marriages and community building institutions, like the founding of churches, schools, anti-slavery societies, Masonic lodges, etc. We have also researched the early Black abolitionist activities of this same Free Black community.
I had told someone once that my ancestors were from Newark. They then asked me, "Did your family come after the 1967 riots?" I said, "No." The next questions was, "So they came up from the South after World War I?" Again, I answered, "No." I finally had to tell them that we have been in Newark probably since it's founding. In fact, we are still there. I have a cousin whose law office is on Academy St. in downtown Newark —- on the same street where our ancestors lived in Newark in the late 1700s.
Charles didn't know it, but as a friend, he has tipped me off about, not only my family history, but also about early Black Newark. He left clues for me and Andrea to follow up on and we have. In the coming months, I will be writing about my ancestors and this early Free Black community in early 19th century Newark. It is my goal to put early Black Newark back on the map as these African-Americans deserve to be remembered.
My Poor 3rd Great-Grandfather Cato
December 29, 2013 African-Americans in 18th-19th Century Newark, NJ, Family, Newark, Plane St. Colored Presbyterian ChurchNewark, Pickett, Plane St. Colored Presbyterian Church, ThompsonMsVegatron
About three years ago, I tracked down my maternal 3rd great-grandfather on my Grandad's side, Cato Thompson. I found him listed as a being mulatto in every census from 1830-1880 in Newark, NJ. He was also listed in every Newark City Directory from, 1836-1890, as being a carpenter. What I found out about Cato was that he lived between 1809-1891; he was the son of Thomas and Ann Thompson, who was Dutch; he owned his own carpentry business; he invested in real estate; he trained carpenter apprentices; and was a very religious man. Cato was born in and lived his entire life in Newark — before Newark was a even a city.
On a whim, I googled Cato's name. (By the way, I have found a lot of info on my family just by googling so I highly recommend it.) Lo and behold, it wasn't long before I hit pay dirt in the form of several newspaper articles. My poor 3rd great-grandfather was robbed! One of the first articles was from a Black newspaper, The NY Freedmen Newspaper, on January 30, 1886:
Cato's Robbery
My first thought was, "Whoa, my 3rd great-grandfather was rich!" Before I knew of Thomas Thompson, I figured his white father hooked him up real good. WRONG! It would be another year, before Andrea and I discovered that the Thompson line consisted of mulattos marrying mulattos for generations. My European ancestors on this line enter the family in the late 1600s and early 1700s. We would later learn that Thomas was the richest Free Person of Color from 1806 until his death in the 1830s. It was Thomas's connection to a network of rich white people in Newark that Cato piggybacked off. But, more on that later.
Getting back to the article, my 2nd thought was, "Cato had servants?" Hmmmm. I remember thinking, did he own slaves at one point? Upon further research, I ruled that out. NJ had instituted a Gradual Emancipation Act in 1804 which would have precluded that. Cato was 77 years old when he was robbed. He lived alone and needed someone to help him. Annie Dutton (not Sutton as reported) was his live-in housekeeper.
On March 26, 1886, The NY Freedmen Newspaper reported the full story:
It looks like Annie Dutton was given several opportunities to repay Cato, but she refused. It also appears that she stole an additional $200 over the course of the 3 years she worked for him.
Annie Went to Jail
Her sister, Carrie, did plead guilty though.
Carrie Pled Guilty
I wondered how Cato earned his wealth. Based on several obituaries I found, I was able to put the pieces together. Wealth breeds wealth, for the most part, if the individuals are savvy. And my ancestors were SAVVY! At a young age, Cato learned his trade from his sister's husband's family as well as school. His sister Mary married into the King family, another Free Black Newark family, made up of carpenters, coopers, and planemakers. In addition, Thomas, his father, was able to refer Cato's skills, as a carpenter, to the wealthy white families he was affiliated with as a stagecoach owner. Cato then became a wealthy carpenter who was able to invest in real estate at a time when white immigrants, like the Irish and the Germans, were arriving in Newark in numbers starting in the late 1840s onward.
Cato's Obit
To date, Andrea and I have learned that Cato owned a lot of real estate. In addition to inheriting his parents' home, he owned about 10 other properties. His brother, Thomas Thompson, Jr., also owned two properties which he passed on to Cato's son, Thomas Thompson III. After Cato died, my 2nd great-grandmother, Laura Thompson Green, inherited some of his property and she, too, lived off the rents as did her son, my Grandpa Green.
Please note that Cato was married twice. Whoever gave the info to the above newspaper had the info wrong. His first marriage was in 1838 to my 3rd great-grandmother, Susan Pickett. Susan was born around 1809 to a slave named Tun in Morris County, NJ. Since she was born to a slave, unlike Cato, she had to serve her master until age 21, according to the Gradual Emancipation Act. Susan died in 1854 after an illness. My 2nd great-grandmother Laura was her youngest child. She was around 2 years old at the time of Susan's death. Cato was left a widower with 6 kids.
In 1856, he married his 2nd wife, Rosetta Dungy, the daughter of Rev. John A. Dungy. Rosetta's father was a Free Black who was born in Virginia and who moved to NYC in the late 1790s. By 1800, he owned a clothing store in downtown Manhattan and he was a minister who was affiliated with the A.M.E. Zion Church in NYC. At some point, he moved to New Haven, CT to help found the A.M.E. Zion Church there. He met his wife Sarah and Rosetta was born around 1818. Rosetta died of pneumonia in 1880 in Newark, NJ and Cato was once again a widower.
For awhile, there was a debate in my family over which one of Cato's wives was my 3rd great-grandmother. We confirmed that all his kids were from Susan. In fact, when he married Rosetta, she was overwhelmed with being a new wife to a man who already had 6 children —- so overwhelmed that she initially RAN AWAY, but she did come back. Here is a classified ad that Cato placed in the Newark Daily Advertiser on December 4th, 1856.
Rosetta Ran Away
When Cato died, he was once again had housekeeper issues. Poor Cato! He had employed Hannah Vanderveer as a housekeeper after the Annie Dutton fiasco in 1887. When he died in 1891, unbeknown to Cato's 5 living children, Hannah went to court and filed a "claim for dower." She claimed that she was married to Cato for three years which, of course, caught his children by surprise. Believe me, both the NY and NJ press had a field day with her claim. Some of the headlines at the time included, "Now She Says She Was His Wife" (NY Herald Tribune, 9/7/1891), "The Queer Proof of Marriage" (NY Herald, 9/7/1891), and "Hannah Vanderveer Shows It to Prove a Marriage with Cato Thompson. (Newark News, 9/7/1891).
Hannah Claims a Dower Right
It turns out that Hannah lied to the court. She said they had been married 3 years when Cato died, but she produced a marriage certificate that was 25 years old indicating her marriage to a "Thomas Creignton." She had the nerve to say that Cato went by "Thompson Cato" and that the old minister who married them wrote down Creighton instead of Cato. Pul-Leeze. I do give her an A for audacity as well as effort. It took some time to think up that hot mess of a lie. LOL
Not wanting to create a stir, however, his children settled with her:
Hannah Drops Her Claim
From our research we discovered that Cato was first married in the white First Presbyterian Church in Newark in 1838 to Susan. Sometime after their marriage, they joined the Plane Street Colored Presbyterian Street. Cato was a member and benefactor of this church until the day he died. His funeral also took place in this church.
Cato's Funeral Announcement
After Cato's died, his death announcement made several national Black newspapers, like the State Capital newspaper out of Springfield, Illinois (9/26/1891), which simple announced:
Cato Thompson, 1809-1891
In researching my Grandad's family, I've learned so much about him. Most importantly, why he walked so upright. Given the family background, he had — and I have —generations of Black male ancestors, aided by their wives, were businessmen and property owners. They were the best role models for him and his descendants.
By the way, there was never anything poor about Cato. He lived a rich life and left us with an even richer legacy.