Slavery and Underground Railroad Resources

Resources

Book - Guide to African American Resources at the Pennsylvania State Archives by Ruth E. Hodge

Record Groups

RG-4 - Records of the Office of the Comptroller General

• Tax and Exoneration Lists, 1762-1801. The dated lists give information about taxpayers, including number of slaves owned. Listings of slaves are found in some counties, including Berks, Bucks, and Cumberland. (p.23)
• Port of Philadelphia Records
  • Bonds and Papers Relating to Duties on Negro and Mulatto Slaves, 1720-1788. [Digital Images] "Duties that were paid on "negro" and "mulatto" slaves imported to the City of Philadelphia. Information provided in these records includes the name of the owner(s) and the collector, the amount of duty paid, any interest incurred, and the date of the contract. Occasionally, the name of the slave is also given."
    
  • Registers of Duties Paid on Imported Goods, 1781-1787. [Digital Images] Lists of ship masters, ships and other information including cargo descriptions. "Many of the ships transported either free or enslaved "Negroes" both before and during this period. (Refer also to Record Group 41, Health Officer's Register of Passengers' Names, 1792-1794)."
    

RG-7 - Records of the General Assembly

• House of Representatives
  • House File, 1790-1903. Petitions signed by citizens in Washington, Schuylkill, and Clearfield counties in March of 1863 to prohibit "negroes" from coming to live there or allowing interracial marriages. Response to the influx of freed African Americans after the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect. Also included is a Chester County petition protesting the fugitive slave law and "opposing any aid being offered to slave owners seeking to recover their slave property or allowing slave owners from slave states to retain their slaves while residing in Pennsylvania."
  • Septennial Census Returns, 1779-1863. (Only 11% of these records have survived.) List of taxpayers, occupation, and data "concerning slaves residing in the counties is often more extensive in content. Beginning with the year 1800, the name, age, gender, and residence of each slave is frequently noted, and occasionally even the owner's name is provided. The State Archives has original returns for thirty counties and the city of Philadelphia. Inhabitants are listed according to township or other political subdivision in which they resided." The following is a list of the counties and years of the census returns that contain references to African Americans:
    • Bedford: 1779, 1786, 1800
    • Berks: 1779, 1786, 1793, 1800
    • Bucks: 1786, 1800
    • Chester: 1786, 1793, 1800, 1807, 1814
    • Columbia: 1821
    • Cumberland: 1793, 1800, 1828, 1835, 1842, 1849
    • Dauphin: 1786, 1800, 1807
    • Delaware: 1793, 1800
    • Fayette: 1786, 1800
    • Franklin: 1786, 1800, 1807, 1814, 1821, 1828, 1835, 1842
    • Huntingdon: 1800, 1821
    • Lancaster: 1779, 1786, 1793, 1800
    • Luzerne: 1800
    • Lycoming: 1800
    • Mifflin: 1821
    • Montgomery: 1786, 1793, 1800, 1807, 1842
    • Northampton: 1786, 1800
    • Northumberland: 1800
    • Philadelphia: 1793, 1800, 1863
    • Somerset: 1800
    • Washington: 1786, 1800
    • Wayne: 1800
    • Westmoreland: 1786, 1800
    • Wyoming: 1849
    • York: 1786, 1793, 1800, 1807

RG-13 - Records of the Historical and Museum Commission

• Bureau of Archives and History
  • Administrative and Correspondence Files of the State Historian and Staff, 1945-1973. In 1945, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission was given responsibility for a program to erect historical markers throughout the state. Included in the marker files are correspondence, proposals for markers, and prepared texts for markers approved for installation. Among the markers related to the African American experience in Pennsylvania are: First protest against slavery, Edward Hector, Richard Henderson, Hopewell Furnace, James Family Cemetery, Daisy E. Lampkin, Joanna Furnace, Martin Luther King, Jr., Horace Pippin, St. Patrick's Church (Roman Catholic School), St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Thomas African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Thomas Rutter. Also included in the marker file are newspaper articles opposing the nomination of Edward Hector as being a legitimate African American.
  • Ethnic Culture Survey File, 1948-1976. Arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent. A file consisting of various types of material including brochures, newspaper articles, and correspondence relating to Pennsylvania's rich ethnic diversity. This file contains the following information on African Americans:
    • A brochure on the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc. (ASNLH)
    • An Arno Press catalog The American Negro: His History and Literature, 1968-1969.
    • A program for the 1968 ASNLH conference; newspaper articles on school integration.
    • American Traveler's Guide to Negro History
    • Pennsylvania and American History and Government for Grade 8, prepared for the Philadelphia Public Schools.
  • Photographs for Publications, 1950-1990. Contains a photograph of the "resurrection" of Henry "Box" Brown who made his escape to freedom sealed inside a wooden box. He served on the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and was one of the leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
  
  
• Pennsylvania Historical Commission
  • Records of the Pennsylvania Writers, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, American Guide Series, 1935-1941. These records pertain to Pennsylvania's involvement with the Federal Writers Project and most notably the American Guide Series. The WPA historical investigations of African Americans of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh covered all periods from slavery down to the Great Depression.
    • Job no. 63. The Negro in Philadelphia, 1938-39, 1941. Contains manuscripts of various chapters written by different authors, and filed in fifteen folders. Some of the topics include abolition societies, the underground railroad, cultural folkways and superstitions, education, literature, medical services, economic development, housing, professional development, interracial trends, military materials including the Colored Soldiers War Memorial, the law, personalities, railroads, religion, sports, fraternal organizations, employment (including slavery), and music.
  • Records of the Philadelphia Maritime Statistics Project, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, [ca. 1937-1941].
    • Chronological List of Masters and Crews, 1798-1880. This series includes three types of records for each year. The alphabetical Masters' List of the names of ship captains appearing in the volume gives the page number on which they appear and the year. The Ships' Lists give the date of travel, the name of the vessel, the name of the home port and name of the master, and the destination. The Crew Lists identify the names of the members of the crew serving on each vessel. The Crew Lists contain names of African American boys and men who served aboard merchant marine vessels. For each vessel listed as leaving or entering the Port of Philadelphia, the following information is given: name of crewman, his age, place of birth, physical description (identified as free, black, mulatto, Negro, or coloured), height, and also the name of vessel. Sometimes the description is ambiguous, such as "dark complexion" which could be Caucasian as well as African American. Four specific vessels, the Ship Caroline, the Ship Delaware, the Schooner Industry, and the Sloop Commerce, are known to have carried slaves. (See also Record Group #41.9, Health Officers Register of Passengers Names, 1772-1794)
    • Slave Manifests, 1800-1841. Manifests prepared by the captains of domestic slave ships list the name, gender, age, stature, class or color, and the residence of each of the slaves on board as well as the name of the shipper or owner. For example, the Ship Champlaine carried Leah, a black female, age 37, 5' 2", shipped/owned by one Samuel Oakford who lived in Louisiana. Two ships are included that arrived from foreign ports, bringing new slaves directly from Africa. The Schooner Phoebe brought, "one-hundred and eighteen Africans men, women, and children," and the Schooner Prudence carried "Sixteen Water Casks, One Key Tobacco, Seventeen African men, women and children."
  • Records of the Survey of the Federal Archives, Pennsylvania Historical Records Survey, Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1942.
    • Ship Registers of the Port of Philadelphia, Pa., Vol. 1, A-D, 1942. This incomplete set of volumes documents the three specific vessels Caroline, Delaware, and the Sloop Commerce, which are known to have carried slaves. The register provides the history of each ship including when it was built, the home port, the dimensions, date of registration, owners, master, as well as previous owners and registrations. (See also Record Group #41.9, Series Health Officers Register of Passengers Names, 1772-1794)

RG-15 - Records of the Department of Justice

• Eastern State Penitentiary. Although construction of the Eastern State Penitentiary at Philadelphia was authorized by the State legislature in 1821, the first inmates were not received until 1829. The Act of April 10, 1826, stipulated that prisoners sentenced from Adams, Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Centre (as of 1833), Chester, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Montgomery, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne and York counties were to be incarcerated at this penal facility.
  • Prison Administration Records, Scrapbook, 1889-1929. Unarranged. Consists of newspaper clippings that contain data about inmates, including particulars about their crimes and trials. Included in this scrapbook are also newspaper "wanted" and "reward" advertisements for slave runaways.

RG-17 - Records of the Land Office

• Commission Books, 1733-1809. Arranged chronologically by date commission was recorded.
  • Commission Book No. 1 contains the following manumission (freeing a slave): "the Negro man Henry Thomas, formerly a slave to Col. Robert Knox, deceased . . . is now a free man" as a result of his master's last will and testament, witnessed August 12, 1785. The certificate for Henry Thomas to enter the state of Maryland was issued on August 13, 1785. Other examples of Philadelphia manumissions are included.

RG-22 - Records of the Department of Education

• State Library of Pennsylvania
  • Glass Lantern Slides, 1890-1960.
    • Slave Life and the Civil War: This collection includes four lantern slides relevant to African Americans in Pennsylvania: #20 - "A Group of Contrabands - Negro Slaves," #35 - "First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation," #37 - "Scene of the Emancipation Proclamation" and #56 - "Emancipation Statute in Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C."
    • Slave Life and Lincoln: In this section are housed sixteen lantern slides depicting slave life during the administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, including: (4) "Slaves of the Northern Sweatshops," (5) "A Typical Slave Family Around Cabin-Fire Place with Home Made Furniture," (6) "Fugitive Slave Arriving at House of Levi Coffin," (7) "Uncle Tom on the Auction Block as Various Types of Buyers Crowd Around," and (10) "Slaves Escaping Through the Underground Railway with Bundles." A second grouping depicting scenes from the administration of Abraham Lincoln include one labeled "Men From All Walks of Life Answer Lincoln's Call for Volunteers" and one labeled "Emancipation."

RG-26 - Records of the Department of State

• Secretary of the Commonwealth
  • Attorney General's Correspondence, 1791-1894. Arranged chronologically. Correspondence received and sent by the Attorneys General of Pennsylvania. Among the items found is a cache of eleven letters dated May 17, 1824 - May 24, 1838 relating to the disturbances in Philadelphia that resulted in the destruction of Pennsylvania Hall, a large structure built for public meetings that served as a gathering place for the African American community and as a center of abolitionist activity.
  • Clemency File, 1790-1873. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically. Present is a casae from November 1863: Commonwealth vs. Frances Wilson, Gillmore Hull, Sylvester Gordon, Edward Stuckey, and Franklin Bostick, which involved John Brown, a free African American accused of robbing a store. Though he protested his innocence, Brown was nonetheless banished into Maryland from his home in Salisbury Township, Lancaster County, where he was physically abused and almost sold back into slavery by the defendants in this suit. This file contains testimonies of many people who saw John Brown being abused and beaten, one of whom was his wife, Susan Brown.
    
  • Executive Correspondence, 1790-1969. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically date of letter. Correspondence dated January 8, 1805 from the Legislature of North Carolina to the Governor of Pennsylvania. The letter asked for Pennsylvania's concurrence of a proposed amendment to the federal Constitution that would "prevent the further importation of Slaves, or People of Colour, from any West-India Islands, from the Coast of Africa, or elsewhere, into the United States, or any part thereof." Another example of the files contained in this series includes a resolution dated October 20, 1861 from the citizens of Coudersport, Potter County, to the President of the United States protesting the use of Pennsylvania soldiers to capture and return fugitive slaves.
    
  • Executive Minute Books, 1790-1943. Arranged chronologically. On Monday, March 20, 1837, Adam Klinefelter, Esq., Sheriff of York County, was appointed an agent of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to transport Nathan S. Bemis, Edward Prigg, Jacob Forworth and Stephen Lewis from Maryland to Pennsylvania for trial. Fugitives from justice, they were charged with having seized and taken away without lawful authority the wife and six children of Henry Morgan, a free "colored" man living in the Lower Chanceford Township, York County.
• Bureau of Elections, Commissions, and Legislation
  • Engrossed Laws, 1700-1968. Arranged chronologically by date of legislation. The original laws created and established by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. One of the most important pieces of legislation is the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, passed March 1, 1780, amended March 29, 1788 and December 8, 1789. Among its various provisions, the act ensured that no slave could be held in servitude for more than seven years past his twenty-first birthday. Although the Act did not immediately prohibit slavery, it was the first legal action taken in the country to implement a policy of gradual abolition of slavery. This series contains the official copies of other acts relating to African Americans in Pennsylvania.
• Corporation Bureau
  • Charter Books, 1812-1875. [Digital Images] This listing includes various African American organizations, as well as corporations and institutions that supported African Americans, Abolition, and also may have assisted escaped slaves.
    

RG-27 - Records of Pennsylvania's Revolutionary Governments

• Supreme Executive Council, 1777-1790
  • Clemency File, 1775-1790, & undated. [Digital Images] Arranged alphabetically by surname of petitioner. November 1787, Philadelphia County - Alice Clifton, slave of John Barthlomew, was convicted of murdering her female child on April 5, 1787. She was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead.
    • August 1789 - Petition of John Irwin of Westmoreland County requesting release of his servant boy, who committed felonies in Bedford County and was fined twenty pounds. Because he was unable to pay the fine, he was to be sold at a public sale. The petition requested a remission of the fine on the grounds that the servant would not sell for even a fifth of the fine and the owner would therefore take a great loss.
    • September 1780 - Petition of James Oellers, of Philadelphia, on behalf of his slave Sarah Craig, read on September 25, 1780. Sarah Craig knowingly received stolen goods from Alice Wiley who had taken them from John Fry. As a result of this petition, Sarah was granted a pardon in October 1790.
  • Forfeited Estate File, 1777-1790. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically. This series documents the property of colonists deemed loyal to the British Crown during the Revolutionary War that was seized by the revolutionary authorities. Cited here are some examples representative of references to African Americans:
    • Bucks County - an inventory and assessment of the forfeited goods and chattels and property of Gilbert Hicks, taken August 28, 1778, lists "a Negro 12 years old" valued at 112 pounds and ten shillings.
    • Chester County - an inventory of lands, tenants, goods and chattels of Christopher Wilson,. taken July 6, 1778 lists a "Negro Wench 19 years old" valued at 75 pounds.
    • Lancaster County - a petition of John Swanwick read in Council October 21, 1777, regarding the protection of the estate of his father W. Swanwick who died and left his estate to John's mother, Mary Swanwick. A militia captain took some of her property which included a "Negro girl."
    • Philadelphia County - an inventory of household goods and property of John Tolly appraised August 8, 1778, lists "one black wench named Betty, two female children," valued at forty pounds.
    • York County - a petition, read in Council in September 1778, for Negro Ralph who was purchased by John Rankin from Robert Power. Rankin declared his intention to free Negro Ralph after he had served Rankin for a fixed term. Shortly after Negro Ralph obtained his freedom, however, Rankin died. Negro Ralph feared being sold as part of the Rankin estate and this petition was made on behalf of Negro Ralph.

RG-33 - Records of the Supreme Court

• Eastern District
  • Autograph File, 1683, 1767-1815. [Digital Images] Arranged alphabetically by surname. The documents within this series were extracted from their original files in 1925 due to their unique historical value. Included in this series is "A Return of Prisoners Confined in the Gaol of Lancaster County the 14th Day of May, Anno Domini 1781," which provides the prisoner name at time of commitment, the name of the person by whom committed, and the nature of the crime. Included on this list is "Negroe Abraham, a runaway Servant to James Brown" and "Negroe Mishich, a runaway slave property of Jos. Irwin of Conogogig."
    
  • Certiorari and Habeas Corpus Papers, 1753-1775, 1777-1787. Arranged chronologically by court term. These papers were used to appeal a lower court verdict. The Certiorari Papers requested transcripts from a lower court to be given to a higher court for review of the proceedings. The Habeas Corpus Papers were writs used to bring a person before a court. Many of the writs that were used to compel appearance of slaves before the court provide the slave's name, place of residence and name of his master. In some instances familial relationships are mentioned and details are entered such as where the slave worked and when he or she was purchased. The following are some examples of writs involving African Americans:
    • Chester County - Cato, "a Negro man," was charged with stealing his wife Mary and their three children, Betse, Cato, and Isaac, from their owner and master, Samuel Moore of Chester County, on March 13, 1786. He was discharged April 1, 1786.
    • Philadelphia County - Pompey, "a Negro man," the property of Mr. Isaac Wihoff, was charged with disorderly conduct on May 29, 1786, but was later discharged on July 19, 1786.
  • Escheat Papers, 1796-1822. [Digital Images] Arranged by court term and case number. This series was arranged originally in chronological order by the earliest document date with some case papers added. On September 29, 1787, "An Act to Declare and Regulate Escheats" established a process by which the Commonwealth acquired the real and personal property of persons who died intestate or without heirs. If the escheators court found no claim or will, the property was turned over to the state. Otherwise, claimants were to appear at the next session of the Supreme Court. Examples:
    • August 1780, Indicted with trespass and assault on two occasions, Negro Tom, a slave. Thomas Patton was fined five pounds for each account, before William Henry, Esquire, of Lancaster County.
    • November 1780, Negro Sol, slave to William McIntire, of Lancaster County, was charged with larceny and fined one hundred and fifteen pounds.
  • Insolvent Debtor Papers, [ca. 1789-1805, 1812-1814]. Arranged chronologically by the surname of debtor, and thereunder chronologically by date of filing. Papers relating to insolvency cases brought before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the Eastern District. Types of papers filed include petitions, bonds, assignments, renunciations of assignments, debt schedules, and certificates of discharge, reference and naturalization. The petition of Samuel Butcher, July 7, 1791, lists all of his property, including his slaves: a Negro man named Fortune and a Negro girl five years of age. Butcher transferred all of his property to the designated assignees in order to pay his creditors.
  • Miscellaneous Records of the Supreme Court of Nisi Prius, [ca. 1786-1800]. [Digital Images] Artificially arranged by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. The volumes contain a wide variety of miscellaneous Supreme Court records, including court minutes, coroner's inquisitions, proceedings in cases, lists of marriage, public housekeepers, and tavern licenses issued. Some pre-Revolutionary records exist, identifying George III as the reigning monarch. An example of the type of materials found relating to African Americans is a 1782 deposition by Michael Shafer of Berks County who on several occasions sold slaves to Charles Carr, an employee of John Lesher. Shafer's deposition alleged that John Lesher never paid Michael Shafer.
    
  • Writs of Habeas Corpus for Black Slaves and Indentured Servants, 1784-1787. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date of writ. Dozens of writs resulting from the Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery and responding memoranda concerning detained African American men, women, and children were filed with the Supreme Court. These contain diverse types of information that vary with each writ. Many of the documents provide the slave's name, place of residence and name of master. In some writs, the age and/or date of birth is given, familial relationships are mentioned, and particulars are entered about where the slave worked and when he or she was purchased. Documents are present for cases filed in various counties including Chester, Cumberland, Lancaster, Philadelphia and York Some examples are:
    • Chester County - Writs concerning the case of a Negro girl named Phobe English who was allegedly purchased by Alexander McMonigel of Chester, Pennsylvania from George Taylor of the Borough of Wilmington. The earliest of these reads: "The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to [Alexander M. Monagale of New Garden Township in the County of Chester,] GREETING, You are commanded, that the Body of [Phobe English - a Negro Girl about seven or eight years of age] under your custody detained, as it is said, together with the day and cause of [her] being taken and detained,..." (1785). Other proceedings in this case are dated 1787, and 1789 and result in a decision of the State Supreme Court "that the said Phebe English was born free and is now free from any slavery or servitude; that her mother Elisabeth English, her Grandmother and Great Grandmother appear to me to have been also born free.", signed by Thomas M. Kean, September 19, 1789.
    • Cumberland County
      • 1780, John Calhoon registered the following Negroes: Diana, Nell, Pegg, Fanny, Phebe, and Tom.
      • 1780, John Herron registered Jerry, Sall.
      • 1780, John Young had one "Negro wench named Pegg."
      • 1780, John Creigh of Carlisle owned Jean.
      • 1780, Robert Miller of Carlisle registered Darby, Violet, Toy and Abraham.
      • 1780, property of Stephen Duncan, a Negro man named Frank.
      • 1781, property of James Steward of Georgia, Negroe Frank, 21 and Dinah, 16 years old, held in Carlisle by James Langston..
      • 1783, property of Richard Bitler, a Negro female called Charlotte, daughter of a wench called Mott.
      • 1787, property of John Moore of West Pennsburg, a Negro female born 1785 and Tobias, a male born Oct. 1787.
      • 1787, Property of William Brown, a Negro girl named Sidney.
      • 1787, Property of Reverend James Johnston, a Negro girl named Tamar;
      • 1789, Property of William Robinson, a Negro girl named Lucy.
      • 1789, Frank West of Tyrone Township owned Sligo, Jacob, Poll, Chamont, Mila, Lewis, John, and Debby.
      • 1789, Negro child called Nell belonging to Frank Campbel.
    • York County - Writs relating to the case of "Negro Hannah," who had been brought into Pennsylvania by her master, Robert Crawford, and kept longer than the six months allowed under Pennsylvania's Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. On May 26, 1787, William Askew reported that in the year 1781 he had purchased the estate owned by Robert Crawford in "Hambleton" Township, York County. Askew complained that Robert Crawford would not comply with the contract respecting Askew's title, and in consequence Askew brought a suit against Crawford on the 22nd day of February 1782. Askew testified that "the Saturday following, I had the writ served on Crawford and it was the Monday following that Negro Hannah applied to William McClean, Esq. for a pass and although I do not at this time remember what time Crawford brought the Negro and her children from Maryland to Pennsylvania yet I do know and will remember that the aforesaid Negroes were held as Crawford's slaves by him in Pennsylvania after they came from Maryland more then six months." On May 25, 1787, William Cochran stated that "Negro Wench Hanah, came to his house and handed him a paper signed by William McClean, Esq., setting forth that the said Negroe Wench had right to hire herself as any other free woman where she might find employ; from this time that Said Crawford came into this county from Maryland, I new the Negro Wench to be in the service of Mr. Crawford as a slave, which was above six months, when I saw the paper."
• The Courts of Oyer and Terminer
  • Court Papers, 1757-1761, 1763, 1765-1776, 1778-1782, 1786, 1787 . Arranged alphabetically by name of county, and thereunder by court term and case number. These documents from the Oyer and Terminer Courts include case files, judicial administrative papers, and diverse records from the Mayor's Court of Philadelphia; minutes from Nisi Prius courts of Northampton and York; and tavern license petitions from Philadelphia. Some examples pertaining to African Americans concerning slavery are:
    • Berks County, 1772. Elizabeth Bishop, wife of John Bishop was charged with the murder of their slave Louis[e].
    • Berks County, 1775. An inquisition into the death of Peter, the slave of John Patton of Heidelberg Township. Thomas Roach was charged with the murder.
    • Lancaster County, 1767. Testimonies involving the murder of Dinah, a slave of William Crawford. Two men were tried separately for the same crime.
    • Lancaster County, 1781. York, a slave of Michael Ego was charged with the rape of Elisabeth Snyder.
    • Lancaster County, 1781. Phebe, a slave of James McCally and Matty, more commonly known as Patty and formerly called Charity, a slave of Amos Slaymaker, were charged with the burning of Slaymaker's barn.
    • Philadelphia County, 1768. Richard Wild was tried in the murder of one of his slaves, Cloe. When asked to pay funeral expenses Wild claimed Cloe was really Rosanna, a slave of Sylvera Liguance, Jamaica.
    • Philadelphia County, September 1782. A Negro slave owned by William Parker, named Peter, was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to be "hanged by the neck till he be dead."
    • Philadelphia County, 1782. Testimonies involving the breaking and entering of William Ball's house. Those on trial included John Dorset, a slave of Samuel Hillegro, Lot and Luz Suzey, two free mulattos, and John Freeman, alias Samuel Nurick.
    • York County, 1780. Testimonies concerning the robbery of McSherry's store and house. The testimony involves George Weaver, Jacob Sherman and his slave Dick.
• Middle District
  • Appeal Papers, 1799-1981. Arranged by court term and case number. Papers filed with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the Middle District for appeals from lower courts, including petitions for certiorari, petitions for extension of time, acknowledgments of record, notices of appeal, judgments, opinions of the justices, praecipes for appearance (which call for the appearance of interested parties before the court), and petitions for appeal. The petitions for appeal enumerate the arguments in support of an appeal, and also list the questions raised in the case due to the decisions of the lower courts. Appeals relating to African Americans (concerning slavery) include:
    • Adams County, 1812. Deposition of widower Christiana Bittinger with regard to the changing of the name of her slave from Coll to Sall and a deposition of Elizabeth Baum, daughter of Nicholas Bittinger, regarding this slave girl named "Sall." Later in the same year, several documents from Franklin County refer to this same Negro slave woman called Sall who was registered from birth as Collin and called Coll by her first owner, Nicholas Bittinger, even though her mother, family and friends called her Sall. A slave called "Sall" was also recorded as "Collie, Coll, and Collin, deposition concerning Sall, Collin or Coll of Franklin County. In addition to Sall (Coll), other slaves are listed for Richard McCallister and Nicholas Bittinger.
    • Franklin County, 1812. Lydia Furguson, "a woman of color," was charged as a runaway. She had belonged to Lord Fairfax in nearby Alexandria, Virginia and claimed she was to be freed upon his death and left $100 in his will.
    • Lancaster County, 1818. Daniel Haines took Negro Tom to jail for refusing to go to New Jersey with Mr. Isaac Low. Mr. Low then sold Tom to a Mr. Philips to take to Kentucky; Tom then refused to go to Kentucky.
    • Franklin County, 1819. Negro Sal gave her daughter, Mulatto Mave, to William Holiday's daughter Ruth Somerville. Ruth's husband James Somerville, claimed that Mave left him and was not longer in his possession.
    • York County, 1840. Appeal no. 52 contains several documents connected with the case of the Commonwealth vs. Prigg, an important case used as an anti-slavery weapon to create new fugitive slave laws in Pennsylvania. In 1837, Edward Prigg, a professional slave catcher from Maryland, seized Margaret Morgan and her children. She was the wife of Henry Morgan, a free African American who lived in the Lower Chanceford Township, York County.

RG-41 - Records of the Navigation Commission for the Delaware River and its Navigable Tributaries

• Port of Philadelphia
  • Health Officer's Account of Passenger Entries, 1789-1794. [Digital Images] This register contains an account of vessels arriving at the Port of Philadelphia and a record of passengers submitted by captains to the Health Officer of the Port. Information provided includes the date of arrival, a description of the vessel, the name of vessel, the name of commander, the port from which last sailed, the name of the vessel visited, and the number of passengers and servants. Vessels included in this register are also listed in the Health Officer's Register of Passengers' Names, 1792-1794. Some of these vessels carried African Americans as cargo, including the sloop Sally and the sloop Lark.
    
  • Health Officer's Register of Passengers' Names, 1792-1794. [Digital Images] This register contains names of passengers and seamen arriving at the Port of Philadelphia as reported by the commanders of the vessels to the Health Officer. The following information is included in the register: date of arrival, name of vessel, name of captain, port of departure, and other pertinent information. Many of the vessels carried "negroes" and "servants." For example, the Sloop Sally, commanded by Amherst Bartlett from Cape Francois, transported "Peter Desmarier and Mulato Jacob, Negro wench Mary and boy Azore;" on April 16, 1793 the Brig Industry, commanded by William Brewster from St. Thomas, transported Augustis Thomas and a Negro servant; and on August 9, 1793 the Sloop Lark, commanded by John Burrows from St. Martins, transported "John Richardson and negro servant."
    
  • Tonnage Registers, 1784-1789. [Digital Images] These registers show the date of each ship's entry into Philadelphia, name of vessel, master's name, place bound, name of owner or consignee, tonnage, and fees. Vessels such as the Sloop Polly and the Brig Phoebe are listed as having "negroes, mulattos, and servants" included in their cargoes.
    

RG-46 - Records of the Valley Forge Park Commission

• Minute Books, 1893-1977. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date of meeting. A record of the meetings of the Valley Forge Park Commission from its inception in 1893 until it was turned over to the Federal Government in 1977. In the minute books for 1975 are facsimile copies of the "Bicentennial Broadside from Valley Forge Park," No. 4 and 5, dated July 1775 and August 1775, respectively. In the July 2, 1777 broadside Alexander Hamilton declares: "The Congress has declared that no slaves should be enlisted, but several have already played an active part. The southern colonies most dependent on slavery have put no blacks in the field, while men in the northern and middle states frequently send slaves as substitutes, giving them their freedom with their muskets." In a biographic note on James White, it states "tax records for Chester County show James White owned property from December 17, 1771 to September 10, 1778, to include ownership of one Negro slave." The August 2, 1775 issue states "Slaves try to enlist: Returned by British - Norfolk - the town has been greatly disturbed lately by the behavior of the slaves, who run off in the mistaken notion of finding shelter on the British men of war in the harbor. The naval officers have repeatedly assured the populace that no encouragement is given to slaves trying to join the English forces, and Captains McCartney and Squires receive the thanks of the community for the many they've returned."
  

RG-47 - Records of the County Governments

• Adams County, Prothonotary
  • Register of Negroes and Mulattoes, 1800-1820. [Digital Images] Grouped alphabetically by surname of slave owner and thereunder chronologically by date of registration. This register is a record of children born to slaves in Adams County. Information provided for each child includes name, occupation, and place of residence of the slave owner; name, date of birth, and gender of the child; whether negro or mulatto; and the date registered
• Bedford County, Prothonotary
  • Record of Negro Mulatto Slaves, 1780, 1798. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date the slave was registered. This roll documents slaves held in Bedford County. Information provided by each entry generally includes name and occupation of slave owner; slave's name, age, and length of servitude; the classification "negro" or "mulatto," and the date registered.
  • Record of Negro and Mulatto Children, 1821-1825, 1828. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date register was filed. Register of children who were born into slavery. Information provided for each child includes name and occupation of owner, date of birth, name of child and mother, date return was filed and date petition was filed with the Quarter Session Court.
  • Record of Negro and Mulatto Children and Miscellaneous Slave Records, [ca. 1780-1834]. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date of document. Petitions to keep the services of slaves past age twenty-eight; certificates of claim to runaway slaves; court orders to remove runaway slaves; a bill of sale; an apprentice indenture; and a record of "negro" and "mulatto" children registered.
• Bucks County, Prothonotary
  • Register of Slaves, [ca. 1783-1830]. [Digital Images] This volume documents the births of "negro" or "mulatto" children born to slave mothers. Information provided about each child includes name, occupation, and township of residence of the slave owner; name, gender, and either the age or date of birth of the child; and the date registered. This volume also contains records of manumissions, which may include information regarding names of the individuals, dates slaves were set free, physical descriptions, and circumstances regarding emancipation.
• Centre County, Prothonotary
  • Birth Returns for Negroes and Mulattoes, 1803-1820. [Digital Images] Unarranged. A record of slaves born in Centre County. Information includes the name of the slave and slave owner; his occupation of slave owner and township. One document records: "One male mulatto child named Peter, born on the twenty second of March one thousand eight hundred and three," signed by owner James Rankin. The document further states "Chester County, Pennsylvania: Before me Richard Miles, Esquire, Clerk of the Court of General Quarter Session at the Peace of Said County appeared James Rankin of Potters Township, farmer, being duly sworn according to law deposith and saith that on the twenty second day of March one thousand eight hundred and three his negroe wench named Sall was delivered of a male mulatto child he calls by the name of Peter."
• Cumberland County, Board of County Commissioners
  • Returns for Negro and Mulatto Slaves, 1780, 1781, 1788-1811, 1813-1821, 1824-1826, 1833. [Digital Images] Unarranged. Loose returns for negro and mulatto slaves in Cumberland County. Information includes slave owner's name, township, occupation, and the name and age of the slave. Examples are:
    • "Robert Gibson of Carlisle in the County of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, came before me John Agnew Justice of the Peace for said County and delivered to me the names and age of all his slaves and desires the same be recorded as such: Phillis a mulatto slave for life blind of both eyes aged about 25 or 20 years, Poll a slave for life aged 3 years and one month," signed by Robert Gibson, carpenter, August 22, 1781.
    • John Smith of Carlisle, Innkeeper, returned two mulatto servants; Humphrey aged two years and six moths, and James, aged two years and three months, as "my property," signed John Smith, March 31, 1789.
    • The individual returns are preceded by a typed listing of the returns prepared by the court, giving the names of slave owner and slave/indenturer, and the slave's date of birth. Examples of African Americans are:
      • No. 38; 1780, General William Thompson: James, born 1743; Nell, born 1744; Betty, born 1757; Venus, born 1760; Jacob, born 1774; Perus, born 1774; and Sam, born 1779.
      • No. 2; 1780, Robert Gibson: Phillis, born 1780.
      • No. 43; John Smith, Carlisle: Humphrey, mulatto , born October 1787; James, born January 1788.
  • Clerk of Courts, Slave Returns, 1780, 1789, 1814. [Digital Images] Unarranged. Loose returns for slaves living in Cumberland County. Information includes name of slave owner, county and township, slaveowner's occupation, and name, sex, and age of slave. An example: William Duncan of Hopewell Township in Cumberland County reports Toma, a female slave for life, aged about 22 years. Signed by William Duncan on October 11, 1780.
• Fayette County
  • Birth Records for Negroes and Mulattoes, 1788-1826. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date of document. This series primarily documents the records of births of "negro" or "mulatto" children in Fayette County. In addition to birth returns and certificates of slave registry from other counties, miscellaneous single items are also included. The Birth Returns were prepared after the passage of the 1780 Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery in Pennsylvania. Information provided includes the township of residence, date of birth, the names of the mother and the children born, the name and occupation of the individual whose property they were considered, and the name of the notary. These records were filed years after the individual's birth and numerous individuals could be listed on one return. The Certificates of Slave Registry from other counties document slaves brought into the county from Cumberland, Lancaster, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. Information includes the date registry information was filed with the appropriate courthouse, the names and township of the owner, the sex and age of the slave, and sometimes the slave's date of birth and mother's name. The group of miscellaneous single items includes such materials as a request of name alteration (the slave's registered name was "Lucy," however her mother called "Luisa"), an extract from the record of slaves registered by Hugh Laughlin, a petition of George Mannypenny for extension of his slave's servitude because she had a child, and an exemplification indenture, which was a legal office copy of a deed that was recorded to be as valid in a court of law as the original deed. Information provided in such documents includes the names of parties involved and the dates of the documents or court actions.
• Lancaster County, Clerk of Courts
  • Returns of Negro and Mulatto Children Born After the Year 1780, 1788-1793. [Digital Images] Unarranged. A record of individual slave returns for Lancaster County. Information includes name of slave owner and his occupation, township, name of slave or servant, sex and color. Some returns may further describe the slave's color and sex. For example, William Smith, a farmer living in Earl Township owned one mulatto boy named Benn who was born on December 19, 1787. According to this return, Benn actually belonged to William Smith's daughter, Margaret Smith, who was underage and residing with Smith.
  • Index to Slaves, 1780-1834. [Digital Images] Arranged chronologically by date of return and thereunder alphabetically by slave owner's name. An index to slave returns in Lancaster County. Information includes slave owner's name and page number on which original return can be found.
• Washington County, Recorder of Deeds
  • Negro Register, 1782-1851 (bulk 1782-1820). [Digital Images] Arranged alphabetically by surname of slave owner. Provides the name of the slave owner, his township, and the name and age of the slave. An example: James Bell of Peters Township, one boy named Flanders, 9 years of age; William Campbell of Hopewell Township, one girl named Hajar, 14 years of age.

RG-48 - Records of the Municipal Governments              

 Lancaster County, Prothonotary

• Mayor's Registry of Colored Persons, 1820-1849. [Digital Images] Registry arranged chronologically, index arranged alphabetically. A register of African Americans in the City of Lancaster, Lancaster County. Information provided includes: name, sex, marital status (spouse's name where applicable), age, residence, occupation, number of children, and date of registry entry.

Related Resources

• Guide to African American Resources
• Slavery and the Underground Railroad (Manuscript Groups)