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Trenton Newsapaper, New Jersey December 15, 1811

Written by: New Jersey State Library

For Sale

A NEGRO WOMAN, ABOUT 35 YEARS OLD, HEALTHY, SOBER AND HONEST, AND UNDERSTANDS ALL KINDS OF HOUSEWORK, WILL BE SOLD WITH OR WITHOUT HER CHILD, A BOY OF TWO YEARS OLD.

The advertisement, in a Trenton Newspaper on December 15, 1811, was similar to many notices appearing in periodicals all over the New Jersey during the early 19th century.  It was no rape occurrence to have slaves beaten.  Thousands of Negroes fled from bondage because of the harsh treatment they received or because they had a human desire for liberty.  But the laws of the Nation and the various states insisted that slave were property and had to be returned to the owners.

Every day during the early 1900s New Jersey Newspapers published notices such as this:

$20.00 REWARD

RAN AWAY ON THE 24th, OF DECEMBER LAST,

A NEGRO BOY NAMED MAJOR OR CHARLES . . . .SAID BOY IS ABOUT 18 YEARS OF AGE, 5 FEET 11 INCHES HIGH, AND SPEAKS LOW WHEN SPOKEN TO. THE ABOVE REWARD WILL BE GIVEN TO ANY PERSON WHO WILL LODGE HIM IN ANY JAIL SO THAT I MAY GET HIM. JOHN MINOR – -HILLSBOROUGH TOWNSHIP, SOMERSET COUNTY, JANUARY 19, 1818.

Its not known whether Major was ever returned to his master, or its possible that some white persons, at the risk of a jail term, secretly assisted him to escape.

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