By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – In thinking of the history of slavery in the U.S., southern states may come to mind. But there was certainly slavery happening in northern states as well, including New Jersey – the last northern state to abolish slavery.
Rick Geffken, a local author and historian, provided some insight on the history of slavery in New Jersey during the most recent installment of the Red Bank Library’s “Let’s Talk About Race” program March 31. Stories from his presentation, some involving the Two River area, are covered in his newly published book, “Stories of Slaver y in New Jersey.” Three of the 10 chapters are dedicated to Monmouth County, including accounts from Shrewsbury, Middletown, Holmdel and Freehold.
“Like many of us who grew up in New Jersey, the stories we heard about slavery were all around the Civil War and the South. Maybe we thought there was slavery in the North or in New Jersey, but we didn’t really think about it or learn about it. And this book will really educate all of us on our history here,” said Patty Whyte, program moderator.
Geffken has been a Monmouth County resident since he graduated high school. Throughout his education, he heard no mention of slavery in New Jersey. That’s why he encouraged attendees learning the information for the first time that night to question: What are we going to do with the knowledge that we’re going to get out of these stories?
He began with a discussion on George Washington, who once owned several slaves, most famously his personal slave William “Billy” Lee. Around 1770, the former president purchased Lee for 61 colonial pounds – the equivalent of purchasing eight horses or 13 cows at the time. His wife Martha brought 84 slaves into their marriage.
“Slaves in our history… were considered property and not fully embraced human beings. They were considered, really, machines wherein white slave owners could make profit through them,” said Geffken.
Washington kept Lee for the remainder of his life. Upon his death in 1799, Washington decided to free Lee in his will; Martha followed suit and also freed one sole slave through her will after her death. The rest of their slaves remained slaves.
Focusing in on New Jersey, Geffken demonstrated how William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia and once-owner of East and West Jersey, was involved in slave ownership. In 1691, Penn was offered a slave willed to him by Tinton Falls ironworks owner Lewis Morris. The two spent decades together in Tinton Falls, Barbados, Philadelphia and London.
Slavery in New Jersey dates back to the 1620s to 1650s in Bergen Neck, now considered Jersey City. Slaves were brought in to Dutch patroons, who were individuals given land and manorial privileges under former Dutch governments of New Jersey and New York. Slavery grew by 1664-5 for English colonists, especially under John Berkeley and George Carteret, who gifted 75 acres of land to white settlers per Black slave.
And the concept of slavery did not slow down for many decades and took many more years to completely abolish. It was abolished “very, very slowly,” Geffken said. In 1714, an act was passed to regulate slaves. It stated that if anyone caught a Black slave 5 miles or more from their master’s home without permission, that slave could be whipped and returned for a reward. It also stated that anyone who freed a slave had to pay the state the equivalent of $38,000 today, with an additional $3,800 each year the freed slave lived.
“Nobody was going to do that. That’s why it’s there,” said Geffken. “They want to discourage emission.”
In 1804, an act was approved for the gradual abolition of slavery. It stated that children of slave women born after July 4 were to be free, but females still had to serve until they were 21 and males until they were 25. By 1844, under the New Jersey Constitution, it stated that all men were “free and independent,” which upset slave owners.
When brought before the state Supreme Court, justices returned with a verdict claiming that the law only applied to white men – not Black slaves. Soon after, in 1846, an act was approved to abolish “slavery,” but existing slaves at that time were renamed “apprentices” for life, and therefore their work as servants continued.
New Jersey was the only northern state that did not vote in the electoral college for President Abraham Lincoln in both the 1860 and 1864 presidential elections. And in 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified by 27 states, New Jersey was the last to follow suit and did so in January 1866.
In 2008 the state Legislature issued a statement of apology expressing its “profound regret for the state’s role in slavery” and apologized for “the wrong inflicted by slavery and its after effects in the United States of America.” But there was no talk in the statement of reparations, Geffken pointed out, which he believes are necessary. Princeton Theological Seminary, for example, has offered scholarships to the descendants of some slaves it once held.
“It’s the beginning of a conversation which I hope will continue over the next couple of years to make up for this horrible thing that we’ve done,” he said.
During the public comment session, one attendee, who identified as “Cassandra” via Zoom, said she hopes everyone puts energy into getting the Amistad Curriculum into the school districts of New Jersey. The curriculum, approved in 2002, was designed to promote “a wider implementation of educational awareness programs regarding the African slave trade, slavery in America, and the many contributions Africans have made to American society,” the New Jersey Amistad Commission website states.
“The law passed quite some time ago and it’s not gotten the teeth and it’s not taught in the schools. I think if it was, we might have a different sensitivity to people and awareness to the contributions of people of color in New Jersey alone,” said Cassandra.
Anyone interested in purchasing “Stories of Slavery in New Jersey” may do so by emailing Geffken at rickg0817@ yahoo.com. Ten percent of its proceeds will be donated to the T. Thomas Fortune House in Red Bank.
This article originally appeared in the April 8-14, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
