The African American
Struggle Against Slavery
in the Mid~Hudson Valley,
1785-1827
Michael E. Groth
The following essay was a lecture given at a historical symposium sponsored by the Eleanor
Roosevelt Center at Val-Kill on October 30, 1993, entitled "Black-White Relations in Dutchess
County in Historical Perspective."
In 1804, Gilbert Livingston's nineteen-year-old slave Sam "ungratefully" fled from his
mas ter's employ. T aking with him a dark brown coat, two waistcoats, a pair of blue
nankeen trousers, a pair of overalls, and several other articles of clothing, Sam most likely
did not intend to return. Livingston noted that his slave's dereliction of service was
particul arly "base, because he was purchased by me at his own solicitation, at 225 dollars
price, on an express contract to work out his freedom, as he knew I was principled against
slavery, and had manumitted several. " O ne year later, James, a mul atto belonging to Israel
Vail of Clinton, fled his mas ter after having similarly negotiated with Vail for his freedom.
As had G ilbert Livingston, Israel Vail regarded such ac tion as "notorious ly base" and
requested all printers "throughout the United States" to "give this advertisement a place in
their respective papers." 1
These two advertisements reveal what Shane White has characterized as the "yawning
chasm" which separated white from black perceptions of slavery and freedom.2 As
slaveholders in the Mid-Hudson Valley reasserted their authority over their bondsmen and
bondswomen in the afterm ath of the American Revolution and acquiesced to only a
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
63
particularly conse rvative scheme of gradu al abolition, African Americans continued to
struggle for their liberty. Short of violent rebellion, the act of running away constituted the
most direct means of challenging slavery, and each fugitive undermined the authority of
slaveholders in the Mid-Hudson Valley. However, as important as an examination of
runaways is in understanding African-American resistance to slavery, it tells only a portion
of the story. Although the evidence is fragmentary, the historical record for Dutchess
County sugges ts that many more slaves resorted to less dramatic means of hastening
emancipation. Prior to fle eing his master, Gilbert Livingston's slave Sam specifically
"solicited" Livingston to purchase him on an "express contract to work out his freedom,"
and Israel Vail's slave James likewise req uested his own purchase to negotiate his liberty.
Although Sam and James did eventu ally abscond, the majority of slaves in Dutchess
County were unable or unwilling to take such a dras tic step. For these individuals,
cognizant of their value to their owners, and empowered by the adoption of gradual
aboli tion, negotiation with their masters was an alternative means by which they could
secure their liberty. Although slaves in the Mid-Hudson Valley were incapable on their
own of bringing about the end of slavery in New York , their persistence in demanding
con tracts for their freedom, and the willingness of some, like Sam and James, to flee when
their needs were not met, rendered slavery more onerous to their owners and has tened the
demise of the institution in the Mid-Hudson River Valley.
The Revolution had a dramatic impact upon the institution of slavery in the Northern
states. Fueled by Enlightenment thought, a faith in the perfectibility of man, and Christian
millenialism born out of the Great Awakening, opposition to slavery grew steadily in the
wake of political ferment and war, as white abolitionists and African Americans linked the
slaves' struggle for freedom with the coloni al crusade against British tyranny. In the eyes of
eighteenth and nineteenth-century abolitionists, the institution of human slavery was an
economic anachronism antithetical to liberal conceptions of progress and offensive to
Christian morali ty, natural rights, and democracy. By 1784, the states of New England as
well as Pennsylvania had adopted meas ures which either abolished slavery outright or
prescribed its gradu al aboli tion.}
New York, however, presented an important exception. Slave labor played a much more
indispensable role in New York than in the res t of the North, and the institution emerged
more strongly entrenched in the society and economy of the state after the Revolution
than it had been before .4 Slaveholders successfully parried several attempts by lawmakers
to abolish slavery in the state until 1799, when the state legislature finally adopted an
exceptionally conservative scheme of gradual emancipation. "An Act fo r the gradu al
aboli tion of slavery" declared that all children of slaves born after July 4, 1799 were to be
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The Hudsml Valley Regimlal Re.iew
deemed and adjudged free but stipulated that all such children were to serve their mothers'
masters until the age of twenty-eight for males and twenty-five for females. Slaves born
prior to July 4, 1799 were to remain in bondage for the remainder of their naturallives. 5
Despite the conservatism of slaveholders in New York, the Revolutionary experience
emboldened slaves in their own personal struggle for freedom, and it was African
Americans who kept the antislavery protest alive during the decades immediately following
the conflict. The climactic events of the 1770's and 1780's left an indelible impression
upon African Americans in the Mid-Hudson Valley; slaves in New York were hardly
content to wait passively as they witnessed the abolition of slavery in neighboring states
and listened to the heated debates over emancipation in Albany. A new mood of
assertiveness among slaves manifested itself in the region. Residents of Ulster County
organi zed the "Slave Apprehending Society of Shawangunk" in response to the " uneas iness and disquietude" among local slaves, some of whom believed that the legislature had
liberated them "and that they are now held in servitude by the arbitrary power of their
Mas ters. "6
The ac t of running away constituted a direct challenge to a slave owner's authority.
Dutchess County newspapers contain advertisements for 200 slaves who absconded from
their masters between 1785 and 1827.7 During the Revolution, African Americans in the
Hudson River Valley had capitalized upon the anarchic situation of war by fleeing their
mas ters, and slaves continued to abscond after the cessation of hos tilities, although at a
slower rate than that during the war years. While ads for sixty fu gitives appeared in the
local press between 1777 and 1783-an average of almost nine runaways annuallyadvertisements for only three fugit ives per year appeared in the Poughkeepsie Journal
between 1785 and 1799 (See table A).B During the decade and a half after the war,
however, the number of runaways did noticeably increase ; while twenty-two fugitives
appeared in newspaper advertisements during the ten years between 1785- 1794 (an
average of 2.2 annually), twenty-four fu gi tives absconded during the five years immediately
preceding the adoption of the gradu al abolition act in 1799, or an average of almost five per
year.9
Although the numbers provide hardly definitive evidence, they do suggest that slaves in
the Mid-Hudson River Valley grew increasingly res tive during the final decade of the
eighteenth century. The end of slavery in neighboring states and the intensifying debate
ove r emancipation in New York must have convinced at leas t some African Americans
that the days of slavery in New York were numbered but that they could ill afford to wait for
the fin al outcome.
The African American Stru ggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
65
Table A
Afican-Amercian Runaways In Dutchess County Newspapers, 1785-1827
Period
Number
Average per year
1785- 1799
46
3. 1
1800- 18 17
108
6.0
18 18- 1827
46
4.6
TO TAL
200
4.7
Source: Compiled from American Farmer and Dutchess County Advertiser (1798- 1800); Dutchess
Observer (1 8 15- 1826); Political Barometer (1 802- 18 11); Poughkeepsie}oumal (17 85- 1827) ; Republican
Herald (1 8 11- 1823); Republican Telegraph (1 824- 1826); Republican Telegraph and Observer (1 82 61827).1 have included only those runaways from Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Ulster Counties, as
well as northern Orange and Wes tchester, and southern Albany county.
TableB
Age Distribution Of African-American Runaways In Dutchess County Newspaper
Advertisements, 1785-1827
Age Group
1785- 1799
N (%)
1800-1 8 17
N(%)
18 18- 1827
N(%)
1- 15 yea rs
5 (12.5)
7 (7.5)
5 (1 2.8)
16-25
25 (62.5)
66 (71.0)
30 (76.9)
26-35
7(17 .5 )
16(17 .2)
3 (7.7)
36- 45
2 (5 .0)
3 (3. 2)
0(0. 0)
> 45
1 (2.5)
1 (1.1)
1 (2.6)
T OTALS
40 (100.0)
93 (100.0)
39 (1 00.0)
Missing cases = 28
Source: See table A
TableC
Sex of Runaways in Dutchess County Newspaper Advertisements, 1785-1827
Period
Male (%)
Female (%)
1785- 1799
41 (89. 1)
5 (1 0.9)
1800- 18 17
90 (83.3)
18 (16.7)
18 18- 1827
30 (66.7)
15 (33.3)
TO TAL
161 (80.9)
38 (1 9.1)
Missing cases = 1 Source: See table A
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Indeed, the adoption of gradual abolition seems to have been an important turning point.
The number of fugitives appearing in the local press increased noticeably after 1799,
doubling from an average of 3.1 runaways annually to 6.0 between 1800 and 18 17 . The
number of runaways declined slightly after 1817, when the state legislature essentially
mandated the end of slavery in New York in 1827, averaging 4.6 runaways annually, but
the number of fugitives continued to exceed those prior to 1800. The passage of the 1817
act, which freed all slaves born prior to July 4, 1799 in 1827 , must have rendered servitude
even more abhorrent to younger African Americans who were born after July 4, 1799 and
who were required to serve their masters until their young adulthood. lo Throughout the
end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries, young adu lts and
adolesce nts comprised the vast majority of runaways, and that proportion actually
increased over time (See table B) . Between 1785 and 1799, fu gitives less than twenty-six
years of age accounted for three of every four runaways, while that proportion increased to
78.5 percent of all fu gitives during the eighteen years between 1800 and 18 17. After 18 17
nine of every ten runaways were twenty-six years of age or younger. I I
The decade after 1817 witnessed a change in the proportion offemale runaways as well.
During the more than four decades between 1785 and 18 27, male fugitives outnumbered
fem ale by a ratio of four to one (see table C). Familial considerations, as well as the
difficulty single females would have encountered in supporting themselves as freedpersons,
diss uaded most women from absconding. However, the number of female fu gitives did
increase gradually ove r time. Between the end of the Revolution and the adoption of
gradual abolition in 1799, males comprised almost nine of every ten runaways, but that
proportion declined slightly in the decade and one half after 1799 to 83 .3 percent (see table
C). After 1817, however, females constituted as many as one third of all fu gitives. With the
end of slavery all but a fact, young women seem to have been more willing to fle e their
owners in the aftermath of the passage of the 1817 statute.
In his pathbreaking book on slave resistance in eighteenth-century Virginia, Gerald Mullin
has distinguished between what he classified as "inward" and "outward" resistance.
According to Mullin's model, inward rebelliousness was direc ted toward the slave's
immediate environment and was impulsive, irrational, violent, and ultimately selfdestructive. African-born, unacculturated, and unskilled field hands, lacking sufficient
knowledge of a world beyond the plantation, usually resisted inwardly, sabotaging tools or
physically attacking overseers. Outward resistance, on the other hand, was self-enhancing
and directed toward the larger and lofti er goal of permanent freedom from bondage. Unlike
unassimilated slaves, acculturated and skilled bondsmen, proficient in English and more
knowledgeable of the world outside the plantation, were confident in their abilities to deal
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid·Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
67
with whites and were ultimately more willing to reject slavery altoge ther by fleeing their
mas ters and by es tablishing themselves as free persons. 12
If Mullin's model for eighteenth-ce ntury Virginia does not directly translate to New York
at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the ninetee nth centuries, Shane White's
recent examination of fugitives in the New York City region substanti ates Mullin's
argument that skilled and acculturated slaves were more likely to flee their masters in order
to make a permanent break for freedom. 13 The expe rience of fu gitives in the Mid-Hudson
Valley further supports Mullin's and White's hypotheses. The intimate nature of slavery in
the region, reflected in the small size of holdings, meant acculturation proceeded extremely
rapidly.14 Secondly, the vas t majority of slaves and children of slaves in the Mid-Hudson
Valley in 1800 we re almost ce rtainly native-born. 15 And fin ally, African Americans in the
region boasted many different skills to meet the demands of the diverse rural economy.
Although the comparatively small number of runaways advertised in the Mid-Hudson
Valley does not permit comprehensive qu antitative analyses comparable to those
pe rformed by Mullin and White, the contents of the ads themselves clearly demonstra te
that acculturated and skilled slaves were well-represe nted among runaways in the
Mid-Hudson Valley. The craftsmanship of African Americans like John Coonley's fugitive
blacksmith, and Thomas Dearin 's runaway Caesar, who was adept in "all kinds of fa rming
business" and was capable of making "a very good stone wall," not only instilled within
skilled slaves a sense of confidence in their abili ty to live independently, but also convinced
African Americans of their abiliry to deal confidently with whites. 16 H aving been raised in
their mas ters' households, many slaves in the Mid-Hudson Valley were readily profici ent in
English or Dutch. Zebulon Ross ex plained that his fu gitive "Negro Wench" Rose was
"brought up in an English family, and speaks no other language than the English."
Abraham J. Hardenburgh of New Paltz in Ulste r County explicitly described his slave Mink
as being of "Dutch origin," capable of speaking that language considerably better than
English. Dutch was similarly the "natural language" of Barton Flagler's runaway slave
Ben .i7
Several runaways were even proficient in more th an one language. Jane Van Kleeck
described her fu gitive slave Bill as "a noisy talking fellow both in English and Dutch."
Sukey, the property of William Rider of Poughkeepsie, was "very talkative" in both
languages. IS Mary, a thirty- two-year-old mulatto, was fa miliar with French as we ll as
English, and Abraham, the property of Hendrick Benner of Red Hook, was conversant in
German, English, and Low Dutch.19
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Two-thirds of the forty-two runaways whose language proficiency was described were
characterized either as being good speakers or as being literate. Thaddeus H ait regarded his
fugitive slave Robert to be "a great talker," and Mary H asbrouck's slave Harry was a
purportedly "well looking" and "remarkably well spoken individual." zo In some instances,
slaveowners, threa tened by self-assured and smoo th-talking slaves, often characterized
such fu gitives as cunning and devious. Bernard Matthewson of Stanford believed that his
sixteen-year-old runaway slave girl Gin, who understood both Dutch and English, " had
rather tell a lie when the tru th will answer well. "ZI Jacob Cholwell of Red Hook described
his fifteen-year-old "very Black boy" as "a very cunning fellow," having been brought up
well and taught how to read and write. Matsey, a sixteen-year-old "wench" from Red
Hook, spoke "good" English and was allegedly "artful enough to deceive Satan himself." zz
Advertisements for only twenty-fiv e of two hundred fu gitives, or 12.5 percent, in Dutchess
County newspapers after the Revolution speculated as to the motivations of runaways.
Twelve, or just under half of the twenty- fi ve fu gitives whose motivations or destinations
were surmised, allegedly absconded for the purpose of visiting loved ones or for returning to
previous places of residence. ZJ In some cases, owners believed that their runaways had left
the county altoge ther. Abiah Palmer of Amenia in eas tern Dutchess suspected that his
mulatto Stephen Huston fled to Shawangunk in Ulster County, from where he originally
hailed. In 1799, T om, a slave from Rhinebeck Landing, allegedly absconded southward to
"New York, or to Goshen, in the county of O range, where he was brought up." Richard S.
Wiley of Poughkeepsie similarly suspec ted that his slave Bob intended to flee so uthward to
New York City or his previous residence in New Rochelle. No fu gitive, however, who was
suspec ted of absconding for the purpose of visiting traversed farther than Sukey, who fled
to Boston to be reunited with her husband. z4
O ther fu gitives seeking to be reunited with loved ones did not need to go as far. Medad
Raymond of Peekskill in northern W estchester County concluded that his seventeen-yearold se rvant Sam, whose parents lived in Fishkill, was "undoubtedly" in Du tchess Co unty. zs
O ther runaways who remained in the region were evidently truants who abse nted
themselves from their mas ters without necessarily intending to make a permanent break for
freedom. James Bramble's slave T om, who was purportedly "addicted to walking off,"
evidently did not run any farther than the racetrack in Poughkee psie.Z6 Harry and Caesar,
two runaways from New Paltz, were similarly suspected to be "lOitering" in the
Poughkeepsie vicinity and Jacob Bockee of Northeast suspec ted that his seventeen-yearold servant Si was "lurking about" the village. Z7
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid- Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
69
Fugitives who remained in the region need not have always fe ared immediate capture. Ann
Long's slave Mary had been abse nt for three years before Long discovered that she was
nearby in Nine Partners . Aaron Black, a slave who had been arrested for a felony, escaped
from his captors and allegedly hid somewhere in Dutchess County.28 The willingness of
individuals to assist runaways in their flight reduced the risks of immediate apprehension.
Friends and family members often assisted runaways in their escape. Peter, a free black who
worked in Poughkeepsie, "conveyed away" his wife Susanna and his nine-year-old son
Abraham. Henry Livingston of Rhinebeck suspected that his twenty-seven-year-old slave
Jack, who had allegedly stolen prope rty valued at one hundred and forty pounds in addition
to a "considerable" amount of cash, had taken up residence with a free black man whom he
had visited the previous winter with his free mulatto wife at "Wappings [Wappingers]
Creek."29
African Americans were not the only individuals willing to aid fugitives. Stephen Legge t of
Stanford accused Leonard Barten, an alleged physician, of "persuading away" his slave
Tom. John Oppie's slave Harry had been allegedly harbored "at Mr. Reuben Fowlers in
Fishkill for some time past" before being sporred "lurking about" in Beekman 30
Advertisements often included warnings against all persons from concealing or employing
slaves, revealing that the practice of doing so was not uncommon. James Bramble of
Poughkeepsie, whose slave T om absconded often, expressly cautioned all persons from
harboring or employing his slave, "if they would wish to avoid the penalty of law." And
John Coonley of the T own of W ashington, who suspected that his fugitive slave Harry
would seek employment as a blacksmith, warned that all who harbored Harry or gave him
"victuals" did so " upon their peril." By hiring runaways, employers offered fugitives both at
leas t temporary security from capture as well as a means of livelihood, while African
Americans in turn provided their employe rs with needed labor. JI
Regardless of the ass istance rendered by sympathetic individuals, however, runaways who
remained in the region always ran the risk of recapture. Of the thirteen slaves whose
masters suspected would make a permanent break for freedom, nine purportedly fled the
area. Some fled to New York City, which offered anonymity as well as economic
opportunity.J2 The northern and western frontiers of upstate New York as well as
neighboring states offered a more secure haven for fugitives; even after 1787, it was difficult
and costly for slaveowners to retrieve fugitives who left New York.)) An eighteen-year-old
and a twenty-year-old slave, bo th named Will, fled their mas ters in Fishkill for Vermont.
Joe and Tom, two slaves who absconded together from Smith's Clove in Orange County,
allegedly crossed the North (Hudson) River and proceeded towards Albany. Abraham
Vail's slave T one likewise crossed the river, taking the ferry from Newburgh to Fishkill, and
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The Hudson Valley Regional Review
headed northward.34 Evidently Henry B. Livingston's slave Solomon wanted to distance
himself as fa r as possible from slavery; Livingston speculated that Solomon would "apply
for a passage to some foreign country, as his inclination tends that way."35
Running away remained a solitary ac t. O nly seventeen advertisements for fu gitive African
Americans which appeared in the Dutchess Co unty press between 1785 and 1827-less
than ten percent of the total-listed more than one runaway. Moreover, the proportion of
runaways who absconded with others actually decreased during that period. While just
under three-quarters of all fu gitives fled without an accomplice prior to 1800, that
proportion rose to eight in ten runaways between 1800 and 18 17. Only three of forty-six
runaways after 18 17 acted in concert with another.
In the majori ty of instances where fu gitives did not escape alone, they fled in pairs; in nine
of the seventeen ads, two male runaways absconded toge ther, while pairs of females fled
together on only two occasions.36 Family members absconded toge ther in four other
instances. Susanna, with her nine-year-old son Abraham, fled from Robert Gill in
Poughkeepsie with the assistance of her free husband Peter in 1803. Eleven years later, Joe
and his wife Phillis, both twenty- three years of age, fled from their mas ter in Fishkill and
took with them their seventeen-month-old infa nt Robert. And in the only case of its kind,
a negro man named Ishmael ran away with his two sons, aged thirteen and six years, and his
nineteen-month-old daughter. 37
Although largely an individual act of resistance, running away undermined the authority of
masters and rendered slavery more cos tly and onerous for slaveowners. O f course,
slaveholders could abandon their troublesome property altogether. John Coon ley, whose
slave Bob absconded in January 1794, offered him for sale after his apparent capture.38
Henry Charlick of Fishkill likewise indicated that he would sell his fu gitive slave Bob upon
his apprehension, and John Drake offered to sell the remaining time of his "lazy and sloven"
servant who had absconded "for the fifth time within a few months."39 In other instances,
however, a slaveowner might relinquish precisely that which the fugitive sought-freedom.
In drawing up his last will and tes tament in 1798, Daniel Lewis of Stanford bequeathed to
his slave Adonijah, who had absconded from his mas ter during the summer of 1795, his
freedom upon his thirtieth birthday, provided he was not "guilty of any crime such as
Stealing running away, or some other criminal misdemeanor. " Although Lewis pos tponed
his manumission eleven years (Adonij ah was approximately sixteen years of age when he
ran away in 1795) and stipulated that Adonijah's failure to behave "properly" meant
permanent bondage, it is revealing that Lewis provided for Adonij ah's manumission at al1. 4o
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
71
Runaway advertisements reveal that African Americans did not operate from a position of
weakness, but of strength, and the actions of fugitives demonstrate that slaves actively and
forcefully resisted their bondage.41 However, even conceding that advertisemen ts for
fugitives understate the true numbers of African Americans who absconded, only a small
minority of slaves and servants took to the road in the dark of night. Fugitives were a
special breed; they were willing to directly confront their master's authority and run the
ri sk of recapture and punishment. Fugitives were predominantly young, healthy, males
unburdened by familial responsibilities; fleeing was not a vi able alternative for women with
dependent children, the lame, and the elderly. However, slaves who chose not to abscond
from their owners pursued other means of challenging their masters' authority. Through
hard work and perseve rance, many African Americans in the Mid-Hudson Valley were able
to pressure their masters into granting them their liberty.
It was precisely the intimate nature of slaveholding in the Hudson Valley and their value to
the rural economy of the Mid-Hudson Valley that empowered slaves in their dealings with
whites. Their importance, as well as deep personal bonds of affection which were nurtured
in the mas ter's household, allowed some slaves a certain degree of discretion in seeking
new masters or in requesting or refusing a sale. An advertisement appeared in the
September 23, 1795 issue of the Poughkeepsie Journal for the sale (or exchange) of a male
slave, his wife, and his child at their own reques t. Henry G. Livings ton put up for sale a
twenty-year-old slave who refused to move to New York City.42 The following year,
another slaveholder advertised a twenty-one-year-old black woman who, with only seven
more years to se rve , had evidently contracted for her fre edom. According to the
advertisement, the woman, who had a free husband, was being "sold for no other reason
than her relu ctance to remove with her master's family to Albany."43
Pressures exerted by slaves themselves might have prompted certain slave holders to
bequeath to their slaves some choice in determining their new owners upon their decease.
Although testators usually res tricted the choice of new maste rs by limiting it to one of their
heirs by insisting that all sales earn a sufficient price to adequately compensate their
estates, or by otherwise rendering any transaction contingent upon the approval of their
executors, it is significant that such concessions were made at all. Catharine Reade 's slave
Mary was able to decide which of her mistress's daughters she desired to serve. Mary and
Jin, the slaves of Peter O utwater, a Dutchess Co unty farmer, earned the right to choose
their next mas ter from among Outwater's grandchildren. Although Court Van Voorhees
willed his two slave girls Ann and Rose to his daughters, he allowed the two slaves to
remain with Cou rt's son Henry if they so desired. If Ann and Rose were unwilling to leave
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Henry, Henry was to compensa te his sisters by paying them cash, in an amount pres umably
equivalent to the assessed value of the slaves.44
Slaves also received the right to reject a prospec tive sale they found undesirable. In 18 13,
John Hageman of Fishkill gave to his slave Harry the right to decide if he wished to remain
on the family homes tead and not be sold. If H arry were still alive upon the death of
Hageman's wife, he was entitled to be supported from the estate. N athaniel Pendleton
made provision in his will for the manumission of all of his slaves with the exception of an
old woman named Molly and a lame girl named Sarah. Pendleton stipulated that his
executors were not to sell Sarah without her consent and made provision for her
maintenance from his es tate. 45 Philip Cinceboe of Bee kman gave his slave Prince the right
to requ est a sale. Although Cinceboe did express in his will his desire that Prince remain on
his farm with his wife and son, he did grant his slave the right to be sold if he so desired.46
Self- purchase was an option for those slaves whose owners were amenable and who were
able to earn their purchase price. In 1800, executors of the es tate of James Vandeburgh of
Beekman manumitted Vandeburgh's slave O mpador upon receipt of sixty pounds in
accordance wi th a contract the slave had made with the deceased. 47 Very few slaves could
afford their own purchase price in one lump sum, and accommodating mas ters might allow
the slave to pay for his or her freedom over a specified period of time. As of July 1809, Caty
Stevenson, a slave belonging to Robert Li vingston of Rhinebeck, had been able to pay her
mas ter five of the thirty dollars he required for her freedom, and she continu ed to work to
make up the remaining balance. Thomas Atkins made a series of payments to the executors
of his mistress's es tate totalling his purchase price of fifty pounds. 48 The seasonal economy
of the rural Hudson Valley and the frequency of hiring provided opportunities for slaves to
earn their own purchase price. In August 1799, an unn amed slaveowner offered for sale
twelve years time of a "man of colour" to be "stipulated by himself." Peter Livingston
provided his slave John Francis with written permission to work where he pleased , and
Rachel Pride approached Moses Downing and convinced him to pay her master fifty dollars
to purchase her services for two years. 49 Indeed, the very presence of slaves in the Record of
the Oversee rs of the Poor for the T own of Poughkeepsie indicates that some slaves had a
fair degree of liberty in working for themselves. Granting their bondsmen and bondswomen
the right to labor for themselves without relinquishing legal title to them allowed
slaveowners to minimize the cost of their maintenance.
However, not all slaves had the opportunity to hire themselves out, and mos t African
Americans who successfull y negotiated for their own freedom probably paid for their liberty
by their own labor. According to the contract between James and his mas ter, Joseph Scott
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
7J
of Kinderhook (Columbia County), James was to receive his freedom upon serving James
Sleight of Poughkeepsie "well" and "faithfully" for ten and one half months and after
paying forty dollars. 50 In 18 17, Smith Thompson of Hyde Park entered into an agreement
with his twenty-year-old slave William Amos Wright whereby Thompson agreed to free his
slave upon Wright's twenty-fifth birthday provided Wright served him "honestly and
faithfully." If Wright failed to act appropriately, he was to serve one additional year. 5 l T om
Williams of Beekman earned his freedom by laboring for his mas ter for two and one- half
years, while Prince received his freedom in February 18 10 after having served Doctor John
Masten of Rhinebeck for seven.52
Although less dramatic than running away, self-purchase often affected more than one
slave, since once freed themselves, African Americans were able to purchase the freedom
of loved ones. When seventeen years of age, Jane Hallem received liberty to work for
herself, on the promise that her future husband, a free black, pay $ 100 to her mas ter at a
future date.53 In the eyes of the law, such agreements between slaveholders and their
human chattel were of dubious validity. A slaveowner could always die before the contract
was fulfilled or sell his or her slave at any time. Additionally, slaves had no legal redress if
slaveowners violated their agreements or if heirs of a deceased master's es tate refused to
recognize them. 54 In many instances, however, ties of personal affection disposed some
slaveholders to negotiate with their bondsmen and bondswomen, and in many more cases,
masters found that it was often in their economic bes t interest to secure a guaranteed term
of service rather than take the risk that their slaves would shirk their responsibilities or
abscond. 55
The demise of slave ry in neighboring states, the battle over and ultimate triumph of gradual
abolition in legislative chambers in Albany, and a slowly but steadily growing population of
freedpersons placed African Americans in a more advantageous position to pressure their
mas ters for their freedom. As slaveholders in New York resisted the antislavery impulse of
the era and agreed to only an exceptionally conservative scheme of abolition which
ensured their control over the labor of their slaves and servants, those in bondage
challenged their authority by pressuring their owners to negotiate contracts and by
absconding when they were unable to do so or when they were unwilling to wait any longer.
African Americans were clearly protagonists in the struggle for freedom in the MidHudson Valley, and their actions are fundamenta l to understanding the demise of slavery
in New York.
74
The Hudson Valley Regional Review
Notes
I.
Political Barometer, 10 July 1804; Poughkeepsie}ournal, 8 October 1805.
2.
Shane White, Somewhat More Independent: The End of Slavery in New York City, 1770- 18 10
(Athens, GA, 1991), p. 126.
3.
Traditional histories of antislavery and emancipation in the United States during the Revolutionary and Early National periods include Alice Dana Adams, Th e Neglected Period of Antislavery in
America, 1808- 183 1 (1908) (reprint ed., Williamstown, MA , 1973) , and Mary Stoughton Locke,
Antislavery in America from the Introduction of African Slaves !O the Prohibition of the Slave Trade,
1619- 1808 (1 901) (reprinted. , Gloucester, MA , 1965) . Dwight Lowell Dumond provides a
comprehensive overview of antislavery in the United States from its colonial origins to the Civil
W ar in Antislavery : The Crusade for Freedom in America (Ann Arbor, 1961) . Although published
in 1967 , Arthur Zilversmit's The First Emancipation: The Abolition of Slavery in the North (Chicago,
1967) remains the standard account of gradual abolition in the Northern states. The racial
dimensions of abolition are analyzed in A. Leon Higginbotham, In the MaHer of Color: Race and the
American Legal Process: The Colonial Period (N ew York, 19 78) ; Duncan J. MacLeod, Slavery, Race,
and the American Revolution (New York, 1974); and Donald L. Robinson, Slavery in the Structure of
American Politics, 1765- 1820 (N ew York, 1971). David Brion Davis's Slavery and Human Progress
(New York, 1984) builds upon premises outlined in two previous class ics, The Problem of Slavery
in the Age of Revolution, 1770- 1823 (Ithaca, 1975), and The Problem of Slavery in Western Culrure
(Ithaca, 1966) . A more recent and provoca tive overview of antislavery during the period is Gary
B. Nash, Race and Revolution (M adison, 1990).
4.
At the time of the first federal census in 1790, there were 21 ,329 slaves and 4,654 non-white free
persons in New York . Evarts B. Greene and Virginia D. Harrington, American Population Before
the Federal Census of 1790 (New York, 1932), p. 105.
5.
Laws of New York, 22d Session, Chap. 62. O n the conservatism of gradual abolition in the North ,
see Gary B. Nash and Jean R. Soderlund, Freedom by Degrees: Emancipation in Pennsylvania and Irs
Aftermath (New York, 199 1) ; Jean R. Soderlund, Quakers and Slavery : A Divided Spirit (Princeton,
1985) ; and Shane White, Somewhat More Independent. In 18 17, the state legislature stipul ated
that all slaves born prior to July 4, 1799 were to be free as of July 4, 1827 . Nevertheless, children
born of slaves after the act took effect were to serve their mothers' mas ters until the age of
twenty-one. Laws of New York, 40th Session, Chap. 137.
6.
White, Somewhat More Independent, p. 147. On the assertiveness of African Americans during
and after the war, see Sylvia Frey, Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age
(Princeton, 199 1) ; Gary B. Nash, Race and Revolution, (M adison, 1990) , pp. 72-83; Benj amin
Quarles, "Afro-Americans in the Revolutionary W ar Era," Journal of the Afro-American His!Orical
and Genealogical Society 7 (I) (Spring 1986),3-11 ; and White, Somewhat More Independent, pp.
144-146. Theft of their masters' property was a common means of slave resistance. In 1791 ,
freeholders in Ulster County petitioned the state legislature against the regular pilferage by slaves
of their masters' property and the highly "destructive" and "scandalous" illegal trade in stolen
goods. "Petition of Slaveholders of Ulster County to the Legislature of the State of New York, " 28
December 1791. Dutchess County Historical Sociery, Poughkeepsie, New York.
7.
Runaway advertisements have proven to be an exceptionally rich source. See Lorenzo J. Greene,
"The New England Negro as Seen in Advertisements for Runaway Slaves,}ournal of Negro His!Ory
29 (1944) 125- 146; Michael P. Johnson, "Runaway Slaves and the Slave Communities in South
Carolina, 1799- 1830," William and Mary Quarrerly, 3d. ser. , 38 (198 1) , 41 8--441 ; Daniel E.
Meaders, "South Carolina Fugitives as Viewed Through Local Colonial Newspapers with
The African American Struggle Against Slave ry in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
75
Emphasis on Runaway Notices , 1732-1801," l ournal of Negro History 40 (1975), 288-3 19 ; Gerald
Mullin, Flight and Rebellion: Slave Resistance in Eighteenth-Century Virginia (New York, 1972) ; and
Shane White, Somewhat More Independent, chapter 5, pp. 114--49. Advertisements for fu gitive
slaves have recently proven to be exceptionally valuable in illuminating as much about
slaveholders and the visual dynamics of American culture as about slaves and slavery. See
Jonathan Prude, "To Look Upon a 'Lower Sort': Runaway Ads and the Appearance of Unfree
Laborers in America, 1750- 1800," l ournal of American History 78 (1) Oune 199 1), 124- 159.
8.
Advertisements for fu gitives from the Mid -Hudson Valley during the Revolution appear in the
New Yorkloumal and General Advertiser, and the New York Packet and American Advertiser. The
editors of both papers fl ed New York C ity when it was occupied by the British in 177 6 and
eventu ally res umed publication in Poughkeepsie and Fishkill , respec tively.
9.
Fortunately, with the exception of the American Farmer and Dutchess County Advertiser, the
collections of newspapers are remarkably complete. Admittedly, advertisements do not necessarily represent the actu al number of runaways, the latter being almost definitely larger. Siaveowners
who expec ted truant slaves to return voluntarily often did not bother to purchase advertisements
in loca l newspapers. White, Somewhat More Independent, p. 125 . Many ads appeared several
months and occasionally even years after the fac t. Ann B. Long of Poughkeepsie took out an ad
for her slave Mary three years after Mary had fled when she rece ived information that Mary was in
Nine Partners. Poughkeepsie l oumal 27 August 1805. In 1789, William Miller and Stephen
Goldsmith advertised for the apprehension of a thirty-six-year-old mulatto named Daniel after he
had been spotted in New York Ciry with his wife, fully eleven years after Daniel had evidently fl ed
to the British in 1778. Poughkeepsie l oumal, 18 August 1789. For other exampl es, see 2 1
September 1808 and 15 Janu ary 18 12. The overwhelming majoriry of advertisements, however,
seem to have appeared within a few weeks after the fact.
10. Children born of slaves after the passage of the 18 17 act were to serve until the age of twenty-one.
Laws of New York, 40th Session, Chap. 137. Very few advertisements specified the precise status
of runaways. Given the age profile of fu gitives, it is likely that the majoriry of African-American
runaways after 18 17 were servants born after July 4, 1799.
11. Shane White's figures for the ages of runaways in the New York City region are comparable. See
White, Somewhat More Independent, pp. 122, 124, 143.
12. See Gerald W . Mullin, Flight and Rebellion: Slave Resistance in Eighteenth-Century Virginia (New
York, 1972 ), pp. 34-38 , 83-94. Michael Mullin expounds upon his father's rypology in Africa in
America: Slave Acculturation and Resistance in the American South and the British Caribbean,
1736- 183 1 (Urbana, IL, 1992) .
13. See White, Somewhat More Independent, pp. 134--40.
14. The average slaveholding in Dutchess County at the time of the first federal census was 2.8 slaves.
Two of five slaveowners held only one slave , while eighty-seven percent of all slaveholders owned
five or fewer slaves. Figures were calculated from Heads of Families at the First Census of the United
States Taken in the Year 1790: New York (Baltimore, 1976) , and "Population Schedules ofth e First
Census of the United States, 1790," Microcopy 63 7, Roll 6, New York, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.,
1965).
15 . New York prohibited the importation of slaves into the state in 1785, and the adoption of gradual
abolition rendered New York less desirable for those engaged in illicit trade . See Laws of New
York, 8th Session, Chap. 68; 11 th Sess ion , C hap. 40.
16. Poughkeepsie l oumal, 8 January 1794, 13 June 179 7; See Mullin, Flight and Rebellion, pp. 83-94.
76
The Hudson Valley Regional Review
17. Poughkeepsie Journal, 21 August 1798; Political Barometer, 4 February 1806; Poughkeepsie Journal,
24 July 1804.
18. Poughkeepsie Journal, 7 August 1793; 20 A ugust 1799. See also Poughkeepsie Journal, 9 September
1788.
19. Political Barometer, 12 September 1810; Poughkeepsie Journal 25 April 18 10. A total of twenty
runaways were described as having knowledge of more than one language. For other examples, see
Political Barometer 4 February 1806, 16 November 1808,26 April 1809, and 24 October 18 10;
Poughkeepsie1ournal 13 October 1785, 25 November 1788, 6 July 1796, 14 June 1803 , 19 July
1803,2 4 July 1804,3 June 1807,22 July 1807 , 20 January 1808,22 June 18 14, and 12 June 1816.
20. Poughkeepsie Journal, 22 July 18 18; 5 September 1810.
21. Poughkeepsie Journal, 20 Janu ary 1808. Jerome Scofield of Fishkill Plains similarly described his
black girl Hager as having a "disposition much averse to fidelity and truth." Dutchess Observer, 6
March 1822.
22. Dutchess Observer, 14 July 1824, and Republican Telegraph, 14 July 1824. Poughkeepsie}ournal, 15
July 1800. Interestingly, each of the examples is an adolescent, and three of them are females.
Predominantly male masters might have harbored specific expectations regarding younger
servants and particu larly girls, and therefore regarded their dereliction of service as particularly
insolent.
23. Obviously, the speculation of maste rs as to the motivations and destinations of their runaway
slaves is hardly infallible, but such information is the only data available to discern the objectives
of fugitives. Visiting did not necessarily preclude a desire to be free, but in such instances,
slaveowners evidently believed their runaways did not intend to make a permanent break for
freedom. See White, Somewhat More Independent, p. 13 1.
24. Poughkeepsie Journal, 29 Novembe r 1803; American Farmer and Dutchess County Advertiser, 3
September 1799; Poughkee/Jsie]ournal, 27 Octobe r 18 13; 20 August 1799. It is probable that Suky
never intended to return.
25. Dutchess Observer, 6 June 182 1; Poughkeepsie Journal, 6 June 182 1.
26. Poughkeepsie Journal, 18 November 1800. Bramble took out another advertisement for T om two
years later. Poughkeepsie Journal, 7 September 1802.
27. Poughkeepsie}ournal, 5 September 18 10; 3 1 December 18 17 .
28. Poughkeepsie Journal, 27 August 1805; 11 August 1824. More isolated regions of the county
provided a haven for fugitives. A lthough evidence is fragmentary, it appea rs that as early as the
middle of the eighteenth century, free African Americans, Indians, and runaways established
maroon communities in less populated areas. By the second quarter of the nineteenth century,
small enclaves such as "Freemanville" or "Gu inea T own" in Beekman, "Baxtertown" in Fishkill ,
and "Lithgow" near Amenia had emerged as "black" neighborhoods. See Federal Writers' Project,
Dutchess County, American Gu ide Series, (Philadelphia, 1937), pp. 128- 129; Henry Noble
MacCracken, Blithe Dutchess: The Flowering of an American Community from 18 12 (New York,
1958) , pp. 105, 107; Edgar McManu s, A History of Negro Slavery in New York, (Syracuse, 1966),
pp. 102-104; James H. Smith, History of Dutchess County, New York (Syracuse, 1882 ), p. 534;
Philip H. Smith, General History of Duchess County, (Pawling, 1877); p. 135; and AJ.
Williams-Myers, "Arduous Journey: The African-American Presence in the Hudson-Mohawk
Region," in Monroe Fordham, ed., The African-American Presence in New York State History: Four
Regional History Surveys , (Albany, 1990) , 29.
The African Ame rican Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Va lley, 1785- 1827
77
29. Poughkeepsie}ournal, 25 January 1803; Political Barometer, 14 May 1805.
30. Poughkeepsie}ournal, 5 June 1798; 16 August 1809.
3 1. Poughkeepsie Journal, 7 September 1802; 8 January 1794. Gerald Mullin found that despite laws to
the contrary, the hiring of particu larly skilled runaways was very common in eighteenth-century
Virginia. Mullin, Flight and Rebellion, pp. 112- 16.
32. See Poughkeepsie Journal, 18 A ugust 1789, and 3 September 1799.
33. McManus, Slavery in New York, pp. 117- 18.
34. Political Barometer, 8 June 1802; Poughkeepsie Journal, 18 February 1800, and 19 June 1798. Israel
Lewis similarly suspected that his slave Paul fled northward . Poughkeepsie Journal, 11 August
1789.
35. Poughkeepsie}ournal, 15 January 1802.
36. In May 18 15, a forty-six-year-old "Guinea wench " with an "ungovernable temper" fled from her
master in Poughkeepsie with her fourteen-year-old mulatto daughter, and seven months later, a
forty-five-year-old woman named Jude absconded with Margaret, a young woman of seventeen
who was possibly Jude's da ughter. Political Barometer, 3 May 1815; Dutchess Observer, 27
December 18 15.
37. Poughkeepsielournal, 25 January 1803; 20 April 18 14; 4 August 1789. See also Dutchess Observer,
13 September 1822. In two instances, African Americans absconded with Anglo-Americans who
shared a similar situation. In 1788, Prime, an eighteen-year-old slave , escaped with his master's
white apprentice boy Nathaniel Rockwell , and fifteen months later Paul, the properry of Israel
Lewis, fled with two white "thieves," one Lewis's apprentice and the other his hired man.
Poughkeepsie Journal, 11 August 1789.
38. Poughkeepsie Journal, 8 and 15 January 1794.
39. Poughkeepsie Journal, 21 October and 25 November 18 18.
40. Poughkeepsie}ournal,9 Septembe r 1795; Will Book B, pp. 120-121. When he drafted his will in
1790, Zacheus Newcomb of Poughkeepsie included the manumission of his slave Pomp.
Newcomb had advertised a runaway by the same name ten years earlier. New York Journal and
General Advertiser, 4 September 1780; Will Book A, p. 260. Lettered books of wills are fil ed at the
Dutchess County Surrogate's Court, Poughkeepsie.
41. White, Somewhat More Independent, p. 11 5.
42. Poughkeepsie Journal, 23 September 1795; 30 November 1802.
43. The advertise ment claimed that the husband, who could be "well recommended," was willing to
be hired as a laborer "in the family where she is purchased. " Political Barometer, 22 November
1803 . Another young woman similarly requested a sa le to be nearer to her hu sband in
Poughkeepsie. Poughkeepsie Journal, 8 January 18 12.
44. Will Book H, pp. 290-29 1; "Abstracts of Wills," Collections of the New York State Historical
Society, vol. XIl (N ew York, 1903), pp. 227-228; Will Book AA , p. 94.
45. Will Book 0 , p. 192; Will Book F, p. 226. Pendleton did allow for Sarah's manumission only if a
proper securi ty could be offered to indemnify his estate and guarantee she would not become
chargeable to the overseers of the poor.
78
The Hudson Valley Regional Re.iew
46. It is unclear whether Prince was able to negotiate the terms of his own sale. "Abstracts," vol. IX
(1900) , p. 220.
47. "Bee kman Town Record Book," 402. Six months before, the executors manumitted a slave
named "Omp" in consideration of payment of "one hundred and fifty dollars Lawful money of the
United States of America." It is unclear whether "Omp" was the same individual.
48. "Record of the Overseers of the Poor, T own of Poughkeepsie, 1807-1815 ," Adriance Memorial
Library, Poughkeepsie New York, pp. 124,207-208.
49. Poughkeepsie}oumal, 13 August 1799; "Oversee rs," pp. 192,327-328.
50. "Records of the Town of Poughkeepsie," p. 72. The town clerk recorded payment of the forty
dollars in December of that year.
51. "Smith Thompson File, 1797- 18 17," Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park , New York. A few
lucky slaves were able to rece ive their freedom before their time expired. Depuyster Teller agreed
that his slave Simantha might leave his service shortly before her time with him was to expire
since he purportedly "had enough help in the kitchen. " "Overseers," p. 389.
52. "Beekman T own Record Book," p. 414; "Rhinebeck Town Records," 21 February 18 10.
53. "Overseers," p. 162. For other examples of black slave holding and the purchase of loved ones
from bondage, see pp. 3, 184, 192,399.
54. Herbert Aptheker, "Buying Freedom," in Aptheker, To Be Free: Studies in American Negro History
(New York , 1969), (originally published 1948) , pp. 31-32.
55. Sumner Eliot Matison, "Manumission by Purchase," Journal of Negro History 33 (2) (April 1948),
154-55, 16 1- 62; White, Somewhat More Independent, pp. 11 0, 149.
The African American Struggle Against Slavery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, 1785- 1827
79