Will

Name

Will

Identifier

NJS-PER-00372

Given Name

Will

Sex

Male

Description

Will was an enslaved man who lived in New Brunswick in the early 19th century. His enslaver was Dr. Jacob Dunham, a local physician, who routinely hired out Will's labor to others in the city. Dunham collected about a dollar a day for Will's labor. Will worked doing masonry, hauling heavy loads, breaking sugar, and ringing a bell at auctions. In 1808 and 1809 he worked at the Queen's College (later Rutgers) construction site, laying the foundation and doing masonry work for the college's first permanent building. This building is known today as Old Queens, and it houses the office of the chancellor of Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

The biographical facts of Will's birth, death, or other life-course events are not known. The historical record, drawn from accounting books, primarily highlights his labor. Based on the extant record of his strenuous labor, dating from the late 1800s to the early 1820s, he was probably born circa 1780s.

Following the publication of Scarlet and Black, Vol. 1: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, Will was memorialized at Rutgers University. In 2017 the walkway leading up to Old Queens from Hamilton Street was named Will's Way in his honor. Two historical plaques at this location commemorate Will.

The first is a large Scarlet and Black historical marker that stands on the lawn alongside Will's Way. The text reads:

"This plaque honors Will, an enslaved black man who worked to lay the foundation for the Old Queens Building in 1808. In recognition of Will's labor and the role of slavery in Rutgers' early history, the walkway from Hamilton Street to the entrance of Old Queens has been named Will’s Way."

The second plaque is attached to the Old Queens building by the entrance that faces Will's Way. The text reads:

"The walkway leading from this door to the Hamilton Street gate has been named 'Will's Way' in recognition of the labor of an enslaved man named Will who contributed to the early development of Queen’s College, which later became Rutgers University.

Construction began on Old Queen's, the college's first permanent building, in the fall of 1808. Will, who was enslaved by a local physician named Jacob Dunham, laid the foundation for the building. Dunham received about a dollar a day for Will's labor. It is likely that Will was not the only enslaved laborer on the campus of Queen’s College during its early decades, particularly in light of the fact that slavery persisted longer in New Jersey than in any northern state.

This plaque and the research upon which it is based are the result of work by the Committee on Enslaved and Disenfranchised Populations in Rutgers History, formed as part of the observance of the 250th anniversary of Rutgers' founding in 2016."

Organization

Rutgers University

Bibliographic Citation

Bayker, Jesse, Christopher Blakley, and Kendra Boyd. “His Name Was Will: Remembering Enslaved Individuals in Rutgers History.” In Scarlet and Black: Slavery and Dispossession in Rutgers History, edited by MARISA J. FUENTES and DEBORAH GRAY WHITE, 58–81. Rutgers University Press, 2016.

Source Resource

https://records.njslavery.org/api/items/1446

Source Site

https://records.njslavery.org/s/doc/page/home

Occupation

Manual Labor

Crafts and Trades

Hiring

Enslaver

Jacob Dunham (1767-1832)

Contributor

Jesse Bayker