Sam (b. 1774)

Name: Sam (b. 1774)
Identifier: NJS-PER-00618
Given Name: Sam
Birth Date: 1774
Sex: Male
Description: Sam was a Black man who lived in New Jersey. He was born around 1774. He was enslaved by a man named James Stevenson of Amwell, Hunterdon County (who was a Queen's College graduate). In April 1792, when Sam was 18 years old, he ran away from James Stevenson seeking his freedom. James Stevenson placed a newspaper ad offering a reward for Sam's return. The ad described Sam as a "Negro Boy" who was 5 feet and 6 or 7 inches tall.
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/2034
Source Site: https://records.njslavery.org/s/doc/page/home
Enslaver: James Stevenson (1763-1839)
Contributor: Jesse Bayker

1792, Sam, Freedom seeking (Resistance)