By Jessie Serfilippi
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| Philip Jeremiah Schuyler in the 1790s. |
It is no secret that Philip Schuyler
enslaved people of African descent, but what kind of relationship to slavery
did his children have? While research is still ongoing, it is clear that six
out of eight surviving Schuyler children enslaved people at some point in their
adult lives. The fifth surviving Schuyler child, Philip Jeremiah, born on
January 21, 1768, was one of those six children. Until recently, the only
definitive connection that could be drawn between Philip Jeremiah and slavery
was his part in manumitting
some of the people enslaved at Schuyler Mansion upon his father’s death. Based on this fact alone, it seemed
possible that his views differed from those of his father—that he did not
partake in the institution of slavery once out of the family home and under his
own roof. Recent discoveries have forever put that theory to rest.
When
Philip Jeremiah married Sarah Rutsen on May 31, 1788, there is no evidence
that either of them immediately brought enslaved people into their new
household. In the first census that the couple appears on, the 1790 Rhinebeck
census, their household included three free white males over the age of 16,
one free white male under the age of 16, and one free white woman. This would
have included Philip Jeremiah, Sarah Rutsen, their newborn son, Philip, and two
unknown free white males—possibly relatives of Sarah’s, since it was her
hometown that they resided it in. There is nobody listed under the category of
“slaves.”
Yet the lack of enslaved people on Philip Jeremiah’s property
in 1790 does not necessarily mean he was an abolitionist. It more likely indicates
that he was not in the financial position to enslave people at the start of his
marriage. Philip Jeremiah was born into a high-class
society that saw slavery as means to show off status and wealth. It is likely
that, like his father, he believed in these notions. He was not the only one to
think that way, either. Contrary to popular belief, slavery was still rampant
in New York in the 1790s, and continued well into the 1800s. While there was a
series of laws passed that worked toward an eventual end to
slavery, these laws did more for enslavers than the enslaved. In 1799, the
state legislature passed the Gradual Emancipation Act, which promised eventual
freedom to all children born to enslaved mothers on July 4, 1799 or later. The
catch was that these children would have to stay enslaved for over twenty years—women
were enslaved until the age of 24, and men until the age of 28. This would make
it easier for men like Philip Jeremiah to continue enslaving people while New
York—on paper, at least—worked toward manumission.
By 1793, Philip Jeremiah was on better financial footing and
had just finished building his home, The Grove. On January 9, 1793, he placed an
advertisement in the Poughkeepsie
Journal:
Wanted to purchase, A
Faithful, steady, single young NEGRO MAN, of any age between 16 and 20 years,
who can be well recommended, has been accustomed to farming business, and the
care of horses -- he will be demanded a short time on trial. Inquire of the
subscriber at Rhinebeck, or the printer at Poughkeepsie.
PHILIP J. SCHUYLER.
September 3d, 1792.
From the date at the bottom of the ad, it is evident that
Philip Jeremiah had originally run this advertisement about four months
earlier, in September of 1792. While it is possible he’d already begun to
enslave people before this advertisement was placed but after the 1790 census,
this is the earliest record we have of Philip Jeremiah in connection to slave-holding.
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| 1800 Rhinebeck census. Philip Jeremiah indicated by red mark. |
By 1800, there’s no question that Philip Jeremiah was
an enslaver. In the 1800 census, he was listed as having
six enslaved people on his Rhinebeck property. There were only
seven free white people living on the property at the time, meaning there was
nearly an enslaved person for each free person.
We do not know the genders of these enslaved people. If
Philip Jeremiah was anything like
his father, he would have enslaved men and women in nearly equal
numbers, meaning an estimation of three men and three women being enslaved on
the property at the time, but there is currently no way of confirming if this
was the case. Using the 1793 advertisement, it is clear
that Philip Jeremiah was looking for at least one young enslaved man to do farm
work for him, and specifically someone who was skilled with horses. Philip Jeremiah owned a lot of land in
Rhinebeck—he purchased tracts of the Beekman Patent which he divided into farms
and rented to tenant farmers—he ran the mills inherited from his wife’s family,
and by 1812 he entered into a partnership to build mills on the Clay Kill
Estate after purchasing the falls at Clay Kill. It would make sense that he
would actively look for someone who could help with the labor these properties
required. It is likely there was at least one enslaved woman to do the cooking
for the family, but, without genders listed on the census, it is impossible to
come to an absolute conclusion.
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| 1810 Rhinebeck census that shows three enslaved people as part of Philip Jeremiah's household. |
By 1810, there were only three enslaved people on his property. There are a few possibilities as to why three of the enslaved people who were part of the 1800 census were no longer listed. They may not have been present when the census was taken—possibly on an errand or traveling with a different family member. Philip Jeremiah may have sold them over the previous decade. They may have escaped to freedom, though so far no runaway ads placed by Philip Jeremiah have been found. They also may have died while still enslaved.
Philip Jeremiah could have manumitted them,
but that seems unlikely as there is currently only one known instance of Philip
Jeremiah manumitting a person he enslaved, and that manumission takes place
after the 1810 census. On April 19, 1811, Philip Jeremiah
manumitted a man by the name of Charles. The manumission reads as follows:
To Henry Shop Town
Clerk
To all to whom here
presents shall come know ye that I Philip J. Schuyler of the Town of Rhinebeck
in the County of Dutchess and State of New York. Do hereby Manumit and set free
fvr [forever] Charles a Black Man. As witness my hand this 19th day
of April 1811.
Philip
J. Schuyler
Witness Present
Henry Shop
Entered
of Record the 19 day of April 1811
Henry
Shop Town Clerk
What became of Charles after he was manumitted is unknown,
especially because his age and what particular skills he may have possessed are
a mystery. It is possible that he stayed in the Rhinebeck area, or he may have
moved to a larger city, such a Poughkeepsie. If he stayed in Rhinebeck, he may have made his home on Oak Street where many free black families, usually
headed by skilled artisans, lived during the 19th century. If he had
a family at the time of his manumission or afterward is currently unknown.
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| Philip Jeremiah's house, The Grove, as it now stands. |
By 1820, there was only one enslaved person on Philip
Jeremiah’s property. The 1820 census states that Philip Jeremiah enslaved one
man between the ages of 14 and 26. There are two possibilities as to why this man was still enslaved:
either he was born after July 4, 1799, and was legally bound to Philip Jeremiah
until he turned 28, or he was born before July 4, 1799, meaning Philip Jeremiah
did not have to emancipate him until 1827, according to a law passed in 1817.
Interestingly, there were also free black people working on
Philip Jeremiah’s property at this same time, two of whom were still within the
legal ages of enslavement, but were not enslaved. It is possible that two of
them had once been enslaved by Philip Jeremiah—perhaps they were the other two
enslaved people recorded on the 1810 census— and had been manumitted, but whether
they were formerly enslaved by him or someone else is unknown.
All that is known are their ages and gender.
They were all women. One was
either 13 or younger, one was between the ages of 14 and 26, and the other was
45 or older. It seems likely that they may have been a family unit, possibly
grandmother, mother, and daughter, but no definitive conclusion can be found
within such vague information. If they were formerly enslaved by Philip
Jeremiah, it is possible that the grandmother and mother were once enslaved by
him, and the daughter was possibly born free or manumitted as a young child. The
women and young girl likely helped with domestic tasks, such as cooking,
cleaning, and child-rearing. At the time, there would have been one young Schuyler
child in the house, George Lee, who was nine.
While these are all of the currently known
references to the people enslaved by Philip Jeremiah, and there are still many
unanswered questions, we now know of the enslaved people’s existence. With this
knowledge, we can continue to search for more information about who each
individual was beyond an advertisement, number on a census, or manumission.
Hopefully, we can eventually discover more about what their lives were like and
what became of them.
Special thanks to the
Rhinebeck Historical Society for their help in finding the manumission of
Charles.
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