By Jessie SerfilippiOn December 15, 1804, seven people: Tone, Stephen, Pheobe,
Silva, Tallyho, Tom, and Hanover, were “for ever [sic] set free” and granted
“their full free manumission emancipation and freedom from the day of the date
hereof, fully, freely, and absolutely.” These men, women, and children had been
enslaved by Philip Schuyler, but manumitted less than a month after his death
by his executors, who consisted of his sons, Philip Jeremiah Schuyler and
Rensselaer Schuyler, and sons-in-law, John Barker Church and Stephen Van
Rensselaer III (who continued to enslave people themselves).
Often, modern discussions of slavery focus on, or even end
with, manumission and freedom, but for many, including the seven individuals
listed above, freedom from slavery was not a “happy ending.” It was the
beginning of the next phase of their stories, full of its own difficulties and opportunities.
A newly manumitted individual faced many challenges. Perhaps
the three most universal and potentially daunting were finding family members
they had been separated from by their enslavers, finding employment or other
means to support themselves and their families, and in many cases, enduring the
stipulations placed on their freedom by their former enslavers. To get a sense
of how those challenges might have impacted Silva, who we have little definite documentation
of, let’s take a quick look at Susannah Roseboom (who you can read about in more
detail here),
another freed-woman living in Albany at the same time, whose story is
well-documented.
Susannah and her three daughters were enslaved by the Ten
Broecks and were separated from her husband and their father, Peter Roseboom.
Susannah was manumitted by Elizabeth Ten Broeck in 1810, but with stipulations
(such as cleaning for her every week without promise of pay) she had to
fulfill in order to stay manumitted. These stipulations could have made finding
the steady employment Susannah needed to support her children difficult, if not
impossible. Her husband was manumitted upon his enslaver's death in 1811, probably
allowing them to live together and strengthening her support system. It wasn’t until Elizabeth’s death in 1813 that
Susannah was truly free.
Susannah’s resilience, not only in the face of slavery, but in
navigating the stipulations put on her freedom by Elizabeth Ten Broeck after
manumission, her separation from her husband, and raising her children in that
scenario, reflects the broader situation faced by many formerly-enslaved people as
New York moved slowly toward ending slavery.
Susannah and her family were also members of an active Black community in early 19
th century Albany, consisting of both free and
unfree families and individuals. On the
Albany
census of 1800, there are over 140 people of African descent listed, with
at least 25 free households. Some of the heads of household mentioned include
Jack
Jackson,
John Top,
and
William
Pepper. Other prominent members of the free community included
Dinnah
Jackson,
Elizabeth
Simpson Pepper,
Benjamin
Lattimore, and
Samuel
Schuyler.
[i]
On the same census, there are over 500 enslaved people
listed. With Philip Schuyler’s death still four years away at the time of that
census, Silva, Tally Ho, Tom, and Toby were among the nameless enslaved people
recorded only as a number in their enslaver’s household.
It is possible Silva knew many of the free and enslaved men
and woman from church services, a major social hub in the community at that
time, as well as through possible familial ties and friendships. In many baptismal
records from the same era, both free and enslaved people served as sponsors for
each other’s children. This speaks to the close ties between people enslaved in
different households and free Black individuals and families.
With this backdrop in mind, it is possible to piece together
some potential elements of Silva’s life. A receipt from 1797 possibly gives us
the best window into Silva’s family situation. That year, Silva, Tally Ho, Tom,
and Toby were purchased by Philip Schuyler on July 21st. While we
know Tally Ho and Tom were Silva’s children, it is unclear if Toby was related
to them, but it is possible he was Silva’s partner and Tally Ho and Tom’s
father.
In 1798, Schuyler enslaved three men, one boy, three women,
and two girls in Albany. On a paper titled “List of Slaves belonging to Ph:
Schuyler resident within the limits of the tract granted to the corporation of
the city of Albany,” it’s noted that of the above people, one woman was over
fifty years old, and the three children were under the age of twelve. There were
two women under the age of fifty and three men under the age of fifty. The
identity of the woman over fifty is currently unknown. The two woman under the
age of fifty were likely Silva and Pheobe, one of the men was Toby, another man
was Anthony (also known as “Tone” on the manumission record, and “Toney”), and
the third man could have been Stephen, who was manumitted in 1804, but not
previously mentioned in any letters, or Lisbon, who was last mentioned in a
letter in 1795. Two of the children must have been Tally Ho and Tom, who were
under the age of twelve in 1798, while the identity of the third child is
currently unconfirmed.
In 1804, when Silva and her three children were manumitted,
only Hanover’s age is definite. He was born on August 31, 1800, making him four
when his family was manumitted. If Schuyler correctly recorded that Tally Ho
and Tom were under twelve in 1798, that means at the youngest, Tally Ho was
nine and Tom eight when they were manumitted. At the oldest, Tally Ho was
seventeen and Tom sixteen. They’re described as “infant children” on the manumission
record, but it was their enslaver’s sons and sons-in-law who were writing the
document. This means their true ages are up for speculation, especially given
that even the ages of eight and nine would not be considered “infant” by any
means. Sylva was described as “about thirty years.”
Toby does not appear on the manumission form. There could be
multiple reasons for this, but based on documentation from Philip Schuyler, it
seems likely that Toby died before 1804. In 1802, Schuyler
writes to Alexander Hamilton “My coachman Toby is very Much Indisposed.” He
states Anthony will serve as the coachman. While Anthony, still referred to as
a coachman, appears in at least one later letter, Toby is never mentioned
again.
We can best determine that Silva, in her thirties, had a
toddler, two children under the age of seventeen, and possibly no partner when
she was manumitted. This placed her in a similar position to Susannah Roseboom,
but unlike Susannah, there were no documented conditions placed on her freedom.
Based on several surviving records, there is a strong
possibly that at least Silva, if not her children as well, stayed in Albany. In
1820, a woman of her age named "Sylva Zeben" was listed as head of a household on
Albany’s 1820 census. In her household were two boys under fourteen, a boy or man
between the ages of 14 and 25 (possibly Hanover), one girl or woman aged 14 to 25,
a woman aged 26 to 44 (possibly Tally Ho), and a woman over the age of 45, which
Silva would have been by 1820. While helpful, this record alone is not enough
to prove Silva or her children stayed in Albany. By pairing this census with other
documents, the case for Silva staying in Albany becomes feasible.
 |
An image of the 1820 census. Underlined in red is "Sylva Zeben" (Zebra?). |
In 1832, a woman named Silva Zebra was listed in Child’s
Albany Directory as a fortune teller working at 26 Washington Avenue. She
appeared in the following directory at the same address, and in 1834 moved to
“rear 165 South Pearl.”
 |
| Possibly Silva's name, profession, and address as it appeared in the 1832-1833 edition of Child's Albany Directory. |
Silva Zebra was also listed on the Albany census of 1840 as
head of household, with one free girl under the age of 10, another aged 10 to
25, two free women aged 35 to 55, and one woman, who would be Silva, between
the ages of 55 and 100. This census, the multiple entries of her employment in
the Albany directory, and the 1820 census (“Zeben” could be a misspelling or
mis-transcription of “Zebra”), create the possibility that Silva did stay in
Albany, maybe with some of her children.
 |
An image of the 1840 census. Underlined in red is "Silva Zebra." |
It also appears to be possible the same Silva briefly took
the last name “Bristo” from at least 1830-1832. In the two Albany directories
covering the years 1830-1832, a “Sylvia Bristo,” a fortune teller working on
Washington Avenue, is listed.
 |
Possibly Silva's name as it appeared in the 1830-1831 edition of The Albany Directory. |
This is just one possibility for the path Silva took upon
manumission. There are other possible avenues Silva may have taken as well.
She may have worked for Philip Jeremiah, who hired multiple free Black workers by
1820 according to that year’s census. At least one of the free women was within
the same age range as Silva, and possibly within Tally Ho’s age range as well.
No matter what she did after she was manumitted, through her
resilience, she built a life for herself and her children. Staying in Albany
suggests a support network that may have helped her find employment, a place to
live, and given her the ability to own a household by 1820. By the 1830s, if
not earlier, she may have had her own business as a fortune teller.
We may never be able to definitively tell Silva, Tally Ho,
Tom, Hanover, and Toby’s stories with the same level of specificity as the
Schuylers. Even without that level of detail, telling Silva’s story and
exploring how she may have asserted her agency is important. We are continuing
our research on Silva and her children in the hopes of finding out even more
about them in the future.
Thank you to Julie O’Connor of Friends of Albany History
for bringing the entries regarding the woman who is possibly Silva in the Albany directories to my attention.
You can visit Friends of Albany History here.
[i]
It should be noted that both Benjamin Lattimore and Samuel Schuyler’s names are
not on the 1800 census, highlighting the fact that while censuses can be
helpful tools, they are not always accurate and are best used in combination
with other sources.
