Searching for Silva: Life After Manumission

The Dutch Church in Albany, as seen from Market Street,
circa 1805, just a year after Silva and her children
were manumitted.

On 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.

This woman is believed to be Dinnah
Jackson, painted by James Eights.

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 21^st. 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. 

An image of the letter from Philip Schuyler to Alexander Hamilton in which Toby is mentioned for the final time.

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.

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[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.