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various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Enslavement in Pennsylvania
Slaveholders Enumerated in Berks County Supply Tax List, 1779
Listing of Slaveholders, Extracted from the "Register of Property of the Inhabitants of Berks County for Raising the Supplies for the Year 1779."
The County of Berks's Supply Rates List for 1779 was transcribed and edited for use in the official state publication titled simply Pennsylvania Archives. Editor and historian William Henry Egle edited the series, published in 1898, and it remains a vital original research tool. The "Register of Property of the Inhabitants of Berks County for Raising the Supplies for the Year 1779" follows the 1767 colonial tax list in Volume 18. It provides a snapshot of slaveholding in the county the year prior to passage of the Gradual Abolition Act of 1780. The 1780 law required all slaveholders to travel to the county seat of Reading to register all Black persons held as slaves, so this 1779 list adds data to that provided a year later.
The transcribed information in the published list provides no details on the enslaved persons themselves. It merely reports the number of taxable enslaved persons held by the named propertyholder, along with numbers of acres owned, number of horses owned and number of cattle owned. If the property owner had a still or other valuable operation such as a sawmill, it was also noted. Unlike previous year's tax lists, the total assessed tax was not reported for the property owners. The Supply Tax was a wartime "resolve" from the Continental Congress to fund the war against Great Britain. Pennsylvania authorized the tax on 03 April 1779 and sent proceeds to Congress for the purchase of wartime supplies, muntions and other expenses. The Congress itself, per the Articles of Confederation, had no taxing authority.
The list below is extracted data and shows only those property holders that had at least one enslaved taxable person in the year 1779. Excluded from that category and not enumerated or taxed were enslaved persons younger than age 12 and older than age 60, indentured servants or other workers, bound or free. Only Black enslaved persons between the ages of 12 and 60, designated in the enumeration as "Negroes," were enumerated and taxed, along with acres of land, horses, and cattle.
Slaveholders in 1779 are listed below in the order published, roughly alphabetical, by township. It must be remembered that Berks County in 1779 encompassed territory and townships that would in 1811 form Schuylkill County. The spelling of slaveholders' names below is mostly preserved from the original 1779 records with corrections occasionally noted and most abbreviations spelled out. It is formatted as Last name, First name, notes or occupation, and number of "Negroes."
Listing of Slaveholders
Alsace Township
Keller, Hannah, 1
Amity Township
Douglass, George, 1
Davies, David, 1
Dedrick, Samuel, 1
Greiner, John, 1
Kearling, John, blacksmith, 1
Kearling, John, Junior, blacksmith, 1
Roads, Jacob, Senior, 1
Teeter, John, 1
Vanread, Henry, 1
Weaver, Jacob, 4
Winters, William, 1
Yockum, John, 1
Albany Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Albany Township in 1779.
Cumru Township
Davies, John, 2
Lewis, James, innkeeper & ferry, 1
Brunswick Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Brunswick Township in 1779.
Bern Township
Bright, John, 1
Hiester, Gabriel, gristmill, 2
Brecknock Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Brecknock Township in 1779.
Bethel Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Bethel Township in 1779.
Caernarvon Township
Jones, David, 2
Jones, John, 2
Morgan, Jacob, distiller, 6
Morgan, David, 1
Rattew, Aaron, 2
Ross, Ruth, 1
Colebrookdale Township
Gable, Henry, miller, gristmill, 1
Latchar, Jacob, 1
Michlin, Jacob, 1
Douglass Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Douglass Township in 1779.
Exeter Township
Alstat, Adam, sawmill, distiller, 2
Boone, Judah, miller, gristmill, 2
Dougharty, Edward, 1
Durst, Philip, 1
Goodman, John, wheelwright, 1
Huet, Jacob, 1
Levan, Abraham, 1
East District Township
Oyster, George, 1
Hereford Township
Bortz, Henry, 1
Tea, Richard, 1
Heidleberg Township
Patton, John, Esq'r, gristmill & sawmill, 9
Ruth, John, 2
Greenwich Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Greenwich Township in 1779.
Long Swamp Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Longswamp Township in 1779.
Maiden Creek Township
Hugh, Abraham, 1
Rodermel, Daniel, 2 mills, 1
Maxatawny Township
Harman, Jacob, gristmill & distiller, 1
Hottenstine, [no first name transcribed] distiller, 2
Kutz, Adam, 1
Kemp, George, 1
Smith, George, distiller, 1
Oley Township
Bartho, Isaac, 1
Deturck, John, 1
Hollenbush, Christian, 1
High, Abraham, 1
Knap, Nicholas, 1
Kreesmer, John, gristmill, sawmill, & oil mill, 1
Kreesmer, Casper, 1
Kirst, Henry, gristmill, 1
Lesher, John, fulling mill, gristmill, sawmill, oil mill, & hemp mill, 8
Levan, Daniel, 1
Daniel, Peter, 1
Reiff, Philip, grist and sawmill, 1
Reiff, Daniel, 1
Snyder, Daniel, sawmill, r. & s., mill, 1
Shenkel, Martine, 1
Stapleton, John, 1
Uttry & Labesweiler, forge, 1
Pine Grove Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Pine Grove Township for 1779.
Richmond Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Richmond Township for 1779.
Ruscomb Manor Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Ruscomb Manor Township for 1779.
Rockland Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Rockland Township for 1779.
Reading
Bird, Mark, 1 (See also "Bird, Mark" in Union Township)
Biddle, James, lawyer, 2
Diel, John, ferryman, 1
Duffield, Benjamin, doctor, 1
Ensly, Daniel, merchant, 1
Eckert, Valentine, merchant, 1
Green, William, merchant, 1
Hiester, Daniel, 3
Hiester, Joseph, merchant, 5
Keyser, Jacob, innkeeper, 1
Morris, Ezekia, 1
Mifflin, Samuel, Esq'r, 5
Morgan, Jacob, Junior, 1
Meyerly, Frederick, 1
Nagle, Peter, hatter, 1
Potts, Jonathan, M., Doctor, 2
Read, Collison, lawyer, 2
Robeson Township
Argute, Christian, 1
Tulpehoccon [Tulpehocken] Township
Egee, George, forge, 3
Forry, Michael, 1
Kinser, Nicholas, 1
Lower, Coll'o Christian, Junior, grist & sawmill, 4
Lewegood, Jacob, 1
Shits, Adam, 2
Union Township
Bird, Mark, Esq'r., forge, sawmill, fulling mill, gristmill & sawmill, 16 (see also Mark Bird in Reading Borough, above)
Godfrey, John, 1
Jones, Mounce, 3
Kirst, George, 2
Sweitzer, Jacob, carpenter, 1
Stoner, John, sawmill, 1
Wirt, Philip, 1
Windsor Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for Windsor Township for 1779.
West District Township
No taxable enslaved persons returned for West District Township for 1779.
Source
"Provincial Papers: Proprietary and State Tax Lists of the County of Berks, for the Years 1767, 1768, 1779, 1780, 1784, 1785," Pennsylvania Archives, Third Series, Vol. 18, William Henry Egle, M.D. Editor, Harrisburg, PA 1898, pp. 175-301.