Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Slave Listings, C Slaveholders

Enslavement to freedom
	A series of pages exploring various aspects of enslavement in Pennsylvania
Dauphin County Slaveholders, C Surnames

Slaveholders Listed on this Page

Caldwell, James Lower Paxton Township. (Enslaved persons listed: Sam, Tom, Casteel)

Campbell, James (Enslaved persons listed: Pete)

Campbell, Margaret (Enslaved persons listed: Sal)

Campbell, William (Enslaved persons listed: Polly)

Candor, Josiah (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named man)

Candour, Joseph (Enslaved persons listed: Peter)

Capp, John (Enslaved persons listed: James, Hannah)

Carson, Elizabeth (Enslaved persons listed: Pompey)

Carson, John (Enslaved persons listed: Mary, Andrew, Esther, Hannah, Andrew (2), Maria, John, Frank, George, Patience, Retchel)

Carson, Margaret (Enslaved persons listed: Sam)

Cass, George (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed person)

Chambers, Arthur (Enslaved persons listed: Rachel)

Chambers, Maxwell (Enslaved persons listed: Sarah, Jack, Charles, Hana)

Clark, Benjamin (Enslaved persons listed: Tony a.k.a. Anthony)

Clark, John (Enslaved persons listed: Ath)

Clendenin, John (Enslaved persons listed: Prince, Team, Rob)

Cochran, John (Enslaved persons listed: Stephen Smith, Nance Smith, Dinah, Quah)

Cochran, John (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named female)

Coleman, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Harriett)

Cook, Jacob (Enslaved persons listed: Sampson, Daphne, Nell, David)

Cowden, James (Enslaved persons listed: Kate, Lucy, Dinah, George, Barbara, Sambo)

Cox, Cornelius (Enslaved persons listed: Gris, Tom, Dinah, Cato, Elizabeth, Charles, Henry, Eve, Andrew, Eve (2), Andrew (2) Jean, Dina, Abigal, Ambrost)

Cox, Esther (Enslaved persons listed: Esther)

Cox, John B. (Enslaved persons listed: Maria, Eliza Mary, Eve)

Crabb, William (Enslaved persons listed: Ned, Susan)

Crain, George (Enslaved persons listed: Tony, Eve, Joe)

Crawford, Richard (Enslaved persons listed: Arch)

Cream, George (Enslaved persons listed: Jack, Madge)

Crean, Martha (Enslaved persons listed: Adam)

Croll, John (Enslaved persons listed: Bill Bevis)

Crouch, James (Enslaved persons listed: Rachel, Samuel, Francis, Bodly, Sambo, Phillis, Jack, Lucey Lorrett, Peter, Nan, Ket, George Lorrett, Nell, Isaac)

Enslavement Data

Slaveholder's Name: Caldwell, James
Location: Lower Paxton Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation: "Esquire"
Notes: Caldwell listed his residence as "Hanover Township" in his 1780 Registration for Tom.

Enslaved Person's Name: Sam
Sex: Male
Age (Years): Six months old at time of Registration
Date of Birth: 23 December 1805
Description: Negro
Date of Registry or Record: 20 June 1806
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 20
Date of Birth: circa 1760
Description: "Mulato"
Date of Registry or Record: August 13, 1780
Slave Status: Slave for life
Notes: Caldwell described this person as a "Mulato." The JATR database transcribes this person's name as "Lem."
Source: "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780." ; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Casteel
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 27
Date of Birth: 1773 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: July 1800
Status: Slave for life
Notes: This person does not appear in the 1780 Slave Registrations for this slaveholder. He does appear in a July 1800 listing of slaves in Lower Paxton Township.
Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807.

Slaveholder's Name: Campbell, James
Owner's Township: Londonderry
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: Occupation not included with the 1780 Registration document for Pete.
Notes: Co-registered with David Hays.

Enslaved Person's Name: Pett (Pete)
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 24
Date of Birth: circa 1756
Description: "Negroe Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," 24 years old, "a slave."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Campbell, Margaret
Owner's Township: East Hanover Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
"Widow" (from 1789 Registration of Sal) Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Sal
Sex: Female
Slave Age (Years): 4 years and 2 months
Date of Birth: January 1785
Description: Registered as a "Mulatto"
Date of Registry or Record: 25 March 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Campbell, William
Owner's Township: East Hanover Township
County: Dauphin
Owner's State: PA
Occupation:
Farmer, Innkeeper Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Polly
Sex: Female
Age: one month old at Registration
Date of Birth: 28 August 1794
Description: Described at registered as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 24 September 1794
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Candor, Josiah
Owner's Township: Derry
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: "Esquire" in estate sale ad. Son of Joseph Candor/Candour. Left Dauphin County and relocated to Union County, Pennsylvania circa 1806.
Source: "Ward L. Candor," Past and Present of Mercer County Illinois, Vol. II, SJ Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago 1914.

Notice of the public sale of an enslaved man in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania in 1799.

Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in sale notice
Sex: Male
Age: Age not given in sale notice, but described as a "man."
Date of Birth: Not known
Description: "Negro Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1799
Notes: Seized by the county sheriff along with the remainder of Candor's possessions and sold at auction in November 1799. Text of Sheriff Sale notices that appeared on two separate pages of the same edition::
A Negro Man will be sold at Sheriff's Sale, at the house of Josias Candor, Esquire as advertised in the last page of this paper. (Page 3)

By virtue of sundry writs of Fieri Facias to me directed, will be exposed to public sale on Tuesday the 19th day of November next, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, at the dwelling house of Josias Candor, Esq. in Derry township, the following property, viz.
Horses, Cows, Hogs, Grain, Farming Utensils, and a variety of Household and Kitchen Furniture; seized and taken in execution as the property of said Josias Candor, Esquire, and will be sold by
HENRY ORTH, sherrif.
Harrisburgh, 25th Oct. 1799. (Page 4)
Source: Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburgh Advertiser, 11 November 1799.

Slaveholder's Name: Candour, Joseph
Owner's Township: Derry
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: Surname also spelled "Candor." Left Ireland and settled in Derry Township circa 1740. Husband of Mary. Father of Josiah Candor. Died 1784.

Enslaved Person's Name: Peter
Sex: Male
Age: about 27 years old at registration
Date of Birth: circa 1753
Description: "Negroe Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 18 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," about 27 years old.
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Capp, John
Owner's City: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
Occupation: "Esquire" (from registrations)
Notes: Lumber and iron business in Harrisburg

Enslaved Person's Name: James
Sex: Male
Age (Years): Two months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 28 May 1815
Description: Described at registered as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 28 July 1815
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Hannah
Sex: Female
Age: One month and two weeks old at Registration
Date of Birth: 19 December 1817
Description: Described at registration as "Coloured"
Date of Registry or Record: 07 February 1818
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Carson, Elizabeth
Owner's Township: Paxton
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation: Widow
Notes: Widow Elizabeth Carson became the second wife of Archibald McAllister in September 1780. She died in 1822 at Fort Hunter.

Enslaved Person's Name: Pompey
Sex: Male
Slave Age (Years): 14
Date of Birth: 1766
Description: "Negroe Male"
Date of Registry or Record: September 1, 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster. Described as "Negroe Male."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" ; "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Carson, John
Location: The 1780 slave registrations list Carson's township as "Paxton." A July 1800 slave list records his township as Lower Paxton."
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Judge, Farmer, Esquire
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Mary
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 18 February 1792
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 17 July 1792
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 20 September 1794
Description: Described at Registration as a "Mulatto"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 January 1795
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Esther
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 4
Date of Birth: March 1785
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 30 March 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Hannah
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 1 year and 11 months
Date of Birth: April 1787
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro, and also as "Mulatto"
Date of Registry or Record: 30 March 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age: 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 20 June 1796
Description: Described at Registration as a "Mulatto"
Date of Registry or Record: 28 October 1796
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Maria
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 08 July 1806
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 23 December 1806
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: John
Sex: Male
Age: 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 08 October 1806
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 26 February 1807
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Frank
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"
Enslaved Person's Name: George
Sex: Male
Age: 2 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 07 October 1803
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 17 Deceember 1803
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Patience
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 01 April 1804
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Record: 10 September 1804
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Retchel (Rachel?)
Sex: Female
Age: 36
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Date of Record: July 1800
Status: Slave for life
Notes: This person does not appear in the listings of 1780 Slave Registrations for this slaveholder. She appears in a July 1800 listing of enslaved persons in Lower Paxton Township.
Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807.

Slaveholder's Name: Carson, Margaret
Owner's Township: Paxton
County: Dauphin
Occupation: "Wife" (From 1790 Registration of Sam)
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Sam
Sex: Male
Age: 6 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: August 1789
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 26 February 1790
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"

Slaveholder's Name: Cass, George
Owner's Township: Derry
County: Dauphin (then Lancaster)
Occupation:
Notes: Cass did not register any slaves in Lancaster County in 1780. If he was assessed for one slave in 1780, he may have moved or sold the slave prior to the deadline for registration.

Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded
Sex: Not recorded
Age (Years): Not recorded
Date of Registry or Record: 1780
Notes: Tax return for 1780 report one slave owned by George Cass of Derry Township
Source: Luther Reily Kelker, History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I (New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907) p. 375.

Slaveholder's Name: Chambers, Arthur
Owner's Township: Lower Paxton
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Innkeeper
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Rachel
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 15 August 1793
Description: Described at Registration as a "Negro"
Date of Registry or Record: 29 January 1794
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Chambers, Maxwell
Owner's Township: Paxtang Township
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation:
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age (Years): About 27 years old
Date of Birth: circa 1753
Description: "Negro Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negro Wench" in registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
Sex: Male
Age (Years): About 13 years old
Date of Birth: circa 1767
Description: "Negro Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Described as "Negro Boy" in registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Charles
Sex: Male
Slave Age (Years): About 9 years old
Date of Birth: circa 1771
Description: "Negro Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Described as "Negro Boy" in registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Hana
Sex: Female
Age (Years): About 2 years old
Date of Birth: circa 1778
Description: "Negro Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Described as "Negro Wench" in registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Clark, Benjamin
Owner's City: Near Jonestown
Owner's Township: Hanover
County: Dauphin (Lebanon) This listing has been cross-posted to the Lebanon County page.
Occupation:
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Tony, a.k.a. Anthony Welsh
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 40 (about)
Date of Birth: 1731 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: August 12, 1772
Notes: Ran away in 1772. The following ad was placed by Clark for his capture:
RUN away from the subscriber, living in Hanover township, Lancaster county, near Jonestown, a NEGROE man, named TONY (but sometimes calls himself Anthony) he is about 5 feet 5 inches high, 40 years old, has a scar across his throat, lost some of his teeth, is a butcher by trade; had on and took with him, when he went away, a lightish blue broadcloth coat, a striped jacket, two pair of striped trowsers, one pair of tow ditto, a half-worn beaver hat, a leather cap, and a hunting shirt, also one old velvet jacket, a lincey ditto, a new linen shirt, and an old shirt, a butchersteel, a hone, two pair of buckles, and a pair of shoes; he talks good English and Dutch, and is this country born. Whoever takes up said Negroe, and secures him, so that his master may have him again, shall have FORTY SHILLINGS reward, and reasonable charges, paid by
BENJAMIN CLERK. July 27, 1772.
Anthony was captured in New Jersey, according to this jailor's advertisement:
Gloucester, New Jersey, September 1, 1772.
WERE committed to my custody two men, one on suspicion of being a runaway servant, and calls himself JOHN HANDLIN, about 30 years of age, a short well set fellow, of a dark complexion, and black curled hair; had on, when committed, a pair of new shoes, coarse shirt and trowsers, striped jacket, without sleeves, and old felt hat, and says he was born in Ireland. Likewise a Negroe man, says he belongs to BENJAMIN CLARKE, in Hanover township, Lancaster county, calls himself ANTHONY WELSH, and says he was born in Burlington, in the jerseys. This is therefore to desire their masters or mistresses, if any they have, to come within three weeks from this date, pay charges, and take them away, or they will be sold out for the same, by me RICHARD JOHNSON, Goaler.
Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, August 12, September 9, 1772

Slaveholder's Name: Clark, John
Owner's Township: Paxtang
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Ath
Sex: Female
Age (Years): about 6 years old at registration
Date of Birth: circa 1774
Description: "Negroe Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 21 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," about six years old, a "slave during life."
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Clendenin, John
Township: Paxton
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at the time of the 1780 registration)
Occupation: Surveyor
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Prince
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 47
Date of Birth: circa 1733
Description: "Negroe Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 01 November 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Team
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 35
Date of Birth: circa 1745
Description: "Negroe Woman"
Date of Registry or Record: 01 November 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Woman."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Rob
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 02
Date of Birth: 1778
Description: "Negroe Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 01 November 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Cochran, John
Location:
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: In his will, dated November 9, 1789 and proved November 28, 1789, John Cochran leaves a "negro wench" to his wife Cary (or Cory). ("Slaves and Indentured Servants in Dauphin County Wills") This appears to be an elder John Cochran, and not the Middle Paxton farmer listed below.

Enslaved Person's Name:
Sex: Female
(Years): Not known
Date of Registry or Record: November 28, 1789
Notes: Status: Slave for life.
Source:"Slaves and Indentured Servants in Dauphin County Wills"

Slaveholder's Name: Cochran, John
Location: The 1780 Slave Registrations show Cochran's residence in "Paxtang" Township, although later records indicate he lived in Middle Paxton Township. See the notes under Date of Birth for Stephen Smith, and Notes for Nancy Smith, below.
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: See also the elder John Cochran, above.

Enslaved Person's Name: Stephen Smith
Sex: Male
Age (Years):
Slave Date of Birth: April 1796 (Worner "The Columbia Race Riots"). Worner gives April 1796 as the approximate birth date of Smith based upon his indenture to General Thomas Boude on July 10, 1801 at age five years and three months. Worner reports that Smith's tombstone in Olive Cemetery, Philadelphia reads Rev. Stephen Smith. Died Nov. 14, 1873, aged 76 years 9 months. His date of birth as calculated from the tombstone age at death would have been February 1797. Worner believed that was incorrect, but did not document his sources. A slave list generated in July 1800 for the Dauphin County Prothonotary Office shows a child, Stephen, as a slave in Middle Paxton Township, aged 3 years, which is not inconsistent with the tombstone date of birth. His mother, Nancy, is also listed, although her age is given incorrectly as 65 years, whereas it should have read 35 years. A corresponding record, the 1800 Septennial Census, gives her correct age.

Date of Registry or Record: The slave registration for Stephen Smith remains undiscovered.
Notes: Son of Nance, a slave of the Cochrans. In 1801, Stephen was sold to Thomas Boude of Columbia, Pennsylvania as an indentured servant. His mother, that same year, ran away from the Cochran's to be with her son. (Source Smedley "History of the Underground Railroad") See also Charles L. Blockson's The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania; Flame International, Inc., Jacksonville, N.C., 1981. P. 90-91.
Smith borrowed fifty dollars from John Barber and purchased his freedom from General Boude on January 3, 1816. On November 16, 1817 he married Harriet Lee, a servant to the Jonathan Mifflin family. Mrs. Smith kept an oyster house in Columbia and Smith began a lumber business with some saved money.
Stephen Smith became one of the most famous and successful residents of Columbia, Pennsylvania and at one point was said to be the richest Black man in America. He became a business partner with William Whipper, an African-American lumber merchant and another former slave who rose to prominence, and together they helped many hundreds of Blacks to freedom on the Underground Railroad.
In 1832 he purchased a structure for the use of the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal church in Columbia, and in 1838 became an ordained minister of the A.M.E. church. He moved to Philadelphia in 1842 but continued to operate his lumber and coal business in Columbia. While in Philadelphia he became a member of Mother Bethel church and preached at the A.M.E. churches throughout the city. His philanthropic work continued in Philadelphia as he established the Zion Mission at Seventh and Lombard streets, saved Olive Cemetery, a Black cemetery in danger of being sold after it went bankrupt, and founded the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons. Smith also built an A.M.E. church in Cape May, New Jersey.
Source: Worner "The Columbia Race Riots" | Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807
Enslaved Person's Name: Nance or Nancy (also spelled Nanc) Smith (It is not known if Smith was Nancy's surname before her son Stephen became a prominent lumber merchant under that surname.
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 15 (at registration in 1780)
Date of Birth: 1765 (calculated)
Description: "Negroe Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Status: Registered at Lancaster in 1780 as a "Negroe Wench," 15 years old, "A Slave."
Notes: In 1804 Nancy was purchased by Thomas Boude of Columbia, Pennsylvania when she ran away from the Cochran farm to join her four-year-old son Stephen, who had been purchased by Boude from the Cochrans a short time earlier.
A slave list generated in July 1800 for the Dauphin County Prothonotary Office shows Stephen, age 3, and "Nanc," age 65, as slaves in Middle Paxton Township. The 1800 Septennial Census gives the age of Nanc as 35, indicating a transcription error, as the Prothonotary list seems to have been derived from the Septennial tax listings. The age of 35 agrees with her age as registered in 1780, and the age of Stephen, at 3 is close enough to make it probably that this is her son.
Nancy Smith is buried in Olive Cemetery in Philadelphia, beside her son Stephen and his wife Harriet. One source notes that she died in 1853 at age 94, but that age does not agree with her year of birth as registered in 1780.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Worner "The Columbia Race Riots" | Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 12
Date of Birth: 1768
Description: "Mulattoe Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Mulattoe Wench," age 12 years, "A Slave."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Quah
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 9
Date of Birth: 1771
Description: "Mulattoe Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Mulattoe Boy," age 9 years, "A Slave."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Coleman, Robert
Township:
County: Lancaster
Occupation: Ironmaster
Notes: Registered by Rudolph Kelker, Jr., Lebanon, agent for Robert Coleman. See the Lebanon County and Lancaster County pages for more listings for Robert Coleman.

Enslaved Person's Name: Harriett
Sex: Female
Age (Years): ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"

Slaveholder's Name: Cook, Jacob
Owner's Township: Londonderry
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: "Esquire"
Notes: The child Daphne, the offspring of one of Jacob Cook's slaves, was registered in August 1791 by Joseph Work for the Jacob Cook estate, indicating that Cook had died sometime before she was registered.

Enslaved Person's Name: Sampson
Sex: Male
Age: 2 Years and 2 months at Registration
Date of Birth: September 1786
Description: Described on Registration document as a "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 22 November 1788
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Daphne
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 15 March 1791
Description: Described on Registration document as a "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 03 August 1791
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by Joseph Work for the Jacob Cook estate.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Nell
Sex: Female
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 08 February 1789
Description: Described on Registration document as a "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 20 May 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: David
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 17
Date of Birth: 10 July 1763
Description: "Mulattoe Servant"
Date of Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: From the registration: "Aged 17 years, 3 months, and 17 days." This would put his date of birth at July 10, 1763. Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Mulattoe Servant."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Cowden, James
Location: The 1780 slave registrations list Cowden's township as "Paxton." A slave list generated for the Dauphin County Prothonotary's Office in July 1800 listed his township as Lower Paxton.
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer, Justice of the Peace, Associate Judge of Dauphin County
Notes: Born in 1737, James Cowden commanded a company of men in the Revolutionary War. He married Mary Crouch, daughter of James Crouch, on March 20, 1777. In 1793 he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Lower Paxton, and in 1795 Governor Thomas Mifflin appointed him an Associate Judge of Dauphin County. In 1809 Cowden was a presidential elector. James Cowden died October 10, 1810 at age 64. In his will, dated September 22, 1804 and proved October 31, 1810, James Cowden leaves his wife Mary her "choice of the black girls." ("Slaves and Indentured Servants in Dauphin County Wills") He is buried in Paxton Presbyterian Church Graveyard.

Enslaved Person's Name: Kate
Sex: Female
Age: 5
Date of Birth: January 1784
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 30 January 1789
Notes: "Mulatto;" Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Lucy
Sex: Female
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 08 December 1791
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 16 March 1792
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age): 3 months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 03 September 1794
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 08 December 1794
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Lived 1794-1878. Her tombstone gives her date of death as April 1st, 1878. Dinah served the Cowden family as a "Mammy." Buried in Paxton Presbyterian Church Graveyard, (Click here for: a photo of Dinah's gravesite ) Paxtang, PA. ("The Graveyard of Paxton Presbyterian Church") Egle records Dinah's tombstone epitaph as "Dinah / Died April 1, 1878 / In the 90th year of / her age / 'Well done good and faith- / ful servant.' " Dinah's actual age at her death was 83 and 7 months, per her date of birth recorded by Cowden at her Registration.
Sources: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves" | Egle, Note and Queries, Third Series, Volume I, LII, "Tombstone Inscriptions," page 414; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: George
Sex: Male
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 21 June 1796
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 16 September 1796
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Barbara
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 13 years old "or thereabouts"
Date of Birth: circa 1767
Description: "Negro Wench"
Date of Registry or Record: 05 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Described as "Negro Wench" in registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Sambo
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 70
Date of Birth: 1730 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: July 1800
Status:Slave for life
Notes:
Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807.

Slaveholder's Name: Cox, Cornelius
Location: The 1780 slave registrations list Cox's township as "Paxton." In a July 1800 slave list, his township is listed as Lower Paxton.
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 Registration)
Occupation: Farmer, Esquire
Notes: Born--1737; Died--1803. Born outside of Harrisburg at Coxestown, later called Esterton in honor of his mother Esther, Cornelius Cox held the rank of colonel as a commissary officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He served as an elector from Pennsylvania during the 1792 presidential elections and voted for George Washington. He is buried in the Harrisburg Cemetery. ("Walking Tour of Harrisburg Cemetery: 150th Anniversary Edition.")

Enslaved Person's Name: Gris
Sex: Female
Age: 5 years and 6 months
Date of Birth: September 1783
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 10 March 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 1 year and 6 months
Date of Birth: September 1787
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 10 March 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Cato (See notes for possible surname)
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: January 1790
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 17 May 1790
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. This may be the Cato Broyan {Bryan} who was registered in 1821 by the Borough of Harrisburg in its registry of all free African Americans who were entering the town. The entry, at the top of page 3, notes that "Cato Broyan" lived in Strawberry Alley in "Zeck's House," a house owned by Ezekiel Carter. Broyan was born in Dauphin County, "sarved his time with Mr. Cox," and was a farmer by trade. By 1821 he had a wife named Tama, who was born in Maryland, and a son.
Click here to view Harrisburg's 1821 Free Persons of Color Registry.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves" | "Harrisburg Registry of Free African Americans, 1821-1826," Archives of the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: December 1792
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 18 May 1793
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 13 February 2025.
Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: August 1795
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 25 November 1795
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Eve
Sex: Female
Age: 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: August 1797
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 13 December 1797
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Elizabeth
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 4 months and a few weeks old at Registration
Date of Birth: 13 September 1798
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 01 February 1799
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Charles
Sex: Male
Age: 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 20 April 1799
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 23 August 1799
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Henry
Sex: Male
Age: 2 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 13 January 1801
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 16 March 1801
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 30
Date of Birth: 1750 (calculated)
Description: "Negroe Man."
Date of Registry or Record: September 21, 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negroe Man" at registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Eve
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 20
Date of Birth: circa 1760
Description: "Negroe Wench."
Date of Registry or Record: September 21, 1780
Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negroe Wench" at registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Notes: Eve was also recorded as one of two slaves for life belonging to Cornelius Cox in a July 1800 tax list. Her age was recorded as 41 years old. The other slave recorded was Ambrost, age 44.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Jean
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 20
Date of Birth: circa 1760
Description: "Negroe Wench."
Date of Registry or Record: September 21, 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negroe Wench" at registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Dine (Dinah)
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 10
Date of Birth: circa 1770
Description: "Negroe Wench."
Date of Registry or Record: September 21, 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negroe Wench" at registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Abygal
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 02
Date of Birth: circa 1778
Description: "Negroe Wench."
Date of Registry or Record: September 21, 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described as "Negroe Wench" at registration. Registered in Lancaster.
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Ambrost (misspelling of Ambrose?)
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 44
Date of Birth: 1756 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: July 1800
Status: Not determined, but probably slave for life.
Notes:
Enumerated and identified in tax assessments Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807.

Slaveholder's Name: Cox, Esther
Owner's Township: Lower Paxton
County: Dauphin
Occupation: "Single Woman" (From Registration of the term slave Esther)
Notes: Esterton, also known as Coxestown was named in honor of Esther Cox. It was laid out by her husband and lies just north of Harrisburg in Susquehanna Township. One of Esther's sons is Cornelius Cox, listed above.

Enslaved Person's Name: Esther
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 30 April 1803
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 04 October 1803
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Cox, John B.
Owner's Township: Lower Paxton Township (1804), Harrisburg (1814), Susquehanna Township (1824-25)
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Maria
Sex: Female
Age: 5 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 02 June 1804
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 10 November 1804
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Eliza
Sex: Female
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 10 October 1813
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 14 January 1814
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Mary
Sex: Female
Age: 2 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 02 December 1823
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 27 February 1824
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Eve
Sex: Female
Age: 3 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 06 June 1825
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 29 August 1825
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Crabb, William
Owner's City: Harrisburg
Owner's Township:
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Innkeeper, Sign of the Ship (Market and Third Streets in Harrisburg; possibly moved to or from another location)
Notes: William Henry Egle notes that Crabb kept the tavern at the corner of "Vine and Paxtang" [Paxton] Streets in Harrisburg, then subsequently moved to Middletown.

Enslaved Person's Name: Ned
Sex: Male
Age: 4 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 05 February 1791
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 06 June 1791
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Susan
Sex: Female
Age: 2 months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 12 December 1793
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 06 February 1794
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Crain, George
Owner's Township: Hanover
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: See also Crean, George, below. Possibly the same person or possibly also the father of the man below. Needs more research.

Enslaved Person's Name: Tony
Sex: Male
Age (Years): about 27 years old at registration
Date of Birth: circa 1756
Description: "Negroe Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," age about 27 years, a "slave during life."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Eve
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 22
Date of Birth: 1758
Description: "Negroe Woman"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Woman," 22 years old, a "slave during life."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
Enslaved Person's Name: Joe
Sex: Male
Age (Years): about 3 years old at registration
Date of Birth: circa 1777
Description: "Negroe Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy," age about 3 years, a "slave during life."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Crawford, Richard
Owner's Township: Hanover
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:

Enslaved Person's Name: Arch
Sex: Male
Age (Years): 18
Date of Birth: circa 1762
Description: "Negroe Boy"
Date of Registry or Record: 13 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy," age about 18 years, a "slave during life."
Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"

Slaveholder's Name: Cream (Crean), George
Owner's Township: West Hanover
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: Surname possibly Crain. Could be the same person, George Crain, who registered three slaves for life in Lancaster in 1780.

Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
Sex: Male
Age: Ten months old at Registration
Date of Birth: April 1788
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 21 February 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
Enslaved Person's Name: Madge
Sex: Female
Age (Years): 3
Date of Birth: February 1786
Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
Date of Registry or Record: 21 February 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Crean, Martha
Owner's Township: West Hanover
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Widow
Notes: Surname possibly Crain.

Enslaved Person's Name: Adam
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Birth: 24 November 1799
Description: Described in Registration document as "Mulatto."
Date of Registry or Record: 11 April 1800
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.

Slaveholder's Name: Croll, John
Owner's Town: Middletown
Owner's Township:
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Tanner
Notes: John Croll (1767-1825) moved to Middletown from York County and established a tanning business on Main Street. He built a mansion next door, which is still standing and is known locally as "The Croll House."
Source: "Historic Middletown Homes," Middletown Public Library, online at https://middletownpubliclib.org/historic-middletown-homes/, accessed 14 February 2025.

Enslaved Person's Name: Bill Bevis
Slave Gender: Male
Age (Years): Age not given in ad, but is described as a "man."
Date of Birth: Not determined
Description: "Negro man"
Date of Registry or Record: July 12, 1805
Notes: Bevis escaped from Croll on June 12, 1805. Text of published escape and reward notice: "Twelve Dollars Reward. RAN-AWAY from the subscriber, living in Middletown, Dauphin county, on the 12th of June last, a negro man named Bill Bevis. He is a strong built fellow, about 5 feet 10 inches high, rather stoop shouldered, is somewhat addicted to drinking and is a tanner by trade. Had on and took with him, one pair check trowsers, a mixed cloth sailor jacket, a striped Marseilles jacket, an old fur hat, and other clothes not recollected.
Whoever secures said negro in any jail, so that the owner get him again, shall have the above reward and reasonable charges. JOHN CROLL.
July 12."
Source: Lancaster Journal

Slaveholder's Name: Crouch, James
Owner's Township: "Paxtang" (Lower Swatara)
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration in 1780)
Occupation: "Captain," Farmer
Notes: Farmer. Lived 1764-1794. Served in Rev. War. Was captured in Quebec.
James Crouch sold at least two slaves, a Mulatto boy of no more than three years old and an 18 month-old female child, to William Hay of Londonderry Township in or prior to 1780. The boy and girl were to be slaves to age 31. James Crouchs' daughter Mary married James Cowden.
Colonel James Crouch's estate was known as "Walnut Hill," and according to historian William Henry Egle, it was located "one and a half miles east of the village of Highspire." It was also one-half mile west of Col. Burd's estate, Tinian. (Notes and Queries, First and Second Series, Vol. II, LXIII, p.339-341).
In 1780, James Crouch traveled to Lancaster to "enter as his property" his eleven slaves, who ranged in age from 60 years to nine months old.
1. Enslaved Person's Name: Rachel
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 5 years and 11 months
  Date of Birth: December 1782
  Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
  Date of Registry or Record: 24 November 1788
  Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
  Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
2. Enslaved Person's Name: Samuel
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 4 years and 9 months
  Date of Birth: February 1784
  Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
  Date of Registry or Record: 24 November 1788
  Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
  Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
3. Enslaved Person's Name: Francis
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 2 years and 6 months
  Date of Birth: May 1786
  Description: Described in Registration document as "Negro."
  Date of Registry or Record: 24 November 1788
  Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
  Source: "Children of Previously Registered Slaves"; Young, Cory James. "A Just and True Return: Pennsylvania’s Surviving County Slave Registries, 1780-1826." Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation 3, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.25971/QS08-YE30. Accessed 01 August 2024.
4. Enslaved Person's Name: Bodly
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 60
  Date of Birth: circa 1720
  Description: "Negroe Male"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Male." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
5. Enslaved Person's Name: Sambo
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 50
  Date of Birth: circa 1730
  Description: "Negroe Male"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Male." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
6. Enslaved Person's Name: Phillis
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 50
  Date of Birth: circa 1730
  Description: "Negroe Woman"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Woman." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
7. Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 30
  Date of Birth: circa 1750
  Description: "Negroe Male"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Male." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
8. Enslaved Person's Name: Lucey Lorrett
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 30 (most likely this is an estimate, and per her family Lucy was actually 33, which would match the date of birth carved into her tombstone. Crouch seems to have estimated the ages of his older slaves, reporting all of their ages to the nearest decade. (See notes)
  Date of Birth: circa 1750
  Description: "Negroe Woman"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Woman." Registered in Lancaster. Lived 1747-1847 (per her tombstone). George Lorrett is her son. Buried in Paxton Presbyterian Church Graveyard, (Click here for: a photo of Lucey's gravesite) Paxtang, PA. ("The Graveyard of Paxton Presbyterian Church" ). She was originally buried on her son George's Lower Swatara farm, but her body was exhumed and reinterred at Paxton Presbyterian Church in the late 1880s.
  Whether she actually lived to be one hundred years old is not proven. At the time of her September 1780 Registration in Lancaster by James Crouch, she was officially registered as thirty years old, making her year of birth 1750. However slaveholders were notorious for rounding the ages of their enslaved adults. Crouch, for instance, registered a man aged 60, a man and a woman each aged 50, and a man and a woman each aged 30. Enslaved children were also reported, but at what was probably closer to their actual ages of 15, 12, 9, 7, 3 and 9 months old. Sources: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780; E.W.S.P., "A Dauphin County Centenarian," Harrisburg Telegraph, 30 November 1895, p. 3.
9. Enslaved Person's Name: Peter
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 15
  Date of Birth: 1765
  Description: "Negroe Boy"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Boy." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
10. Enslaved Person's Name: Nan
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 12
  Date of Birth: 1768
  Description: 'Negroe Girl"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Girl." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
11. Enslaved Person's Name: Ket
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 09
  Date of Birth: 1771
  Description: "Negroe Girl"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Girl." Registered in Lancaster. This may be the same person who ran away from her enslaver in Northumberland County in September, 1801. Roan McClure advertised for the return of Kate, age 29, "raised by capt. Crouch deceased late of Paxton." ( Source 09)
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
12. Enslaved Person's Name: George Lorrett
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 07
  Date of Birth: 1773
  Description: "Negroe Boy"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Registered in Lancaster as a "Negroe Boy." Manumitted sometime prior to 1850. Nicknamed "King George," he lived 1773-1862. His mother was Lucy Lorrett. He is buried in Paxton Presbyterian Church Graveyard (Click here for: a photo of George's gravesite), Paxtang. PA. (Source 21)
  Egle (source 120) gives the original burial place for George and Lucy Lorrett as a small farm cemetery plot in Lower Swatara Township near Middletown. He also says that George Lorrett owned the farm and that locals knew it as "Black George's Farm." The following excerpt is from Egle's "Notes and Queries:"
  "Some Old Family Grave-Yards"
  The place sought next was the home of a maternal uncle, about one and a half miles from Middletown northwestward, and at one time known as "Black George's Farm," a name very familiar to the old inhabitants of Lower Swatara township and Middletown. A few rods back of the house is a small plot of ground surrounded by a neat iron fence, such as used in railing in cemetery lots, and therein lay the bodies of the following:
  In memory of / George Lorrett / Died Aug. 27th, 1862, / Aged 88 years, 11 months and 12 days.
  
  In memory of / Lucy Lorrett / who departed this Life / Feb. 19th, 1847, / Aged 100 years.
  
  It might be interesting to the readers to say that George Lorrett, or "Black George," as he was called, was an African and a slave of the Crouches and a communicant of old Paxtang church. Lucy Lorrett was his mother.
  George Lorrett's ownership of the property is verified in the Census of 1850. The census sheet, page number 194, of Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, lists "George Lorrett" in dwelling number 71, and as the head of family number 71 for the township. He is listed as a 76 year-old male, Black, owning $2500 value in real estate, and having been born in Pennsylvania. The only other person listed in his dwelling is "William Camp," a 14 year-old male, Mulatto, who has "Attended School within the year," and who was born in Pennsylvania.
  The census page was dated 21 October, 1850.
  The Lorrett property was on the east side of modern day Union Street (on your left if traveling toward Middletown), in Lower Swatara Township, lying just west of the old Union Canal and Swatara Creek. The farm was located south of the present I-283 interchange, and is now developed into modern housing.
  
  As a final note, a 1976 newspaper feature article on the enslaved people buried in Paxton Presbyterian Graveyard says that George Lorrett was born a slave "to Benjamin Jordan, on Sept. 15, 1773 in what later became Lower Swatara Twp." The year of birth and location are all compatible with the available information on George Lorrett, so this may be true and needs further investigation. Sources: "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780." | "The Graveyard of Paxton Presbyterian Church." | Egle "Notes and Queries" 3rd Series, Volume 1, pages 150-151. | 1850 Census of the United States--Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County, page 194, Dwelling #71; Paula Dillon, "Life, Liberty, Pursuit of Happiness...It Missed the Mark for Some Dauphin Countians," Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 22 February 1976.
13. Enslaved Person's Name: Nell
  Sex: Female
  Age (Years): 03
  Date of Birth: 1777
  Description: "Negroe Girl"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Girl." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
14. Enslaved Person's Name: Isaac
  Sex: Male
  Age (Years): 9 month old
  Date of Birth: January 1780
  Description: "Negroe Boy"
  Date of Registry or Record: September 11, 1780
  Notes: Actual age at registration was 9 months.
  Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Boy." Registered in Lancaster.
  Source: "Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780" | Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780

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