Slaveholders listed on this page
- Galbreath, James (Enslaved persons listed: Joseph)
- Gallaugher, Elizabeth (Enslaved persons listed: Cuff, Benebo, Sambo)
- Gelchrist, John "The Younger" (Enslaved persons listed: Andrew, Margaret, Leah)
- Getz, Martin (Enslaved persons listed: un-named girl)
- Gilchrist, John (Enslaved persons listed: Rachel, Tobb)
- Gilchrist, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Dick)
- Gingrich, John (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named boy)
- Goodman, Simon (Enslaved persons listed: Elmer George)
- Graydon, Alexander (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed person)
- Green, Timothy (Enslaved persons listed: Jam, two unnamed "negro wenches," an unnamed negro male child)
- Grim, David (Enslaved persons listed: Nedd)
- Grubb, Curtis (Enslaved persons listed: Jenny, Abe, Fanny, Sarah)
- Grubb, Curtis, Sr. (Enslaved persons listed: Isaac)
- Grubb, Jacob (Enslaved persons listed: Jacob, Rachel)
- Hain, Daniel (Enslaved persons listed: Hager)
- Hall, Henry (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed person)
- Hamilton, J. E. (Enslaved persons listed: Lancaster)
- Hamilton, John (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named man)
- Hamilton, William Thomas (Enslaved persons listed: Mira)
- Hanna, John A. (Enslaved persons listed: Sarah, Rose)
- Harbinson, Adam (Enslaved persons listed: Elijah, Dinah)
- Harris, John, Jr. (Enslaved persons listed: Jack, Isaac, Franck)
- Harris, John Sr. (Enslaved persons listed: Hercules, Toni, Cherida)
- Harris, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Luce)
- Hay, William (Enslaved persons listed: Dembigh, Phillis, unnamed male child, unnamed female infant, Phillis(2))
- Hayes, Patrick (Enslaved persons listed: Tob, John Martin, Sam, unnamed male)
- Hayes, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Nell)
- Hays, David (Enslaved persons listed: Bet)
- Hays, Hugh (Enslaved persons listed: Sam)
- Hays, Nancy (McAllister) (Enslaved persons listed: Poll)
- Hays, Pat (Enslaved persons listed: Thomas Martin, Peter, Robert Martin)
- Hays, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Rose)
- Hiester, Daniel (Enslaved persons listed: Henry, Grace)
- Hollenback, John (Enslaved persons listed: Bess)
- Hughes, Leroy (Enslaved persons listed: Middleton Garret)
- Hunt, Benjamin (Enslaved persons listed: Katy)
- Hunt, Elizabeth (Enslaved persons listed: Joseph)
- Ireland, David (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed slave)
- Irvine, William M. (Enslaved persons listed: Ann, Harriet)
- Irwin, John (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed person)
- Job, Mary (Enslaved persons listed: Nel)
- Johnson, Alexander (Enslaved persons listed: Jack)
- Jordan, Benjamin (Enslaved persons listed: William Jones)
Enslavement Data
- Slaveholder's Name: Galbreath, James
Town or Township: Derry
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of advertisement)
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Joseph
Sex: Male
Age (Years): Age not given, but described as a man.
Description: "Negroe man"
Date of Registry or Record: 3 July 1755
Notes: Status: Captured Suspected Runaway slave. Galbreath placed the following ad to locate the owner: "THERE is in the custody of James Galbreath, of Derry Township, Lancaster county, a runaway Negroe man, nam'd Joseph, mark'd with the small-pox. Any person, proving his property to said Negroe man, may have him again, paying charges. JAMES GALBREATH."
Source: The Pennsylvania Gazette, 3 July 1755
- Slaveholder's Name: Gallaugher, Elizabeth
Town or Township: Paxtang
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Cuff
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Date of Registry or Record: 12 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Registered as a "Negroe Man" at Lancaster.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Benebo or Benibo
Sex: Female
Age: 36
Date of Registry or Record: 12 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Registered as a "Negroe Woman" at Lancaster.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sambo
Sex: Male
Age: 08
Date of Registry or Record: 12 October 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Registered as a "Negroe Boy" at Lancaster.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Gelchrist, John, "The Younger"
Town or Township:
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Andrew
Sex: Male
Age: Not noted in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Margaret
Sex: Female
Age: Not noted in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Leah
Sex: Female
Age: Not noted in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- laveholder's Name: Getz, Martin
Town: Halifax
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not recorded
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Date of Registry or Record: June 18, 1816
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: 50
- Slaveholder's Name: Gilchrist, John
Location: "Paxtang Township" in original 1780 Registrations; Lower Paxton in 1800 list.
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: In the July 1800 list of slaves in Lower Paxton Township, Gilchrist's surname is misspelled "Gilgrist."
- Enslaved Person's Name: Rachel
Sex: Female
Age: "about 21 or thereabouts"
Date of Birth: 1759 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: October 05, 1780
Status: "Slave during life"
Notes: Described in 1780 Slave Registration as "Negro Wench."
Source: Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780
- Enslaved Person's Name: Tobb
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Date of Birth: 1764 (calculated)
Date of Registry or Record: July 1800
Status: Slave for life
Notes: Tobb was not registered by Gilchrist in 1780, indicating that he bought or acquired this person sometime after that year.
Source: Tax Lists, Inhabitants and Slaves, 1800, 1807
- Slaveholder's Name: Gilchrist, Robert
Town or Township: Paxton
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: Gilchrist apparently traveled to Lancaster along with two other local men to register their enslaved persons. The county clerk recorded their slaves as follows: "John Wiggins, Robert Gilchrist, farmers, and Richard McGuire, blacksmith, of Paxton T, enters as owners" Nance, Negroe Wench, about nine years of age, slave during life; Dick, Negroe Boy, about seven years of age, slave for life; Tob, Negroe Man, eighteen years of age, slave during life, and Peet, Negroe Boy, ten years of age, slave during life.
The clerk did not indicate who owned which slaves, but it was customary to list slaves by descending age, males first, followed by females in descending age order. Using that custom as an indicator, it was possible to make a guess as to who held which slaves.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Dick
Sex: Male
Age: 07
Date of Registry or Record: 12 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Described at registration as "Negroe Boy." Registered at Lancaster.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Gingrich, John
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in source
Sex: Male
Age: "aged about 14 years and four months"
Date of Birth: circa January 1795
Description: "Negro Boy"
Date of Record: 15 April 1809
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Offered for sale in April 1809. Text of Gingrich's sale ad:
For Sale.
The time of a stout, healthy
NEGRO BOY,
aged about 14 years and four months. To serve until he is twenty-eight. He would suit a farmer, being remarkably active among horses. For terms apply to Samuel Elder, in Harrisburgh, or to the subscriber in Londonderry township, Dauphin county.
JOHN GINGRICH.
April 15, 1809.
Source: Oracle of Dauphin (Harrisburg), 15 April 1809.
- Slaveholder's Name: Goodman, Simon
Town or Township:
County: Cumberland
Occupation:
Notes: "Former resident of Harrisburg."
- Enslaved Person's Name: Elmer George
Sex: Male
Age: Age not noted in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Graydon, Alexander
Town or Township: Harrisburg
County:Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: This was Captain Alexander Graydon, veteran of the Revolutionary War. He was captured at Fort Washington, New York in 1776, was paroled and did not rejoin the army. He moved to Harrisburg after the war. Uncle of Alexander Graydon, the abolitionist, of Harrisburg and later Indianapolis, IN.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded in source
Sex: Not recorded in source
Age: Not recorded in source, but between 12 and 50, in 1798.
Date of Registry or Record: 1798
Notes: Enumerated in the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax, "General List of Slaves Owned, or superintended, on the first day of October, 1798, within the third assessment fourth division, State of Pennsylvania." Only enslaved persons between the ages of 12 and 50 were to be counted as taxable.
Source: 1798 U.S. Direct Tax
- Slaveholder's Name: Green, Timothy
Town or Township: Hanover
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation:
Notes: While in Lancaster, Green also registered the enslaved persons of Robert Sturgeon, a miller in Paxton Township, acting as his attorney.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jam
Slave Gender: Male
Age: About 35 years old at registration
Date of Registry or Record: 23 October1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Man," about 35 years of age, a "slave during life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded
Sex: Female
Age: About 33 years old at registration
Date of Birth: Circa 1747
Date of Registry or Record: 10/23/1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," about 33 years of age, a "slave during life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded
Sex: Female
Age: About 8 years old at Registration.
Date of Birth: Circa 1772
Date of Registry or Record: 23 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," about 8 years of age, a "slave during life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not recorded
Sex: Male
Age: about 3 years old at registration
Date of Birth: circa 1777
Date of Registry or Record: 23 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe male child," about 3 years of age, a "slave during life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780
- Slaveholder's Name: Grim, David
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Nedd
Sex: Male
Age: Age not recorded in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Grubb, Curtis
Town or Township:
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Iron Master
Notes: Registered by John W. Kittara for Curtis Grubb. Some listings are for Curtis Grubb, deceased. This is probably the same person as Curtis Grubb, Sr. See also the listings for the Grubb family in Lancaster County and Lebanon County. In his will, dated March 18, 1788 and proved February 19, 1789, Curtis Grubb leaves a "negro wench" to his wife Ann.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jenny
Sex: Female
Age: Age not recorded in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Abe
Sex: Female
Age (Years): Age not recorded in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by John W. Kitarra for Curtis Grubb.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Fanny
Sex: Female
Age (Years): "About seven months" at Registration
Date of Birth: circa October 1789
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Actual age at registration "about seven months." Registered by J.W.Kittera for Curtis Grubb, deceased.
Date of Registry or Record: 17 May 1790
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age (Years): About six months
Date of Birth: circa December 1789
Date of Registry or Record: 18 May 1790
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by J.W.Kittera for Curtis Grubb, deceased.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Grubb, Curtis, Sr.
Town or Township:
County:
Occupation: Iron Master
Notes: See also, "Grubb, Curtis"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Isaac
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by R. Kelker, Jr., for Curtis Grubb, Sr., deceased.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Grubb, Jacob
Town or Township: Lebanon (Later Lebanon County)
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: Registered by Samuel Sinclair for Jacob Grubb in Lebanon Township, then part of Dauphin County. These listings are duplicated on the Lebanon County page.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jacob
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by Samuel Sinclair for Jacob Grubb in Lebanon Township, then part of Dauphin County.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Rachel
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Registered by Samuel Sinclair for Jacob Grubb in Lebanon Township, then part of Dauphin County.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Hain, Daniel
Location: Paxton Township
County:Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Hager
Sex: Female
Age: "Aged about 26 years"
Date of Birth: circa 1776
Description: "Black Wench"
Status: "Slave for life;" self-emancipated October 1802
Date of Record: 25 October 1802
Notes:
Hager escaped from Hain on 05 October 1802. Hain's escape notice and offer of reward for her return was published in the Harrisburg Oracle about three weeks later. Text of his ad below:
Ten Dollars Reward.
RAN away from the subscriber, living in Paxton township, Dauphin county, on Tuesday the 5th inst. a Black Wench, slave for life, named HAGER, aged about 26 years, about 5 feet 5 inches high. She had on and took away a black silk bonnet, a spotted shawl, a spotted red and white calico gown, and red petticoat, with two or three linsey ditto. On her right hand she has only the thumb and fore finger, which is a mark that cannot be disguised, and may be deemed sufficient without further description. The above reward and all reasonable charges will be paid to any one securing her in any goal or if brought home to me,
DANIEL HAIN.
Paxton, Oct. 25th, 1802.
Source: Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburgh Advertiser, 25 October 1802.
- Slaveholder's Name: Hall, Henry
Location: Harrisburg
County:Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not known
Sex: Not known
Age: Not known, but between 12 and 50, in 1798.
Date of Registry or Record: 1798
Notes: Enumerated in the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax, "General List of Slaves Owned, or superintended, on the first day of October, 1798, within the third assessment fourth division, State of Pennsylvania."
Source: 1798 U.S. Direct Tax
- Slaveholder's Name: Hamilton, J. E.
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Lancaster
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Hamilton, John
Town or Township: Harrisburg Borough
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Merchant
Notes: Died in Harrisburg in the 1793 Yellow Fever epidemic. A 19th century biographer attributed a total of six enslaved persons to him, most while in Juniata County. Father of John Hamilton 2 of Fermanaugh Township, Juniata County. See also his listing for Juniata County.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not provided in ad
Sex: Male
Age: Age not given in ad, but described as a "man."
Date of Birth: Not known
Description: "Negro man"
Date of Registry or Record: 14 October 1793
Notes: Status: Enslaved for a term of years, as indicated by the auction note "the time of a . . . negro man." Hamilton's estate was sold at public auction on 22 October 1793, following his death. Full text of the ad placed by his executors:
To be sold by public vendue,
ON Tuesday the 22d inst. at the late dwelling-house of John Hamilton, deceased, in Harrisburgh,
The time of a young, healthy, active negro man, horses, cows, sheep, oxen and various farming utensils, together with broad and narrow cloths, checks, corduroys, velvets, gauzes, cambricks, lawns, a general assortment of buttons, knives, scissors, China, queen's ware, and other dry goods; wheat in the sheaves; also, household and kitchen furniture; likewise, a great variety of other articles, too tedious to enumerate. The sale to begin at 10 o'clock on said day, where attendance and credit will be given by
MARGARET HAMILTON, JOHN KEAN, MOSES GILMORE, } Administrators.
Harrisburgh, October 14, 1793.
Source: Oracle of Dauphin and Harrisburgh Advertiser, 21 October 1793.
- Slaveholder's Name: Hamilton, William Thomas
Town or Township: Harrisburg Borough
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Teacher, Principal of Harrisburg Academy 1817-1821
Notes: By 1822 had moved to Philadelphia where he opened an academy.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Mira
Sex: Female
Age: "about 26 years of age"
Date of Birth: 20 March 1793
Description: "Negress," "Wench"
Status: Enslaved to age 28
Date of Registry or Record: 27 July 1820. This ad was published through August 12, 1820.
Notes: Mira escaped from Hamilton in late July 1820. Hamilton placed the following notice of her escape in the Harrisburg Oracle, offering a token reward of six cents with no offer to repay any expenses incurred for her capture. He also planned to sell her if she was captured and returned to him:
6 Cents Reward.
For the apprehension & restoration of Negress Mira, to W. T. Hamilton her master, from whom she absconded a few days since. Mira is a short, stout & active wench, about 26 years of age, and has to serve until March 20th 1822. If restored I will sell the remainder of her time on reasonable terms, but will pay no charges, nor subject myself to any expense on her account.
Harrisburg, July 27th 1820.
N.B. I hereby caution all persons not to harbour, or trust the said Mira, on my account.
W. Tho. Hamilton.
Mira's name and date of birth matches (but for one year, which is not unusual) the person registered in Lancaster in May of 1794 by Judge John Whitehill of Salisbury Township. She also escaped from Harrisburg merchant George Whitehill in September 1810. Per her date of birth, she would have been manumitted on her 28th birthday, March 20th 1821, not 1822 as Hamilton states.
Source: Oracle of Dauphin, 29 July 1820.
- Slaveholder's Name: Hanna, John A.
Town or Township: Paxton Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: Lived 1762-1805. Husband of Mary Hanna (daughter of John Harris, Jr.); Revolutionary War general; delegate to the convention that ratified the Constitution; Pennsylvania state legislator; U.S. Congressman. (Source 41) The 1798 U.S. Direct Tax shows one slave "above the age of 12 and under the age of 50" for John A. Hanna, then living in Harrisburg. (Source 42)
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sarah
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Harbinson, Adam
Town or Township: West Hanover Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Elijah
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Dinah
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Harris, John (Sr.)
Town or Township: Paxton Township
County: Dauphin (modern designation)
Occupation: Trader, ferryman, farmer
Notes: Pioneer from, Yorkshire, England, who established Harris' Ferry at modern day Harrisburg. Father of John Harris Jr., founder of Harrisburg.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Hercules
Slave Gender: Male
Age (Years): ?
Date of Record:1746 (will of John Harris)
Notes: Hercules is perhaps the best known, and to some people the only known, enslaved person in Dauphin County history. He figures prominently in the story of the attempted burning of John Harris by hostile Native Americans. According to the story as told in old county history books, John Harris refused to sell rum to a passing party of Native Americans returning from the south on a raiding expedition because they were already intoxicated. Angered, the raiders seized Harris and tied him to a nearby mulberry tree on the riverbank, intending to burn him. His Negro slave Hercules, seeing what was happening, went to a friendly neighboring tribe and brought back help. The friendly Native Americans freed Harris from the unruly raiders, and Harris, grateful to Hercules, immediately manumitted him.
The story of the attempted burning, and the role played by Hercules, is problematic. It plays on the harmful stereotypes of the times with regard to Native Americans and alcohol. No first person account by Harris of the event exists. Several local historians have documented changes in the story over the decades, including the addition of Hercules to the story about the middle of the 19th century. Hercules was a real person, however, and enslaved by John Harris. Harris stipulated in his will, dated November 22, 1746, that Hercules was to be set free and was to be allowed to live on some of the land near the river that he willed to his son William Harris.
The account books of John Harris, Jr. show the following entries relating to Hercules, all of which seem to support the contention that Hercules was a free person by the time of these entries:
"July 13th, 1754. Black Hercules Dr. to sundrys, 28, 18s, 5d.
Settled and clear.
Mem'd'm. That Hercules worked for me abt. one year, w'ch is in Part of my Acco't, the old Book tells the time.
Sept'r 8th, 1761, 1 lb Powder & 2 lb Shott for Hercules, 4:8. 6 Kerby Hooks, for Hercules, 1:6.
Sept'r 25, 1773. Cash p'd Hercules, at twice, 2:6." (William Henry Egle, "The Rescuer of John Harris," Notes and Queries VIII, Annual Volume 1900, page 38.)
Hercules died sometime after the year 1766, which was the last documented mention that he was alive. He was buried in an African American burial ground at Mulberry Street but his remains and those of others buried there were moved when construction of a school house at that site uncovered the graves.
Other Sources:
- George P. Donehoo, Harrisburg, The City Beautiful, Romantic and Historic, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1927, Pages 44-46.
- Watson's Annals of Philadelphia And Pennsylvania, Volume 2, "Harrisburg," 1857. Note: Watson's does not mention Hercules by name, but refers to Harris' " faithful old black man."
- "Copy of Will of John Harris Decd, 1873." Official copy of the will, dated November 22, 1746, from Lancaster County Will Book B, p. 542. The official copy is in the archives of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, Harrisburg.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Toni
Sex: Male
Age: Exact age not recorded in source (described as "Negro boy")
Date of Record: 1746 (will of John Harris)
Notes: Bequeathed by John Harris to his son William. The line in the will of John Harris reads "I give and devise unto my said son William the tract of land which I purchased of James Allcorn,...& also the negro Boy called Toni."
Source: "Copy of Will of John Harris Decd, 1873." Official copy of the will, dated November 22, 1746, from Lancaster County Will Book B, p. 542. The official copy is in the archives of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, Harrisburg.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Cherida
Sex: Female
Age: Exact age not given in source (described as "Negro girl")
Date of Record: 1746 (will of John Harris)
Notes: Bequeathed by John Harris to his daughter Elizabeth Finley. The line in the will of John Harris reads "...unto my daughter Elizabeth Finley,...& I leave [??] the negro girl called Cherida."
Source: "Copy of Will of John Harris Decd, 1873." Official copy of the will, dated November 22, 1746, from Lancaster County Will Book B, p. 542. The official copy is in the archives of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, Harrisburg.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not named
Sex: Not known
Age (Years): Not yet born (see notes)
Date of Record: 1746 (will of John Harris)
Notes: The yet to be born child of his pregnant female slave was bequeathed by John Harris to his daughter Esther. The line in the will of John Harris reads "...unto my daughter Esther,...I leave her the child whereof the negro Woman is now pregnant."
Source: "Copy of Will of John Harris Decd, 1873." Official copy of the will, dated November 22, 1746, from Lancaster County Will Book B, p. 542. The official copy is in the archives of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, Harrisburg.
- Slaveholder's Name: Harris, John (Jr.), "The Founder"
Town or Township: Paxtang
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Yoeman
Notes: Son of John Harris, Sr., proprietor of Harris' Ferry, for whom the city of Harrisburg is named. Born and died in Harrisburg, 1726-1791. Founder of the city of Harrisburg. In 1766 he built the stone house which stands today as the Harris-Cameron Mansion, on South Front Street in Harrisburg.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
Sex: Male
Age: 48
Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Born circa 1732.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780
- Enslaved Person's Name: Isaac
Sex: Male
Age: 16
Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
Notes: "Aged 16 years last August." Status: Slave for life. Born August 1764.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780
- Enslaved Person's Name: Franck
Sex: Male
Age: 14, at time of Registration
Date of Birth: circa May 1766
Date of Registry or Record: 09 October 1780
Notes: "Aged 14 years last May." Status: Slave for life. Born May 1766, Frank died 04 November 1839 in the Dauphin County Poorhouse. His obituary appeared in multiple newspapers including The Liberator, which attributed the Reporter as its source and gave his date of death as November 4, 1839. The obituary says Frank "was manumitted by the late Mr. Adam Orth, of Lebanon (then Dauphin) County." This seems to indicate that Frank was sold or otherwise transferred to Orth sometime after the death of John Harris in 1791.
The text of Frank's obituary, from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Died, at the Dauphin county poor house, on Saturday last, FRANK, formerly a slave of Mr. John Harris, founder of Harrisburg. He was born about the year 1745, where Harrisburg now stands, and consequently was nearly if not more than ninety years of age. He was manumitted by the late Mr. Adam Orth, of Lebanon (then Dauphin) county. Frank was unquestionably the oldest inhabitant of this county,-- well remembered when the Indian smoked his pipe, and when the forest covered what is now Harrisburg and its smiling vicinity. He used to say, he had "turned many a furrow between the canal and the bridge across the river." He possessed in an eminent degree the virtues and vices of his race -- being a hard worker, a hard drinker, a lounger, and exhibiting an uncontrollable temper.
Frank used to assert, that he had often played and wrestled with Logan, the Mingo chief, then a young man; now so celebrated by the speech he is said to have delivered, contained in Jefferson's Notes. Whether Logan ever resided on the banks of the Susquehanna, we have no means of ascertaining, but Frank, when the matter was explained to him, insisted that he had, and that he left it before the expedition of the "Paxton boys," to Lancaster. If so, he must have pitched his wigwam on the waters of the Great Kanawha, about 1760 -- 14 years before he made the speech alluded to, making Logan's age at this time about 29 years, which agrees with the tradition upon the subject.
Frank used to detail the accompanying of his master and family, to Paxton church, he and another servant armed, as well as Mr. Harris -- of the arms scattered about the church, presenting a lively picture of the half religious, half military appearance of our hardy forefathers. The clergyman was colonel of the Paxton district Militia. --Harrisburg Reporter.
There are numerous errors in this obituary, published originally in Harrisburg, the worst, aside from the racist description of Frank's personality, being the estimated birth year of 1745. This was probably estimated from the mistaken belief that Frank appeared to his caretakers to be much older than he really was. In November 1839 he would have been 73 and six months old, and not "more than ninety year of age," as stated. It was very common to overestimate the ages of formerly enslaved elderly people, probably due to the lifetime of harsh work and poor living conditions forced upon them. The writer of the article seems to give veracity to Frank's account of his youth by placing the Iroquois leader Logan in the vicinity of Harrisburg in 1760. Contemporary accounts of Logan's life do not indicate in which part of central Pennsylvania he lived, but it is generally agreed that Logan, at about the age of 45, moved his family to Ohio in 1770, at which time Frank would have been four years old and certainly would not have "played and wrestled" with the man.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780; The Liberator, 22 November 1839; The Philadelphia Inquirer, 11 November 1839.
- Slaveholder's Name: Harris, Robert
Owner's Town: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
Occupation: "Esquire"
Notes: Grandson of John Harris, Sr. Born and died in Harrisburg, 1768-1851. Brother to Mary Hanna, wife of General John A. Hanna.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Luce
Sex: Female
Age: Six months old at Registration
Date of Birth: 10 August 1820
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Date of Registry or Record: 06 February 1821
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 27 January 2025.
- Slaveholder's Name: Hay, William
Town or Township: Londonderry
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Dembigh
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Date of Birth: circa 1754
Date of Registry or Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Woman," 26 years old, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Phillis
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Date of Birth: circa 1766
Date of Registry or Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Girl," 14 years old, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Phillis
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Date of Birth: circa 1762
Date of Registry or Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Woman," 18 years old, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded
Sex: Male
Age): 3 years old
Date of Registry or Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as "A mulatto boy aged 3 years, name unknown, a servant untill 31 years, bought of James Crouch." Status: Slave to age 31.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not recorded
Sex: Female
Age: 18 months old at registration
Date of Registry or Record: 27 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as "A girl aged 18 months, a servant till 31 years, lately bought of James Crouch." Status: Slave to age 31.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Hayes, Robert
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: Surname also spelled Hays. Died 1809. Egle's Notes and Queries reports "Hays, Robert, an old and respectable resident of Derry Township, died on Tuesday, June 6, 1809, aged 76 years." (Source: William Henry Egle, "Dauphin County Burials IV" in Notes and Queries XXI, page 123.)
- Enslaved Person's Name: Nell
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. In his will, dated May 26, 1809 and proved May 16, 1809, Robert Hays leaves his "negro wench Nell" to his wife Margaret, and then to his daughter Margaret. ("Slaves and Indentured Servants in Dauphin County Wills")
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Hays, David
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation:
Notes: Co-registered with James Campbell
- Enslaved Person's Name: Bet
Sex: Female
Age: 12
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Girl," 12 years old, "a slave."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Hays, Hugh
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: Husband of Mary; died 1779. Mary remarried to William McIlevey (McAlevey). His daughter Margaret married Archibald McAllister, of Fort Hunter fame, in 1778.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sam
Sex: Male
Age: Age not specified in will, but described as a "little boy."
Description: "Little Negrow Boy."
Date of Registry or Record: 24 May 1777
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Bequeathed by Hugh Hays to his wife Mary: "I likewise give and bequeath to her little Negrow Boy called Sam."
Source: Will of Hugh Hays, Londonderry Township, Lancaster County, 24 May 1777; proved May 4, 1779. Transcribed in Descendants of Archibald McAllister of West Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County, Pa. 1730-1898, Mary Catharine McAllister, Harrisburg, PA, 1898, p. 180 (Appendix, p. 90).
- Slaveholder's Name: Hays, Pat or Hayes, Patrick
Town or Township: Londonderry Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: Husband of Nancy (McAllister), who was the daughter of Richard McAllister of Hanover, York County, and sister to Archibald McAllister. In August 1795, Nancy's father Richard died, bequeathing to her the "negro girl" Poll. No additional information is known about Poll.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Thomas Martin
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Peter
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Robert Martin
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Ande Harriet
Slave Gender: Undetermined
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Grace
Sex: Female
Age: about 30 years old at registration
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," age about 30 years, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Violet
Sex: Female
Age: about 3 years old at registration
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Child," age about 3 years, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Toby
Sex: Male
Age: "age about 4 months old"
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Child," age about 4 months, a "slave for life."
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Enslaved Person's Name: Tob
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: John Martin
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Owner's surname was spelled Hayes.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sam
Sex: Male
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Owner's surname was spelled Hayes.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in ad
Sex: Male
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 1774
Description: "Negro Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 04 October 1797
Notes: Status: Slave for life, offered for sale on October 4, 1797. Text of advertisement:
For Sale,
AN excellent Negro Man aged 23, he is acquainted with the Blacksmith's business, and is an excellent farmer, and no ways addicted to strong liquor. For particulars apply to Capt. Patrick Hays of Derry Township, Dauphin County.
October 4, 1797.
Source: The Oracle of Dauphin, and Harrisburgh Advertiser, 04 October 1797
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in ad
Sex: Male
Age: 19
Date of Birth: 1780
Description: "Negro Man"
Date of Registry or Record: 23 January 1799
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28. Offered for sale on January 9, 1799. Text of advertisement:
For Sale, A STOUT, healthy NEGRO MAN, aged 19 years, and has 9 years to serve; he is well acquainted with all kinds of Farming Work, and possesses a very obliging disposition. He has had the small-pox, measles and whooping-cough--and is sold for no other reason than the want of employment. For terms apply to the subscriber in Londonderry township, Dauphin county.
PATRICK HAYES. January 9, 1799.
Source: The Oracle of Dauphin, and Harrisburgh Advertiser, January 23, 1799
- Slaveholder's Name: Hays, Robert
Town or Township: Londonderry Townshihp
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Rose
Sex: Female
Age: 13
Date of Registry or Record: 31 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negroe Wench," 13 years of age.
Sources: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Hiester, Daniel
City: Reading
Town or Township:
County: Berks
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Henry
Sex: Male
Age: Four months old at Registration.
Date of Registry or Record: 07 May 1791
Notes: Original source text: "Harrisburg, May 7, 1791--Sir:
Please to register on records according to law, a male negro child named Henry, born on or about the 8th day of January last, born in the county of Dauphin at the house of John Maye: the mother's name is Grace (Father Unknown). The mother owned by me.
Daniel Hiester of Reading, Berks county." Status: Slave to age 28.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Grace
Sex: Female
Age: Adult of childbearing age
Date of Record: 07 May1791
Notes: The mother of Henry, registered by same owner (see above). Henry was born in Dauphin County. Mother's status is unknown.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Hollenback, John
Town or Township: Paxton Township
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of 1780 registration)
Occupation: Unknown
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Bess
Sex: Female
Age: about 17 years of age at registration
Date of Registry or Record: 25 October 1780
Notes: Status: Slave for life. Registered at Lancaster as a "Negro Woman," aged about 17 years.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Hughes, Leroy
Town or Township:
County: Frederick
State: Maryland
Occupation:
Notes: A Maryland slaveholder advertising for a runaway slave in the Harrisburg newspapers.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Middleton Garret
Sex: Male
Age: 32
Date of Registry or Record: 24 April 1800
Notes: Text of ad: "Fifty Dollars Reward. Runaway Slave from Frederick Co. Md.----near Frederick Town on night of Tuesday 22nd inst. Negro man 32 yrs named 'Mid' but calls himself Middleton Garret. It is supposed some free person has Taken him off. Leroy Hughes, Fred. County, Md., April 24, 1800."
Source: The Farmer's Instructor, and Harrisburgh Courant, May 28, 1800
- Slaveholder's Name: Hunt, Benjamin
Town: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Physician
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Katy
Sex: Female
Age: ?
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Hunt, Elizabeth
Town: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: The 1798 U.S. Direct Tax shows one slave "above the age of 12 and under the age of 50" for Elizabeth Hunt, then living in Harrisburg. (Source 42)
- Enslaved Person's Name: Joseph
Sex: Male
Age: Age not recorded in source
Date of Registry or Record:
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Ireland, David
Town or Township: Upper Paxton Township
County: Dauphin (then Lancaster)
Occupation:
Notes: Ireland 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: ? (taxable slaves were usually considered those between 12 and 60 years of age)
Date of Registry or Record: 1780
Notes: Tax return for 1780 report one slave owned by David Ireland of the Lower District of Upper Paxtang Township.
Source: Luther Reily Kelker, History of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Vol. I (New York, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1907) p. 437.
- Slaveholder's Name: Irvine, William M.
Owner's Town: Harrisburg
County: Dauphin
Occupation: Attorney-at-Law
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Ann
Sex: Female
Age: Of childbearing age in 1818.
Description: "Negro Servant"
Date of Registry or Record: 16 June 1819 (calculated from registration text, below)
Notes: Listed as "Negro Servant" to William M. Irvine, in his registration for the birth of her daughter, Harriet.
Source: Text of slave registration provided by William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Slave Records, 1788-1825, Finding Aid: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-230dau?byte=5697307;focusrgn=scopecontent;subview=standard;view=reslist
- Enslaved Person's Name: Harriet
Sex: Female
Age: Age 5 months and 29 days at registration in Harrisburg.
Description: "Female Mullato child"
Date of Registry or Record: 16 June 1819 (calculated from registration text, below)
Notes: Status: Slave to age 28; born 7 November 1818. Mother's name is Ann, slave of William M. Irvine. Text of slave registration:
Be it remembered that on the Seventeenth day of April A.D. 1819 William N. Irvine, Esq. Attorney at Law...maketh return on Oath that a female Mullatto child was born by his Negro Servant Ann, on the seventeenth day of November 1818 and that the said female child is called Harriet, is now living and has been supported by the said William and is of the age of 5 months and twenty-nine days.
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves; Text of slave registration provided by William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Slave Records, 1788-1825, Finding Aid: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/clementsmss/umich-wcl-M-230dau?byte=5697307;focusrgn=scopecontent;subview=standard;view=reslist
- Slaveholder's Name: Irwin, John
Town: Harrisburg
County:Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not known
Sex: Not known
Age: Not known, but between 12 and 50, in 1798.
Date of Registry or Record: 1798
Notes: Enumerated in the 1798 U.S. Direct Tax, "General List of Slaves Owned, or superintended, on the first day of October, 1798, within the third assessment fourth division, State of Pennsylvania."
Source: 1798 U.S. Direct Tax
- Slaveholder's Name: Job, Mary
Town or Township: Paxton Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes:
Source: Children of Previously Registered Slaves
- Slaveholder's Name: Johnson, Alexander
Town or Township: Paxtang Township
County: Dauphin (Lancaster, at time of registration)
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jack
Sex: Male
Age: 12
Date of Registry or Record: October 10, 1780
Notes: Status: "Slave during life." Described at registrations as "Negro Boy." Registered at Lancaster.
Source: Register of Negro and Mulatto Slaves and Servants, 1780 | "Slaves in Lancaster County in 1780"
- Slaveholder's Name: Jordan, Benjamin
Town or Township: Swatara Township
County: Dauphin
Occupation:
Notes: A 1976 news feature reports that George Lorrett was born enslaved to Benjamin Jordan. Lorrett was registered at age 7 by James Crouch in 1780. Further investigation needed.
- Enslaved Person's Name: William Jones
Sex: Male
Age: 17a
Date of Birth: 1803 (calculated)
Date of Record: April 14, 1820
Notes: Jones escaped from Jordan in 1820. Text of runaway ad:
"One Cent Reward.
Ran away from the subscriber, living in Swatara township, Dauphin county, a black indented servant boy, named WILLIAM JONES,
About seventeen years of age, stout made, has no particular mark. The above reward, but no expenses, will be given to any person who may return said boy to
B. Jordan.
April 14, 1820."
Source: Harrisburg Republican, April 28, 1820.
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