Slavery Slumbers In Cumberland's History
Eileen Bennett
Staff Writer for The Press of Atlantic City
"My colored friends, should you conduct yourselves on true moral principals, not gaudy in manners nor boisterous in talk, your ways calm and decisive, your word so sacred that 'tis never violated, your promises fulfilled, your debts paid, modest in all things and meddlesome in none, you shall find the monster Prejudice only a thing to be talked about. Merit alone will promote you to respect."
-- Dr. James Still, (1812-1885), "The Black Doctor of the Pines."
As Cumberland County prepares for its 250th anniversary hoopla, Sam Clark wants to make sure a terrible chapter in the county's history -- slavery -- isn't forgotten.
Clark admitted that talking about slavery is neither popular nor comfortable, but the practice did indeed exist -- not only in Cumberland County, but in other portions of southern New Jersey.
Clark is the former head of the Cumberland County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and current head of the county Human Relations Commission.
He is on the committee formed to celebrate Cumberland County's 250th anniversary.
The county, which dips south of the Mason Dixon line, was formed in 1748 -- a time when, Clark said, "slavery was very prevalent" in the state.
He said it's important for the county not to ignore the slavery issue -- because "these were slaves, not indentured servants. These slaves were not volunteers."
That's why, according to Clark, the anniversary celebration should be "factual ... and done professionally."
"If we're going to show the true picture ... we should show everything ... including the Underground Railroad," Clark said.
And make no mistake: Slavery did, indeed, exist in southern New Jersey, if on a much lesser scale than in the northern section of the state.
"Generally speaking, slavery was less pronounced in South Jersey when compared to North Jersey," said Giles R. Wright, director of Afro-American studies at the New Jersey Historical Commission, Department of State.
"Some of this had to do with the topography of South Jersey. When you talk about slavery in South Jersey, there's many dimensions to it," added Wright, author of the book "Afro-Americans in New Jersey: A Short History."
Farms, docks, households
For example, Wright said, in Cumberland County, slaves were used in agriculture, working on the large expanse of farmlands or tending livestock. In Cape May County, they worked on the docks or even on ships.
"In communities that were located near waterways, slaves could be used to go out on ships, catch whales ... a wide range of occupations," Wright said.
"Slavery in the maritime industry included a wide range of things, from the catching of fish to working along the docks and shores moving cargo -- and even, to some degree, slaves were used for the manufacturing of sails and even the boats themselves," Wright said.
"A third area in which slaves were used was for domestic work," Wright said. "People of considerable means (in southern New Jersey) used slaves for domestic help -- butlers, cooks, that sort of thing.
"It's hard to imagine any craft or trade in which you wouldn't find black workers," Wright said.
There were even skilled craftsmen slaves: blacksmiths, millers, carpenters, shoemakers, coopers and tanners.
In his book, Wright said it's not clear when blacks first appeared on New Jersey soil, although he writes: "Probably the Dutch -- who were among the foremost slave traffickers of the 17th century -- were responsible."
According to Wright, New Jersey slaves frequently resisted their bondage.
Some ran away, while others took a more discreet form of protest: They worked slowly, destroyed tools, animals, crops and other property, and sometimes physically harmed their masters.
Numbers decline in 1800s
Pockets of slavery cropped up in several areas.
"By 1790, the largest (pockets of slavery) in terms of population were in Burlington, then Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland, and then Cape May. (Atlantic County didn't exist until 1837, when it was carved from portions of Gloucester County.)
In 1790, it's estimated there were 120 slaves in Cumberland County and 141 in Cape May County. By 1800, that number dwindled to 75 and 98, respectively, until finally, in 1830, Cumberland had only two slaves and Cape May had three.
It's theorized that New Jersey -- which extends farther south than any other northeastern state - adopted some of the attitudes toward slavery of the Southern states.
Indeed, New Jersey's slave trade provided many products for the Southern states, from carriages to saddles and clothing. It's said both planters and plantation slaves wore shoes primarily made in Newark.
In his book, Wright notes: "With the possible exception of New York, New Jersey had the most severe slave code of the Northern colonies.
"In 1704, for example, a New Jersey law prescribed 40 lashes and the branding of a "T" on the left cheek of any slave convicted of the theft of 5 to 40 shillings."
Any slave who attempted or consummated sexual relations with a white woman was subject to castration.
But enforcement of such practices was the exception to the norm in New Jersey, according to Clement Alexander Price, professor of history at Rutgers University and director of the Rutgers Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and Modern Experience.
Price is also the author of "We Knew Our Place, We Knew Our Way: Lessons From the Black Past of Southern New Jersey," which appeared in a compilation of scholarly articles on the subject.
"New Jersey slavery didn't have the much harsher edges of blatant cruelty we associate with Southern slavery," Price said. "It's suggested that this was the kind of slavery that was characteristic of the mid-Atlantic."
Ironically, the lack of blatant cruelty rationalized slavery in the minds of some, he added.
"The relatively benign form of slavery in New Jersey encouraged some to claim that slavery was a far better way for whites to address the needs of blacks, whom they saw as inferior," Price said.
According to Wright, New Jersey was the last Northern state to enact legislation abolishing slavery.
Quaker influence helped
A law establishing gradual emancipation actually allowed slavery in New Jersey to exist well into the 1860s -- later than any other Northern state.
However, Wright said, "it's important to note that slavery dies out in South Jersey before North Jersey. By 1869, there were no slaves (in southern New Jersey.)"
Indeed, Wright states in his book, in 1860 there were only 18 slaves left in the entire state -- and they were all in the north.
The legacy of slavery lingered, however, with segregated schools extending into the 1950s, especially in southern New Jersey, and segregated restaurants, shops, and movie theaters into the 1960s.
Wright credits a strong Quaker influence in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey for helping to eliminate slavery.
"The Quakers were the first organized group in the country to speak out against the evils of black slavery, and the first group to become abolitionists," Wright said.
While Quakers didn't necessarily feel slaves were their equal, they believed the premise of enslaving another human was wrong because freedom was a natural right.
"In 1776, the yearly (Quaker) Philadelphia meeting voted to excommunicate anyone who was a slave owner. The Quakers were very active in the Underground Railroad," Wright said.
Price agreed.
"Slavery in New Jersey existed, but it was always in the face of criticism of Quakers and other Christian groups," Price said.
"This is key: They (Quakers) created a climate in which slavery could be criticized. They felt the soul of the slave should be addressed ... that is, to say, their spiritual needs," Price added.
Known Underground Railroad routes -- the network of safe houses that slaves followed to freedom in the North -- did pass through sections of Salem and Cumberland counties on the way to more fugitive-friendly points in the North.
Cumberland town was key
Springtown, located in Greenwich Township in Cumberland County, was established around 1800 by slaves who had been freed or escaped bondage in Delaware, Maryland or state's father south, according to Wright.
The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springtown is believed to have played an important role in the Underground Railroad in the area.
According to Laura Aldrich, a loyal church member who lives in Philadelphia and travels to Springtown every Sunday to worship, the church can trace its beginnings back to 1810.
That was when land was purchased near the Ambury Hill Cemetery, where the church was originally located. Some years later, the church burned.
Church members, who were free slaves that belonged to the African Society of Methodists, decided to rebuild the church in its current location.
Aldrich said the church has played an intricate part in the history of Cumberland County. She said Springtown was a free community, a place to which many slaves fled to escape the oppression of slavery.
How Springtown got its name remains a mystery. Some say it was the proliferation of springs there, but Aldrich said she heard it was because "it was a springboard to freedom for many slaves."
Since slaves weren't allowed to socialize, the church meeting became a way to gather and exchange news.
And for those who chose to move on to other places, church members -- many of whom participated in the Underground Railroad -- provided a safe haven.
According to Aldrich, there were seven station masters in Cumberland County -- and she claims five were African Americans who were connected with the African Society of Methodists.
Among Springtown's early settlers was Levin Steel, who hailed from the eastern shore of Maryland. He changed his name to Still shortly after arriving in Springtown.
'Black Doctor of the Pines'
One of his sons, James Still, was a practitioner of folk remedies in Medford in Burlington County, and became known as "The Black Doctor of the Pines," according to Wright.
He said Dr. Still was considered one of the foremost spokesmen of the African-American community in New Jersey during the 19th century.
In his autobiography, Still outlines a course of action for his race, embracing a subdued and nonretailiatory nature.
Aldrich, whose great-grandfather William B. Bryant fought in the Civil War, has a deep and abiding interest in the Springtown area and its history.
"After I retired, I decided to look into my roots," Aldrich said. "I found that a lot of things that I learned in school weren't true."
Testaments to slavery in southern New Jersey remain.
Since slaves were forbidden to read or write, they created quilts in order to leave stories for prosperity.
Those quilts, many of which still exist, served as a way for some slaves to record milestone in their lives: births, marriages, and deaths, as well as beatings and the sale of a loved one.
It's said quilts were key to the Underground railroad. Quakers, who owned many of the stations on the railroad, would display a Jacob's Ladder-patterned quilt to let runaway slaves know they were welcome.
Taken from The Press of Atlantic City;
Front Page - 11/23/97