While the New York State statutes of 1799 and 1816 provided for emancipating
slaves in specified categories born in New York or resident in the state, New
York never enacted any abolition statute that would have outlawed the presence
of slaves in the state. Enslaved persons remained in the state after 1827 as
property of holders not residents of New York State. For example, so-called
itinerants to Saratoga Springs often brought slaves with them from
out-of-state.

Cheers,
Professor T. J. Davis, Ph.D., J.D.
Department of History           College of Law
Arizona State University        Arizona State University
Box 872501                      Box 877906
Tempe   AZ  85287-2501          Tempe   AZ 85287-7906
VOX:    (602) 965-4931          (602) 965-6847
FAX:    (602) 965-0310          (602) 965-2427



On Mon, 6 Jul 1998, Edward Knoblauch wrote:

> Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 12:52:35 -0400
> From: Edward Knoblauch <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: EMANCIPATION DAY IN NY STATE
>
> Curiously, the 1830 federal census shows 75 slaves in NYState:
>
> 26 in Montgomery County
> 17 in New York County (Manhattan)
> 15 in Oneida County
>   8 in Washington County
>   4 in Putnam County
>   3 in Chenango County
>   2 in Albany County
>
> Does anyone have an explanation for this? Because the remaining slaves seem
> concentrated in rural counties, I reject the idea that the slaves are
> 'sojourners'. Also, 52 of the 75 (69%) were females between 0-35 years of
> age. In 1840, when 4 slaves are listed, they are all females (3 in King's
> County, 1 in Putnam). By 1850, no slaves are listed in NY State.
>
> Curious, eh?
>
> Edward Knoblauch
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Monday, July 06, 1998 9:59 AM
> Subject: EMANCIPATION DAY IN NY STATE
>
>
> >Today in 1827 brought final emancipation to New York State.
> >
> >I am trying to find out how many remaining slaves there were in New York
> >State who were emancipated on 4 July 1827.
> >
> >I should be grateful for any help towards finding the number, and if
> >possible the demographic distribution. Names of newspapers current at
> >that date would be useful in the absence of hard data, though collections
> >here in the UK might be patchy.
> >
> >John Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
> >----------------------------------------------------------------------
> >Researching the four thousand Black Americans
> >who took their freedom in the War of 1812
> >
>