Tag: Andrew

Tracing the Dunham Slaves, Lydia–An Update to The Ugly Truth: Slavery in Hunterdon County, New Jersey

July 20, 2018

“My Negro Wench Lydia”  Not long ago, I learned an ugly truth about slavery in New Jersey and how it persisted so much longer than I ever knew.  Unable to change the past, I volunteered to help in the present.  I wrote about New Jersey’s slow road to abolition in “The Ugly Truth” — a June 2018 article … More Tracing the Dunham Slaves, Lydia–An Update to The Ugly Truth: Slavery in Hunterdon County, New Jersey

“Negro Wench” Appendix: What is a “Negro Wench?”

July 12, 2018

What is a “Negro Wench?” A “Negro Wench,” — to my 21st century ears, the phrase sounds derogatory and demeaning. Yet in 1801, my family ancestor Nehemiah Dunham used the phrase in a legal document to refer to one of his slaves.  That made me curious.  What exactly did he mean? Wench A wench generally … More “Negro Wench” Appendix: What is a “Negro Wench?”

The Ugly Truth: Examining Slavery in Hunterdon County, New Jersey

June 28, 2018

For a descendant of post-Civil-War immigrants from Germany, finding slavery in your family tree is pretty shocking.  Granted, this discovery came on my husband’s side of the family, but that makes it no less difficult to learn.  Most of his relations were from the North, and the few relations from Virginia moved to the North … More The Ugly Truth: Examining Slavery in Hunterdon County, New Jersey