I was totally blown away to discover this historical document online! In years of researching Staten Island records I have not come across a copy of this: a digital image of the Town Book for Castletown For the Entry of Black Children. It’s online in the collection of the New York Historical Society Museum and Library.
You probably know how rare it is have birth records for slaves. Here is the story: in 1799, the New York Legislature passed “An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery” which phased out slavery over time. All children born to slave women after July 4, 1799 would become free at a certain age: males at age 28 and females at age 25. To comply with this law, owners were required to legally record all slave births in order to document their eligibility to become free. So this is that record for the town of Castleton on Staten Island. (There is also mention of the Town of Northfield in some of the records).
Many of the birth entries appear to be handwritten by the mother’s owner, who would have also owned the child. The wording and the details given in an entry vary depending on the writer. Most of the entries mention the child’s mother’s name, and some also give the father’s name and his owner’s name. The births are not recorded strictly in order of occurrence, as some reporting was delayed. Here’s an example entry:
I do hereby certify that a male negro child named Nicholas the Father of whom named Sam belongs to me, and the mother named Bett belongs to Cornelius Cruser, was born In my House at Castletown the eight day of may in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred, and I request that this return of the Birth of the said child may be Entered agreeable to the directions Contained In a late act for the gradual Abolition of Slavery. Castletown January 15th., 1801, John Mercereau
And the book also contains records of manumissions during this time period!
Unfortunately, the document is not searchable or printable. Because it’s so priceless, I decided to transcribe it here. There’s a lot of information, so this post will be Part 1 of a 2-part series. Below are birth records; I will do the manumission records in a second post.
Town Book for Castletown For the Entry of Black Children
Richmond County. This is a Town Book made for Castleton for Entering all the Black Children that are Born of Slaves after the first Day of July in One Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Nine 1799
| Child | Gender | Parent(s) | Birthdate | Owner |
| Nicholas | M | Bett | 8 May 1800 | Cornelius Cruser |
| Sam | John Mercereau | |||
| Mink | M | Phoebe | 16 Jan 1800 | John Barnes |
| Mary | F | Jane | 5 Feb 1803 | Jacob Lozier |
| Phebe | F | Jude | 8 Dec 1801 | Nathaniel Britton |
| Suse | F | Jude | 8 Apr 1803 | Nathaniel Britton |
| Harry | M | Gin | 4 Sep 1804 | Henry Garretson |
| Sam | M | Gin | 20 Feb 1804 | Cornelius Cruser |
| Jack | M | Bett | 26 Sep 1805 | John Mersereau |
| Brom | M | Jane | 10 Aug 1805 | Benjamin Martino |
| Chat | F | Bet | 19 Feb 1805 | John Tysen |
| Susan | F | Jane | 19 May 1805 | Richard S. Carey |
| Harry | M | Peg | 1 May 1806 | Cornelius Buskirk |
| Phebe | F | Phillis | 12 Jun 1808 | Richard C. Corsen |
| Thomas | M | Phebe | 19 Oct 1806 | John Barnes |
| Jo | M | Bet | 10 Sep 1806 | John Tysen |
| Mary | F | Peg? | 8 Oct 1808 | John Martling |
| Ned | M | Phebe | 14 Dec 1808 | Benjamin Martino |
| Chat | F | Bet | 14 Sep 1808 | John Tysen |
| ??o | M | Bett | 14 May 1810 | John Mersereau |
| Harry | M | not given | 5 Aug 1810 | Abraham Egbert |
| Peg | F | Bet | 10 Aug 1810 | John Tysen |
| Ann | F | not given | 24 Apr 1811 | Eden Vrelend |
| Peter | M | not given | 26 Nov 1811 | Richard Corsen |
| Sam | M | not given | 21 Nov 1806 | John Hiliker |
| Charls | M | not given | 1 Oct 1810 | John Hiliker |
| Sarah | F | not given | 17 May 1812 | Walter Dongan |
| not given | M | Ann | 10 Jul 1811 | Edward Beatty |
| Thomas | Captain Cambell | |||
| Duy-an? | F | not given | 26 Sep 1812 | John Mersereau |
| Mink | M | not given | 16 Nov 1813 | Richard C. Corsen |
| Will | M | not given | 15 Jan 1814 | Richard C. Corsen |
| William | M | Ann | 12 Feb 1815 | Edward Batty |
| Thomas (deceased) | Joseph Borlin | |||
| Mary | F | Mary | 15 Dec 1814 | James Guyon |
| Harry | M | Mary | 2 Mar 1817 | James Guyon |
| Murry | M | Jane | 10 Jul 1816 | James Guyon |
| Enass | M | not given | 2 May 1817 | Richard C. Corsen |
| Andrew | M | not given | 15 Aug 1815 | Richard C. Corsen |
| Bet | F | not given | 12 Oct 1817 | Richard C. Corsen |
| Harry | M | not given | Feb 1803 | Peter Vanpelt |
| Eliza | F | not given | Aug 1810 | Peter Vanpelt |
| Dian | F | not given | 29 Jan 1814 | Peter Vanpelt |
| Ned | M | not given | 28 Feb 1818 | Peter Vanpelt |
| Sam | M | mother not named | 12 Mar 1816 | John Barnes |
| Sam | Richard C. Corsen | |||
| Dave | M | mother not named | 10 Nov 1813 | John Barnes |
| Sam | Richard C. Corsen | |||
| Isable | F | not given | 7 May 1820 | Eder Vreeland |
| Joe | M | mother not named | 20 Dec 1820 | Vincent Bodine |
| Jack | Peter Prall | |||
| Jane | F | Ann | 27 Jun 1822 | Edward Beaty |
| Jack | Peter Jacobson | |||
| Bob | M | Mary | 7 Jan 1814 | Walter Dongan |
| Will | M | Mary | 2 Jan 1817 | Walter Dongan |
| Git | F | Mary | 1 May 1820 | Walter Dongan |
| Phebe | F | Mary | 18 Jan 1823 | Walter Dongan |
| Mary | F | not given | 3 Mar 1819 | John Barnes |
| Sarah | F | not given | 7 Apr 1822 | John Barnes |
| Phoebe | F | Gin | Sep 1822 | Ephraim Clark, Doct. |
| Cyrus | M | Gin | 4 Apr 1824 | Ephraim Clark, Doct. |
Additional (non-black) names found in the document are:
Richard S. Carey, Town Clerk, later Commissioner
John Housman, Town Clerk
David Mesereau, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas
John Garretson, First Judge Richmond
John P. Harrison, witness
Vincent Bodine, Town Clerk
Richard D. Corson, Town Clerk
D. Denyse, Town Clerk
Please use this transcription with care; I may have mistakes, so refer to the original to verify my work, and let me know if you find any errors.
Note: I have found one other excerpt of this document; it’s in the New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, Vol. 100, No. 4, October 1979. But I take issue with the authors’ characterization of the reason for the recording the births. They state that as of 1799, the masters were only able to continue receiving the services of the children born slaves if they recorded the birth. I don’t believe that’s correct; the children remained slaves until the specified date.
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