“The city of Trenton was very much identified with the abolitionist movement.”
- “In search of a community's past: the story of the Black community of Trenton, New Jersey, 1860-1900” by Jack Washington.
On 28 January 2020, Simon Crowcroft tweeted that “Today’s signing of a twinning agreement between Trenton and St Helier paves the way for all kinds of fruitful cooperation between the capitals of Jersey and New Jersey.”
There’s a lot been said about the fact that William Trent got rich on the slave trade, and some local criticism of the naming of a square in the Jersey finance centre as "Trenton Square", but leaving William Trent aside, with regard to Trenton itself, there is a very different story to tell, and one in which Jersey can be proud to be connected to Trenton.
There’s a lot been said about the fact that William Trent got rich on the slave trade, and some local criticism of the naming of a square in the Jersey finance centre as "Trenton Square", but leaving William Trent aside, with regard to Trenton itself, there is a very different story to tell, and one in which Jersey can be proud to be connected to Trenton.
I’ve been reading “In search of a community's past: the story of the Black community of Trenton, New Jersey, 1860-1900” by Jack Washington.
And while the city was divided over slavery, it was also focus for a strong move to abolition. There are many stories told in Washington’s book, but here’s just one.
“A strong advocate for abolition was Elisha Reeves. Reeves, a Quaker whose house still stands on River Road, made his residence a stopping point for runaway slaves on the underground railroad. There slaves were hidden away from slave catchers. His home became so well known that it became one of the major landmarks relating to the Underground Railroad prior to the Civil War. Reeves was the grandfather of Senator A. Crozer Reeves, late president of the Trenton Times Company.”
“Plumly, Middleton, and Reeves were just a few of the many Trentonians who helped make the city a major path for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad. Even before the railroad was established, free blacks raised funds to aid fugitive slaves. Later, escaped slaves were routed through Trenton from Pennsylvania across New jersey to Staten Island. The railroad's routes included Bordentown, Crosswicks and Allentown to Princeton.”
“At various intervals were stations that harbored runaway slaves not only in the homes of Quakers and Hicksites, but also freed blacks, Wesleyan Methodists and other members of abolition societies. The stations were often identified by letters of the alphabet. Fugitives were kept hidden in cellars, barns and outbuildings.”
“The city of Trenton was very much identified with the abolitionist movement.”
“The city, because of the presence of spies and Southern agents, rarely served as the slaves' final stopping point, however. Because of Trenton's reputation as a temporary refuge for escapees, slave catchers from the South were constantly visiting the city to recapture runaways and return them to Southern masters. As enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 intensified, the threat of being returned to slavery was a constant source of concern to the entire African American community.”
Washington notes that:
“To prevent the return of runaways to their Southern masters, many local residents came together to aid fugitive slaves. According to a published article in the October 19, 1850, issue of the Daily State Gazette: “
“There has been residing in this city for sometime past, a fugitive slave who has married and has around him a family. Some days ago, it was re-ported that a person claiming to be the owner or agent of the owner, had arrived in this city, and was on the lookout for his prey. In consequence of this, the colored people of this city held a meeting, raised funds to send the fugitive and his family to a land where the man-hunter will no longer trouble him.”
“The hysteria caused by slavecatchers aroused tension within the African American community and inspired a measure of sympathy from the white community: We did not know that there is a fugitive slave in Trenton, but if there is, we hope that his friends will immediately take measures to have him sent to a place of safety for we really fear that here is not that place”
And moving onwards, Washington tells of the divided nature of the State by the the Election of 1860
“To be sure, there was a great deal of antislavery sentiment in Trenton. Members of the Republican Party fought to secure a measure of justice. Those who endorsed equality for black people were called Black Republicans—people who could not be trusted to guarantee that African Americans, once freed, would not try to seek revenge against their former masters."
"Many supporters of the Democratic Party, on the other hand, were very vocal in their support of the South. They believed that the South had the right to govern its own affairs and they viewed abolitionists and anyone sympathetic to the abolitionist cause as people who were not only out to destroy the South but the United States Constitution as well. Their battle cry was ‘The Constitution As Is,’ meaning there should be no amendment to the Constitution that would abolish slavery."
"Leading the charge against freedom for blacks was the Daily True American, a major Trenton Democratic paper edited by David Naar. Naar's views on African Americans are well documented in his lectures and editorials, and are noted by historian Clement Price in his book Freedom Not Too Far Distant. According to Naar, the African American was to be feared economically and socially since he was 'by nature treacherous . . . worthless and imbecilic.' These comments were widely circulated through the streets of Trenton as a polarized community prepared for an unavoidable Civil War.”
When Civil War came, Trenton was both a place where racial tensions could erupt into violence, but also an opportunity for African-Americans to fight for the cause of freedom for slaves:
“The African Americans of Trenton suffered much from the many New Jersey political leaders who supported the South. (In fact, New Jersey was one of the few northern states that held such a pro-southern view and the only state Lincoln lost both in 1860 and 1864.) Despite the community's best efforts to demonstrate its patriotism during the Civil War, many African Americans found themselves subject to violent assaults.”
But African American soldiers were ultimately permitted to fight. Nationally they distinguished themselves as every bit the equal to their white counterparts. Washington comments:
“Although nearly 2,000 soldiers from Trenton served as volunteers for service with the Army of the Potomac (from an estimated 18,000 persons), the manpower was not enough to meet the needs of the Union forces. President Lincoln issued an order in March 1863 drafting all able-bodied men into service for the Union cause. Lincoln's draft order required full compliance from both the African American and white populations. If one were affluent enough, he might buy his way out of serving for $300 payment to the government, or he might pay some other person to serve in his place. Thousands of whites answered the call throughout the North.”
“Locally, African Americans of Trenton demonstrated their patriotism by answering the draft. Each city was given a quota. John Suydam, James Holmes, Joseph Canada (buried at Princessville Cemetery), George Daily, Amazaiah Bossley, Alfred Seruby, John Tills, Ridley Onquey and Charles Hopkins were among some of the draftees. Draft registration took place at the old Temperance Hall, a popular location for political and social events in Trenton. Many be-came part of Company B of the Eighth Colored Regiment. Those African Americans who proved too old to man the front-lines performed services for the Union cause by working the docks and maintaining much needed public works while the war raged on.”
So Jersey can indeed be proud to be twinning with the capital of a state which not only played a major role in abolitionism and an underground railway, but also where African Americans demonstrated their patriotism by fighting for a better world in which slavery could be abolished.
Reading the above accounts, I am struck by Jersey’s own, much smaller, “underground railroad” of escaped slave workers during the Occupation, of how Jerseymen who had left to England fought in the armed forces, and how Jersey people concealed Jewish families. It was a much smaller scale, but the commonality resonates strongly.
With Liberation 75 preparations under way, I wonder if we could see a small delegation of African Americans of Trenton coming over to share in a joint celebration of the end of repressive regimes.
For more reading on Trenton’s African-American heritage, see
http://www.richardgrubb.com/pdf/In%20the%20News/African_American_History_in_Trenton_2015.pdf
https://www.nj.com/times-opinion/2017/02/trentons_rich_black_history_gl.html
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2016/02/important_nj_people_and_places_in_black_history.html
When Civil War came, Trenton was both a place where racial tensions could erupt into violence, but also an opportunity for African-Americans to fight for the cause of freedom for slaves:
“The African Americans of Trenton suffered much from the many New Jersey political leaders who supported the South. (In fact, New Jersey was one of the few northern states that held such a pro-southern view and the only state Lincoln lost both in 1860 and 1864.) Despite the community's best efforts to demonstrate its patriotism during the Civil War, many African Americans found themselves subject to violent assaults.”
But African American soldiers were ultimately permitted to fight. Nationally they distinguished themselves as every bit the equal to their white counterparts. Washington comments:
“Although nearly 2,000 soldiers from Trenton served as volunteers for service with the Army of the Potomac (from an estimated 18,000 persons), the manpower was not enough to meet the needs of the Union forces. President Lincoln issued an order in March 1863 drafting all able-bodied men into service for the Union cause. Lincoln's draft order required full compliance from both the African American and white populations. If one were affluent enough, he might buy his way out of serving for $300 payment to the government, or he might pay some other person to serve in his place. Thousands of whites answered the call throughout the North.”
“Locally, African Americans of Trenton demonstrated their patriotism by answering the draft. Each city was given a quota. John Suydam, James Holmes, Joseph Canada (buried at Princessville Cemetery), George Daily, Amazaiah Bossley, Alfred Seruby, John Tills, Ridley Onquey and Charles Hopkins were among some of the draftees. Draft registration took place at the old Temperance Hall, a popular location for political and social events in Trenton. Many be-came part of Company B of the Eighth Colored Regiment. Those African Americans who proved too old to man the front-lines performed services for the Union cause by working the docks and maintaining much needed public works while the war raged on.”
So Jersey can indeed be proud to be twinning with the capital of a state which not only played a major role in abolitionism and an underground railway, but also where African Americans demonstrated their patriotism by fighting for a better world in which slavery could be abolished.
Reading the above accounts, I am struck by Jersey’s own, much smaller, “underground railroad” of escaped slave workers during the Occupation, of how Jerseymen who had left to England fought in the armed forces, and how Jersey people concealed Jewish families. It was a much smaller scale, but the commonality resonates strongly.
With Liberation 75 preparations under way, I wonder if we could see a small delegation of African Americans of Trenton coming over to share in a joint celebration of the end of repressive regimes.
For more reading on Trenton’s African-American heritage, see
http://www.richardgrubb.com/pdf/In%20the%20News/African_American_History_in_Trenton_2015.pdf
https://www.nj.com/times-opinion/2017/02/trentons_rich_black_history_gl.html
https://www.nj.com/entertainment/2016/02/important_nj_people_and_places_in_black_history.html
and I'd highly recommend the book:
In search of a community's past: the story of the Black community of Trenton, New Jersey, 1860-1900” by Jack Washington.
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