(SLAVERY ABOLITION) Certificate of freedom issued in New Yo

Sale 2598 - Lot 34

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Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(SLAVERY & ABOLITION.) Certificate of freedom issued in New York. Partly printed document, completed in manuscript and signed twice by alderman Thomas R. Smith. One page, 13 3/4 x 8 inches, with docketing on verso; worn at edges, partial separations at folds, laminated with mounting hole punched in top margin. New York, 23 April 1814

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Additional Details

This certificate was issued to Joseph Smith, described as "a black man . . . about the age of twenty five years, and was born at Closter in the State of New Jersey . . . about five feet nine inches, has dark eyes and dark hair." In this two-part document, Thomas Thompson testifies that he has known Smith for three years, and that during that time Smith "hath been reputed and considered to be free, and hath continually acted as a free man during the said time," signing with a mark. Below, judge and alderman Thomas R. Smith certifies "I am of the opinion, and do adjudge that the said Joseph Smith is free according to the laws of this State . . . and that he was made free in or before the year 1811."