The Untold Story in the Rivertowns
Excerpted from: Hodges, Graham Russell and Alan Edward Brown, eds. PRETENDS TO BE FREE: Runaway Slave Advertisements from Colonial and Revolutionary New York and New Jersey. Garland: New York, 1994.
Read articles from current and all previous issues of The Neighborhood Buzz: Rivertowns, plus receive a printed copy of the magazine every 3 months.
The mill and manor house at Philipsburg Manor, Sleepy Hollow.
In the October 27, 1740 issue of the New-York Weekly Journal, an advertisement ran, offering a 40-shilling reward for the capture of an enslaved man named Galloway. The 21-year-old man had made his way north from the city and was spotted and confronted at the mill at Philipsburg Manor. Galloway claimed he was “sent in pursuit” of a Cuban runaway and continued his escape on “the Road towards New-England.”
Herb garden at Philipsburg Manor that slaves would have tended.
For decades, the history of slavery and the underground railroad in the Rivertowns was untold. Slavery was recognized as a Southern economic institution; however, it also was embraced in the North. The early colony of New Amsterdam, and later New York, dealt heavily in the slave trade. The first slave market operated where Wall Street meets Water Street in the current financial district of lower Manhattan.
About 20 years ago, Historic Hudson Valley, the educational organization that preserves and interprets or depicts life at Philipsburg Manor, began telling the story of slavery at the site. The restored colonial milling and trading center, in what is now Sleepy Hollow, was once part of the vast acreage held by the Philipse family that encompassed much of Westchester.
Read articles from current and all previous issues of The Neighborhood Buzz: Rivertowns, plus receive a printed copy of the magazine every 3 months.
Focus on Enslaved Africans
Portrait of Adolph Philipse.
By turning the focus from the wealthy Dutch landowners to the lives of the enslaved individuals who worked their property, Historic Hudson Valley more fully and accurately tells the story of how Philipsburg Manor was run and by whom. This new narrative also illuminates the area’s early cultural diversity but one that was not centered on equality.
1719 estate record of Adolph Philipse, showing inventory of enslaved individuals.
The Lord of the Manor, Adolph Philipse, was not in residence at the Upper Mills. More than 23 skilled and enslaved Africans—answering to an overseer who was a tenant farmer on the land—had built and maintained the manor, thereby ensuring its economic success. The miller, Caesar, was vital to the running of the enterprise by maintaining the mill and producing some 500 pounds of flour daily that were shipped to ports in the colonies and the Caribbean. Caesar would have been conversant in several languages to facilitate the sale and shipping of flour to various buyers.
It is the stories of freedom seekers who bravely escaped enslavement, and their allies who defended their right to freedom, that make up the heart of the Underground Railroad History.
Map showing the extent of Philipsburg Manor
Following the death of Adolph Philipse in 1749, a probate inventory detailed the goods of his estate. Listed among his property were a number of enslaved people, including Caesar and several children under the age of nine. The record shows how deeply embedded slavery was in the wealth of the manor.
Today, visitors to Philipsburg Manor are met by costumed interpreters who recount the experiences of the enslaved workers at the site through discussions, activities, and vignette
PEOPLE OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Read articles from current and all previous issues of The Neighborhood Buzz: Rivertowns, plus receive a printed copy of the magazine every 3 months.