Welcome to the Stolen Relations Explore page!

Two quick words of caution:

  1. Archival documents often contain terms, phrases, and biases that reduce, minimize, or alter Native identities and views of the world.
  2. This project is not “complete” — numbers shown represent only what has been entered into this database, not the total number of Natives who were enslaved or unfree in any given area.

Jacob (Westchester County, New York, 1757)

Jacob (Westchester County, New York, 1757)

By Noah Bingham

On July 24, 1757, an Indigenous man named Jacob made a brave escape from his enslaver Thomas Wilde of New York. Jacob was about twenty years old at the time of his self-emancipation. A few days later on August 1, Wilde paid for an advertisement in the New-York Gazette, which described  Jacob in great detail and solicited information about his whereabouts with an offer of “Forty-shillings Reward and reasonable Charges” in exchange for Jacob’s return.1

The Mahicanituk River looking South towards Weckquasguck, in present-day Westchester County, New York. 2

In addition to describing his age, the advertisement described Jacob as “middle Stature,” a fluent English speaker, and with his hair cut short. The remainder of the advertisement describes the clothing Jacob was wearing at the time of his departure, which was a common feature in advertisements such as this. He was described as wearing a “light Brown coat and waistcoat, light-blue britches[sic] and stockings,” “a Felt hat whipt round with yellow silk,” and “a Pair of single soal’d Shoes.”3 It is unclear from the advertisement if Jacob took anything else with him aside from the aforementioned clothing.

Jacob likely escaped from Thomas Wilde’s farm in present-day Westchester County, New York. The advertisement specifically located Wilde’s farm in Philipsborough, New York, an early name for Philipsburg Manor, an estate and land owned by a Dutch merchant named Fredrick Philips (or Vredryk Flypse) around the late eighteenth century.4 The dedication to the Revolutionary Soldiers’ Monument, in nearby Tarrytown, mentions Philips-Burg and describes the history of the Wilde (also spelled Widley) family farm. This confirmation of the Wildes’ ties to Philipsburg Manor offers a better understanding of the geography and history around Jacob’s escape.5 Today, some of the buildings that were part of Philipsburg Manor still stand in the Village of Tarrytown, a moderately sized suburb of New York City in the middle of Westchester County. Philips came into the possession of the manorial land through a purchase from the Weckquaesgeek people, though the exact terms of his purchase from the Weckquaesgeek are unknown.6

The Weckquaesgeek (also known as Manhatten/Manhattoe) were part of the Wappinger Confederacy, who inhabited much of the southern Mahicanituk (Hudson) River Valley to present-day New York City. They hunted on the land and fished in the Mahicanituk River, eating a variety of fish,  shellfish, and game including deer, elk, and turkey. Their diet also consisted of farmed corn, squash, and beans, along with foraged berries, acorns, and maple syrup.7 The Weckquaesgeek built circular wigwam-like houses out of bent wood poles and the bark of ash, chestnut, or other trees. Some of these  homes were large enough to house twenty-five or more people. There were  numerous villages of various sizes stretching across the region with the biggest settlement, called Weckquasguck, located in present-day Dobbs Ferry until it was destroyed by the Dutch in January 1644. 8

The mid-1600s were a turning point in Weckquaesgeek-European relations with Dutch raids and violence against the Weckquaesgeek becoming more frequent during the Esopus Wars (1660–1663). Dutch and likely Englishmen combined forces  to target Weckquaesgeek towns more directly with raids; in some cases, they took prisoners. It is not clear what Jacob’s tribal or regional origins were from the information available, but it is possible that he or his relatives were Weckquaesgeek as the practice of enslaving prisoners was common.

The records are silent about Jacob after his decision to escape his enslaver. It is unclear if he remained free or was recaptured, but when Jacob entered the Mahicanituk River Valley as a free man, he was entering into land that had supported and still supports the Weckquaesgeek and other Indigenous people.

 

For further reading

“Advertisement for runaway of Indian Fellow.” America’s Historical Newspapers, New-York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy. August 1, 1757.

Bacon, Edgar Mayhew. Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. G.P Putnam and Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1905.

Cohen, Doris Darlington. “The Weckquaesgeeks.” Ardsley Historical Society, n.d.

Miller, Richard. “A Brief History of Tarrytown.” Tarrytown, NY: 2005. https://www.tarrytownny.gov/about-tarrytown/pages/a-brief-history-of-tarrytown.

Raymond, Maricus D. “Souvenir of the Revolutionary Soilders’ Monument Dedication at Tarrytown NY.” Rogers and Sherwood Printers: 1894.

Sulztman, Lee. “Wappinger History.” 1997. https://www.dickshovel.com/wap.html

Footnotes

  1. “Advertisement for runaway of Indian Fellow” in New-York Gazette or Weekly Post-Boy, America’s Historical Newspapers, August 1, 1757.[↩]
  2. zhukovsky, “View of the Hudson River From Bear Mountain,” Depositphotos.com, https://depositphotos.com/photos/hudson-river-valley.html?qview=440950926[↩]
  3. “Advertisement for runaway of Indian Fellow”[↩]
  4. See Sulztman, Edgar Mayhew, Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (G.P. Putnam and Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, 1905). There are multiple spellings and name changes to Philipsburg Manor including Philipseborough.[↩]
  5. See Raymond, Maricus D., Souvenir of the Revolutionary Soldiers’ Monument Dedication at Tarrytown NY (Rogers and Sherwood Printers, 1894).[↩]
  6. Sulztman, Chronicles of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.[↩]
  7. Cohen, Doris Darlington, “The Weckquaesgeeks,” (Ardsley Historical Society, n.d), 5–6.[↩]
  8. Cohen, “The Weckquaesgeeks,” 2–3, 13.[↩]