In 1811, the Stout family was sold by John Bergen to Peter Kean, who was acting on behalf of his mother, Susan (Kean) Niemcewicz. The young family consisted of a father, Silas (or Cirus, as he is listed on his bill of sale), Peggy, and their infant son Elias. Eventually Silas and Peggy added more children to their family, Julian and Abraham.
Although it is not listed on their bill of sale, later records reveal that Silas, Peggy and their children had a last name. We do not know where this name came from or when they adopted it, but letters reveal that they were using the name Stout by 1830.
Firstly, to learn about the family, we must turn to their bill of sale, a document that is both revealing and dehumanizing. Silas and Peggy Stout were adults when they were brought to Liberty Hall, meaning that New Jersey’s gradual emancipation law, passed in 1804, did not apply to them. Elias, their son, was only an infant in 1811, so he would eventually gain his freedom after reaching the age of 25 in 1836. Even after gradual emancipation, enslavers tried to claim as much labor as possible from technically free people like Elias. One way they did this was by forging birthdates. Elias’s birth certificate lists his birthday as November 29, 1811, but this cannot be correct since he was sold with his parents the previous March.
Before being sold to Liberty Hall, this family was enslaved in South Brunswick, approximately 40 miles from Elizabethtown. John Bergen, their enslaver, was a farmer, so they would likely have been made to work in the fields like other enslaved people in the town’s many farms and plantations.
We do not know the names of the friends and family members that they were forced to leave behind. Even though this small family remained intact, John Bergen’s decision to sell the Stout family still would have broken up many relationships.
During this sale, John Bergen, Peter Kean, and Susan Niemcewicz negotiated the value of three human lives to $391. This was one of the many ways that the institution of slavery was dehumanizing. At the same time, however, enslavers profited from enslaved people’s most human qualities, like their intelligence, skills, and critical thinking skills.
Peter Kean handled the legal aspect of this sale, but it was his mother who claimed ownership over the Stout family. Although we tend to think of white men as primarily responsible for enslavement, white women, especially widows like Susan Niemcewicz claimed ownership of enslaved people in both the North and South. Their gender restricted the ways that they were able to exert control, but white women still had significant power over enslaved people. Even married women who could not legally control property still had an enormous impact on the lives of enslaved people as managers of their households.
The sale of a husband or father frequently separated enslaved families, but continuing to enslave some members of a family while freeing others also had the potential to keep family members from one another. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
According to their bill of sale, Silas Stout would remain enslaved for eight years before gaining his freedom. Enslavers sometimes agreed to free the people over whom they claimed ownership after a set period of time; this allowed them to make a profit from enslaved people’s labor while also disentangling themselves from the institution of slavery. Although enslaved people like Silas Stout eventually gained their freedom, they were unable to use their younger years to build wealth for their own families.
Legal documents and letters between Susan Niemcewicz, her son Peter, and her daughter-in-law Sarah Sabina Morris Kean provide some insight into the lives of this family at Liberty Hall. Only a few years after arriving at Liberty Hall, their second son Abraham was born. Like Elias, Abraham would eventually be free. But unlike his brother, Abraham had special care needs. It is unknown whether he was chronically ill or disabled, but Peggy Stout was responsible for caring for him and Elias while also serving Niemcewicz. At some point after 1820, Peggy Stout gave birth to another son, Julian, who died young
Most birth certificates of children born to enslaved mothers left out their father’s name, but it was less common to omit the mother’s name. We only know that Peggy was Abraham’s mother from Susan Niemcewicz’s papers. From The Newark Public Library.
What was life like for Silas Stout?
Silas Stout was placed in a difficult position at Liberty Hall. Although he was freed in 1819, his wife and children were not. Because of this, he remained at Liberty Hall with them, where he worked in the gardens, carried mail and packages, delivered messages, installed and repaired household appliances, chopped wood, and more. Susan Niemcewicz’s account book reveals that he was paid wages for his work. Although he was legally free and earned wages for his family, Silas Stout could not actually leave Liberty Hall unless he was willing to leave his wife and children as well.
This check was signed to Silas Stout for payment of his wages. Checks belonging to Silas Stout in the John Kean Collection at Liberty Hall Museum can be matched to records in Susan Niemcewicz's account book. John Kean Collection.
In addition to taking care of her children, Peggy Stout labored in Niemcewicz’s home. Peggy was a skilled worker and housekeeper, Susan Niemcewiciz once wrote that she did not know “how the family could possibly get on” without her (Susan Niemcewicz to Peter and Sarah Kean, August 25, 1818). More importantly, however, was how Peggy Stout used her talents for her family. After her husband was free, Peggy managed her family’s money. Susan Niemcewicz’s account book reveals that Peggy took an active role in ensuring Silas was paid his full wages, which involved keeping track of his work and the family’s accounting. Susan Niemcewciz’s account book reveals that Peggy Stout informed her enslaver of what her husband was owed, and received what she asked for. She also used her free time to raise turkeys, which she sold to Liberty Hall to supplement her family’s income. Although her enslavement meant that Peggy could not take full advantage of her skill, hard work, and entreprenural spirit, what she was able to accomplish certainly made a difference in the lives of her husband and children.
The children in this photograph were enslaved in New Orleans, but children in New Jersey were also enslaved or made to labor for the people who enslaved their mothers well into the nineteenth century. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, The William Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs, LC-DIG-ppmsca-11092.
Elias and his brothers Abraham and Julian grew up at Liberty Hall with the knowledge that they would one day be free but experiencing day-to-day life in the same way an enslaved person might. While they were young, they would have been expected to work alongside their mother in the house, and as they got older, they probably worked with their father. Knowledge that they would be free when they turned 25 did not protect them from experiencing the trauma of enslavement, including verbal abuse, as Elias did.
The Stout family lived in an outbuilding in the vicinity of Liberty Hall until at least 1832. Elias Stout was 21 and his brother Abraham was 18, so they were still legally bound to Liberty Hall. It is unclear whether Peggy was ever free. We have not yet found a manumission document for her but Susan Niemcewicz planned to eventually manumit her and her children.
Research into the Stout family is ongoing and we hope to learn more about their lives in freedom.
