Born in 1805 to an enslaved mother, Cyenus was technically free according to New Jersey’s 1804 gradual emancipation law, but this freedom did not protect him from being bought and sold as an enslaved person would have been.
Who was Enslaved at Liberty Hall?: Cyenus
Cyenus grew up laboring for his mother’s enslaver but knew that he would eventually be free when he turned 25. We do not know who Cyenus’s parents were or where he was born, but in 1817, when he was only eleven years old, the remainder of Cyenus’s term of enslavement was sold by Nehemiah Baldwin of Newark to Abraham Baldwin of Orange. Gradual emancipation meant that Cyenus would someday be free, but the law did not protect his family and community relationships.
Cyenus was brought to Liberty Hall in 1826, when he was sold by Abraham Baldwin to Susan Niemcewicz at age 21. This was the last recorded instance of Susan Niemcewicz purchasing a person. We know little about what Cyenus’s life was like at Liberty Hall. He knew and worked alongside the Van Horne and Stout families, but it is unclear whether he was close with them. Cyenus ultimately made the decision to self-emancipate after slightly over a year at Liberty Hall. Leading up to his self-emancipation, Cyenus did tell one free servant, Betsey, that he planned to escape. We know little of Betsey’s background or race, but we do know that she did not tell Susan Niemcewicz of Cyenus’s plans until after his escape.
In the aftermath of Cyenus’s self-emancipation, Susan Niemcewicz published a runaway advertisement for him. Runaway advertisements sometimes contain incredibly revealing information about an enslaved person’s appearance, skills, or culture. In this case, Cyenus’s runaway advertisement gives us the only description we have of his physical appearance. In the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society, and with a reproduction on display at Liberty Hall Museum, this advertisement reads:
RAN AWAY
From the subscriber, on Sunday night last, an indented Black Boy, named Cyenus, bought of Abraham Baldwin, of Camptown, in May 1826. The above boy is about twenty-two years of age, five feet eight or nine inches high: took with him a dark and light brown surtout coat, white and blue pantaloons, & c. A reasonable reward will be given for his apprehension, by
SUSAN U. NIEMCEWICZ, Ursino.
Eliz. Town, Aug. 20, 1827.
Described as indented because he was born under gradual emancipation, this short description of Cyenus’s appearance is the most detailed we have of any person enslaved at Liberty Hall.