Black Heritage in Fulton County

Special recognition for the booklet goes to Lewis G. Decker, Fulton County Historian, James Morrison, who researched many records, Mrs. Audrey Laird and Mrs. Audrey Bowman who compiled information and wrote this booklet.

In its earliest years the settlers clustered around Fort Orange (now Albany), but in 1661 the industrious Dutchmen had pushed the frontier twenty miles westward and founded the city of Schenectady. The part that Negroes (blacks) played in this initial settlement of the Mohawk Valley is unrecorded, but it is not inconceivable that they contributed, for thirty years later Blacks make their first documented appearance in the Mohawk Valley.

Schenectady was a bustling little town of over forty houses in 1690, most of the inhabitants were engaged in fur trading with the Iroquois and Canadian Indians. Although King Williams' War was raging around them, the people of Schenectady felt fairly secure within the stockade that they had erected around the village. At 11:00 p.m. on the February 9th, one hundred and fourteen French and ninety-six Indians shattered their security¹. They murdered 60 persons, and stole away with 27 prisoners. A list of casualties in this attack indicates that ten of the fatalities and five of the prisoners were "Negroes".² The fact that 12% of the blood shed in the massacre at Schenectady was from Black men and women foreshadows the role that Black pioneers were to play in the development of the New York State frontier.

By 1771, the year before Tyron County was separated from Albany County, Black population was again on the rise. In that year Afro-Americans accounted for about 9% of the population of Albany County. An impending Revolution and growing abolitionist sentiment frequent manumissions was used as an incentive for Blacks to join the patriot army, and the large number of slave holder-loyalists, such as the son of Sir Wm. - Sir John Johnson, who were forced into exile by the war all took a toll on the Black population in the Mohawk Valley.

The census of 1800 indicates an interesting pattern in Montgomery County. The well established towns of Palatine, Canajoharie and Johnstown which were primarily composed of Dutch and German ethnic stock accounted for 381 slaves. On the other hand, the towns of Northampton, Broadalbin and Mayfield, which were heavily populated by recent New England immigrants, could account for only 76 slaves³. The Dutch and Germans on the New York frontier therefore utilized slave labor more extensively than northern Anglo-Americans.

In 1799 Governor Jay signed a bill which provided for the gradual abolition of slavery in the state, and from that year forward the Black population of the Mohawk Valley decreased annually.⁴ In 1830 - two years after emancipation - Blacks represented only a 2% segment of the combined population of Albany, Montgomery, Schenectady, Fulton and Herkimer Counties.⁵

Shortly after the first settlers reached the Mohawk Valley, the liberal Dutch government was replaced by a new English establishment: In 1664 New Netherlands became New York City.⁶ Under the Dutch, slaves had been allowed to purchase their freedom and manumission was a fairly common occurrence. Dutch society also featured an element of color-blindness, for free Blacks enjoyed the same privileges as free Whites. Under English rule these liberal concepts soon disappeared. The English made blackness a prerequisite to slavery, and legal action was taken to insure the permanence of the institution.⁷

In 1702 the provincial assembly passed "An Act for Regulating Slaves".⁸ More than sixty years passed, when Ann Grant, an English "lady", visited Albany and later recorded her observations of the conditions under which slaves lived. Mrs. Grant's definition of humane treatment is certainly interesting, but the fact remains that the Dutch and German people were considerably more liberal with their slaves than the English. One Albanian complained to a friend about the plight that his liberalism had imposed upon him.

Sir William Johnson, for which the town Johnstown is named, probably was the largest 18th century slave-holder in the Mohawk Valley. He used the west blockhouse at Johnson Hall to quarter his slaves. Upon Sir William's death, an inventory of the articles in the slave's quarters was taken.⁹ The following is the entire contents found: 1 pair of plain hand irons & 1 shovel; 2 iron bound pails, 1 brass kettle, 12 pewter plates, 2 dishes, 1 basin, 1 pine table, 10 old blankets.¹⁰ Certainly this list says a lot about the frugal life that these Black slaves lived.

The 1800 census for the town of Palatine gives us some insight as to what the slaves were used for. It's revealed in papers from the Old Palatine Church that slaves were employed as domestic servants in hotels and stage houses, industrial laborers in grist mills, and employed in agriculture on farms.¹¹ In fact, Black labor was probably used for almost any task imaginable. Black labor does not necessarily imply slave labor, for as early as 1738, there are references to free Negroes living in the Mohawk Valley.¹²

Often it's asked what happened to the slaves or Blacks living in our area in the 18th century. In the Johnson Papers, it's told that in the early years of the 18th century the Iroquois and many other north-eastern Indian tribes received runaway slaves with a warm welcome. Life with the Indians must have been more pleasant that the work-a-day life with a white master, for many slaves took advantage of the opportunity.¹³ Government pressure eventually forced the Indians to accept the White man's discrimination against Black men, for in 1774, the Oneidas granted some land to the New England Indians, but stipulated that the rights would not extend to any persons "deemed of the said Tribe, who are descended from or have intermixed with Negroes, or Mulatoes."¹⁴ White men gained control of the Indians, but they still could ot stop the slaves from running away. Rewards for runaway slaves were a daily occurrence in the Albany newspapers throughout the 1790's.¹⁵

The abolition of slavery in N. Y. S. did not happen at once, but was a gradual process occurring over a period of 35 years. Even before the Revolution there were provisions for the voluntary freeing of a slave by his or her owner to post a bond insuring the freed slaves would not require the support of the community. For most slave owners, the bond was prohibitive and few slaves were actually freed under these provisions.

More or less then on July 27, 1827 emancipation became final in New York State. Many former slaves continued to live with and worked for the families who had owned them, particularly older slaves who had no families other than the ones for whom they had worked all their lives. The slaves on paper were free, but the old white attitudes remained unchanged.

One of the earliest census of Fulton County was in 1865. The names listed are those blacks living in the various towns that then were a part of Fulton County. After 1925, the state census records were closed to public research. All information after that date was obtained through city directories. City directories do not list names until age 18. Names appear when they first appeared in directories.

Town of Caroga; 1865 Bowman, Charles, farmer Bowman, Margaret A. Bowman, Walter Bowman, Susan Bowman, George Bowman, Isaac King, Amos, laborer (Soldier) King, Maria Leonard, Charles H. (Soldier) Leonard, George (Soldier) Leonard, Philip, farmer Leonard, Caroline Leonard, Caroline, child Leonard, Abram Leonard, John Millett, Peter, farmer Millett, Sylvia Millett, Thomas E. (Soldier) Millett, Mary Parker, James E. Parker, Josephine	Town of Broadalbin; 1865 Teabout, John Teabout, Joseph (Soldier) Teabout, James (Soldier) Teabout, Frances Teabout, Lydia Teabout, Hannah H. Thompson, Thomas A., laborer Thompson, Angeline Thompson, Catherine Thompson, Grace H. Thompson, William Thompson, Mary H.
Town of Johnstown; 1865 Anderson, Bruce Bakeman, Lorenza, laborer (Changed name to Beekman in later years) Bakeman, Harriet Bakeman, Ann L. Bakeman, Benjamin H. Bakeman, Calvin Bowman, George W. Blood, Pita Case, Julius, laborer Case, Mary E. Case, Charles A. Case, Hester P. Darrow, Julia Estep, Richard Estep, Maria Ferris, Bessy Fitch, Henry A., laborer Fitch, Laurie Fitch, Milo Fitch, Caroline Fitch, Martha Fitch, MaryAnn Fitch, Lawry Frank, John (Soldier) Gordineer, Charles, laborer Gordineer, Hester Gordineer, Alfred Gordineer, Betsey (Mother In Law of James Thompson) Grant, Andrew, laborer Grant, Ellen Grant, William Grant, Sarah Grant, Charles H. (Soldier) Grant, Josephine Grant, Edward Grant, Sarah J. Hawkins, Carolina Hawkins, Joanna Hawkins, Harriet Hawkins, Carolina Hawkins, Emma Jackson, Prince F., laborer Jackson, Diana Jackson, John H. Jackson, Katy age 70 (Poor House) Jackson, Diana Jackson, Frances Jackson, Ann E. Jackson, James Jackson, Francis Jameson, John, laborer Jameson, Jane Kittle, Leonard, laborer (*Soldier) Kittle, Catherine Kittle, Mary C.	Town of Johnstown; 1865 (con't) Leggins, Charles, laborer (Soldier) Leggins, Hannah H. Leggins, Thomas G. Leggins, Charles H. Leggins, Robert F. Leggins, Gertrude Leggins, George E. Leggins, Sarah E. Leggins, Janet Leggins, Henry, laborer Leggins, Fanny Leggins, Nancy Leggins, William H. (Soldier) Leggins, Charles McKinney, Luther, laborer (Soldier) McKinney, Adelia McKinney, James M. McKinney, Richard McKinney, John H. McKinney, Margaret A. McKinney, Mary A. McKinney, Isabella Mentis, Thomas, laborer Millford, John (Granchild of James Thompson) Moore, Catherine Nifer, Cuff, farm worker Nifer, Emily Robinson, Nelson, driver Robinson, Margaret Robinson, Margaret E., child Robinson, Francis H. Robinson, Elizabeth (with Bakeman) Smith, Mary Ann Smith, Elizabeth Smith, William Smith, James Smith, Henry (Soldier) Smith, Susan Smith, Juliette Snell, Nellie, age 98 (Poor House) Thompson, Mary A. age 30 (Poor House) Thompson, James, barber (Soldier) Thompson, Martha Thompson, Frank Thompson, Kitty Thompson, Antoine (Soldier) Thompson, James VanDeusen, Dianna VanDeusen, Mary I. VanDeusen, Sidney VanDeusen, Mary VanDeusen, Simeon Wendell, David, laborer Wendell, Sarah J.
Town of Ephratah; 1865 Madison, Henry Madison, Frances Thompson, Richard, laborer Yamson, Matthew Yamson, Susan	Town of Oppenheim; 1865 Grant, Charles (*Soldier) Grant, Mary Grant, Eliza Vrooman, James, farmer Vrooman, Sarah Vrooman, Wellington Vrooman, Oren Vrooman, Charles H.
Gloversville 1891 Anderson, Adelia Anderson, Ambrose Anderson, Archibald Anderson, Bruce Leggins, Arthur Leggins, Charles H. Leggins, George Leggins, Hannah Leggins, Harvey Leggins, Wm. H. 1893 Leggins, Arch 1896 A. M. E. Zion Church founded at E. Fulton & Chestnut Street 1899 Ray, William, moved to Gloversville 1903 Anderson, Emma L. 1905 Thompson, Squire in Gloversville 1907 Thompson, James Thompson, Thomas Woodley, Fletcher	Gloversville 1908 Thompson, Fred Thompson, Sarah C. Thompson, Catherine Bowman, Walter Bowman, Elmer 1909 Thompson, Frank Thompson, William 1910 Leggins, Jennie Leggins, John Leggins, Katherine Leggins, Thomas Leggins, Mrs. William Leggins, Harry Thompson, George Thompson, John Thompson, Adolphus Thompson, Nellie Thompson, Louie 1913 Leggins, Rita Leonard, George Leonard, Joseph Leonard, Joseph W. Thompson, Bessie Thompson, Lena Thompson, William 1914 Anderson, Bruce Ray, Mrs. Eliza (residing with son William J.)
Gloversville 1915 Adams, Sylvester Adams, Maggie Anderson, Mary Anderson, Hattie G. Anderson, Hazel Anderson, George (Reddean) Anderson, Lincoln (Reddean) Archer, Nellie w. Archer, Fred w. Archer, Hanah w. Archer, Gertrude w. Bagley, Benjamin Bakeman, Henry (Beekman) Beekman, Ethel Beekman, Alrenis H. Beekman, Ben Beekman, Thomas Black, Walter Boford, John Bowman, Clara Bowman, Hazel Case, Chauncey Causon, Samuel Causon, Agusta Causon, Elizabeth A. Corliss, George Corliss, Nellie Dana, Albert Dana, Cora Dana, Harry Dana, Hattie Davenport, William Dawson, William K. Dawson, Emma Dawson, William Dawson, Charles G. Dence, Reuben W. Dence, Ann Derrick, Harriet Derrick, William Duglass, Emily Ennett, Emily Fair, Maggie Frank, Leorenzo Frank, Margaret Frank, Anna Frank, Jessie L. Frank, Howard Frank, Louise Frank, Harriet Frank, Clarie Frank, Ellen Freeman, Hattie Gardiner, Leonard Gilbert, Georgia Goines, Jay Goines, Pearl Goines, Thelma Green, Elizabeth Green, Charles Green, Lena Hamilton, Edith Hamilton, Herbert Hamilton Richard Hamilton, Mary Harrington, Scott Hasbrouck, Harriet Hasbrouck, Hazel Hasbrouck, Ray Herring, Clarasi Herring, Durrey Herring, Sussie Herring, Suney Hill, James Husband, Josephine Jackson, Olla Jackson, Mary Jackson, Cerliss Jackson, Marion Jackson, Leslie W. Kenney, James Kenney, Gertrude Kniffer, John Kniffer, Mary Leggins, Betty Leggins, Cassie Leggins, Sara Leonard, Maude Lewis, Ervin Makie, Raymond McKenney, John McKenney, Emma McKinney, John McKinney, Mammie McKinney, Richard McKinney, Lizzie Miller, John Miller, Blandena Miller, Jessie W. Miller, Eva Miller, Theo Moore, Homer Mosher, Elizabeth Nichols, Harrison Nero, Albert Nero, Mary Peck, Ernest Powers, Mary Shan, Margaret Shaw, Roscoe Shaw, Nellie Shaw, Clarence Shaw, Edna Simmons, George (Gaye) Simmons, Lawrence Simmons, Lee Roy Slaughter, William Slaughter, Sarah Smith, Henry Smith, Susan Thompson, Rebecca Trubble, George C. Trubble, Harriet Turne, Ada Turner, Cassie VanSlyke, Morris VanSlyke, Sarah VanSlyke, Russell Veder, Perry Vrooman, Frank Vrooman, Clara Walton, Bertha F. Waters, Frena Wealcher, Anna Whatley, Julia (Mother in Law, with Woodleys) Wicks, Robert Wick, Anna Willard, Mary Willett, William Willett, Julia Williams, Carrie Williams, Floyd Wilson, Josephine Woodley, Myra Woodley, Helena Woodley, Harold	Johnstown 1891 Ray, William, laborer Ray, William J., house cleaner Jones, William, laborer 1892 Ray, Helena, servant 1900 Beekman, Alice Woodley, G., glover Thompson, Thomas, chef Thompson, Frank, laborer Thompson, James, hostler Thompson, Abias Jones, Charles 1901 Woodley, Flectcher Thompson, Harry, bootblack Beekman, Adam- Prof. of Music Beekman, Benjamin, laborer 1904 Thompson, Carrie 1905 Beekman, Bryron Beekman, Harry 1906 Beekman, Henry Beekman, Sherman, baker Bowman, Sarah 1910 Jones, Catherine Jones, Jennie 1911 Thompson, Nellie 1915 Bowman, William Bowman, Jennie Bowman, Florence M. Bowman, William Jr. Bowman, Oliver Bowman, Sherman Bowman, George Bowman, Frank Bowman, Nellie Bowman, Walter Bowman, Beatrice Bowman, Martha M. Bowman, Sherman Jr. Bowman, Dudley H. Bowman, Raymond A. Bowman, Annie Bowman, Bertha E. Bush, Laurendy Bush, Henry Bush, King H. Cook, Florence Diggs, Floyd Evan, Sara Frank, John Frank, Emily Glass, Clifford Gordineer, William Gordineer, Anna Gordineer, George Gordineer, Geniva Jones, Charles Jones, Lavina Jones, Mildred Jones, Martha Jones, Florence Jones, Catherine L. Jones, Anna L. Jones, Jennie G. Jones, William C. Leggins, Charles H. Leggins, Minnie F. Leggins, Arthur C. Leggins, Harry Leggins, Frederica Leonard, John Leonard, Barbara Leonard, Abram Leonard, Luella Leonard, Flora Leonard, Melvin Leonard, Blanche Leonard, Harrison A. Leonard, Curcio Lovett, William Matthews, John Nelson, Jessie Nelson, Edna E. Nelson, Dorothy M. Nelson, Barbara Nelson, Clyde Nelson, Nellie Nelson, John Nelson, Raymond Nelson, Coral E. Nutt, Jerry Nutt, Frances J. Thompson, Anna Thompson, Mary Thompson, George Thompson, James Thompson, Anna L. Thompson, Vernon Walrod, Charles Walrod, Cora M. Walrod, Mary Wendell, Frank Wendell, Sarah E. Wooding, William Johnstown 1925 Beekman, Calvin Bowman, Charles Bowman, Harry Bowman, Charlotte Bowman, Betty Bowman, Anna Bowman, Richard Bowman, Dudley Bush, Lorenda Ann Bush, Hattie Dabney, Mary Gordineer, Juliana Jones, David F. Jones, Glady G. Jones, Emerson Jones, Agnes Millett, Thomas E. Millett, Margaret Shell, Glenn Shell, Alice Thompson, James H. Thompson, Anna L.
Gloversville 1919 Beekman, Calvin Beekman, Leroy Gloversville 1925 Case, Ada Case, June Clay, Jesse Clay, Estella Clay, Jesse Jr. Craig, Herbert Craig, Sally Dana, Grace Eccles, June Eccles, William Eccles, Beulah Eccles, Louise Eccles, Wella Mae Erwin, James Erwin, Olena Forsythe, Mattie Harrison, Ida Harrison, Nicholas Leggins, Anna Leggins, Lillian Leggins, Charles Leonard, George Lowery, Viola Lowery, Walter Nelson, Aggie Nelson, Walter Nelson, Jesse Nelson, Edna Nelson, Barbara Nelson, Dorothy Nelson, Clyde Nelson, Edward Pollard, Thomas Pollard, Geraldine Pollard, Mertie Pollard, Thomas, Jr. Tate, James Tate, Mary Thompson, Rosie Thompson, Cornelius Thompson, Howard Williams, James Williams, Paul Williams, Vera Williams, Malissa Williams, James Jr. Williams, Rufus Williams, Andrew Williams, Deloris Williams, Johnson Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Pauline Williams, Eleanor Williams, Paul Jr. Wooding, William Wooding, Irene Wooding, Kenneth Woolridge, Mary	Caroga 1925 Adams, Floyd Adams, Fred Anthony, Frank Anthony, Berdina Archer, Gert Beekman, Nettie Brown, Louisa Dana, Fannie Dunkel, William Dunkel, Delia Dunkel, Lillian Dunkel, Harriet Dunkel, Jennie Dunkel, Leona May Dunkel, Catherine Herring, Classisa Johnson, Edna Johnson, Elizabeth Leggins, William H. Leggins, Sarah Laggines, Charlie Leonard, Joseph Leonard, Anna Livingston, Loren Mandeville, Eugene Mandeville, Morris Mandeville, Fannie Mandeville, Ozella McKinney, Lizzie McWalker, George McWalker, Eva McWalker, Lawrence McWalker, Raymond McWalker, Geneive McWalker, Florence Moore, Sandy Peek, Eva Peek, Teddy Peek, Ernest Peek, Mildred Reddean, Ernest Shaw, Harriet Simmons, Camilla Simmons, Lillian Stevens, Bertha Trubble, Mabel Williams, Arthur Caroga 1927 VanSlyke, Albert VanSlyke, Ella VanSlyke, Eugene VanSlyke, Morris VanSlyke, William Caroga 1934 Days, David Days, Matilda Dean, Nellie Dean, Fred Dean, Ethel
Mayfield 1915 Thompson, Squire Thompson, Rosa Thompson, John Thompson, Franks Thompson, Harry Thompson, Adolphus Thompson, George Thompson, Fred Thompson, Cornelius Thompson, Mary Ann Thompson, Howard	Mayfield 1915 Vails Mills Harrison, Horace Harrison, Catherine Harrison, Edgar Riceville VanDusen, Mary

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