Rural Life in Upper Manhattan
Rural slavery was different from slavery in urban areas in that “slave holdings were small, typically consisting of one or two slaves, and blacks were often housed under the same roof as their owner” (White 1991, 80). Unlike in the plantation South, enslaved men, women, and children in Upper Manhattan resided under the same roof as their enslavers.” (Wall & Cantwell 2004, 32). In 1784, Jan’s grandson Wiliam built a new homestead after the original home was destroyed by British occupation during the Revolutionary War. William died shortly after the home’s completion and by then his son Jacobus and his wife Hannah inherited the farm in the 1780s. It is believed that the enslaved on the Dyckman farm lived in the attached building to the main house, which had an additional kitchen used in the summertime, and a loft above which is thought to be their sleeping quarters (Berlin and Harris 2005, 153).
The Dyckman family was one of many in New York who owned enslaved Africans. Jan Dyckman, the first Dyckman ancestor to arrive in New York in the 1660s, inhabited Upper Manhattan in today’s neighborhood of Inwood. He joined neighbor Jan Nagle on a business venture to acquire 250 acres of farmland in 1677, “nearly all the land lying along the Harlem River north of 211th Street, to the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, including part of Marble Hill” (Bolton 1904, 184). It was here, in Upper Manhattan, today’s Inwood and Washington Heights, that these and other families operated their farmland with enforced labor of enslaved Africans.
"Isham Garden, Inwood Hill." Wenzel 1906.
Living in close proximity created a stronger exchange and sharing of cultures, particularly through cooking and farming. The sharing of cultures led many free and enslaved Africans in New York to adopt the Dutch celebration of Pentecost as their own called Pinkster. This close physical proximity was “generally believed to prevent the cruel and violent excesses of slavery that occurred on plantations in other parts of the hemisphere” (White 1991, 80). Even when slavery in the North is acknowledged, it is erroneously portrayed as more mild than on Southern plantations. However cruel punishments were given and were a result of several enslaved who attempted to run away from their enslavers. On March 11, 1684, Jan Nagle’s barn was, “set on fire by his own negro, who ran away, and was discovered next morning, ‘hanging to a tree’” (Riker 1924, 389-390). This source is one of many instances portraying the violent history of slavery that was very much present in the North, specifically in Upper Manhattan.
Historic American Building Survey of the Dyckman Farmhouse by Stanton A. Harbersham, 1934. The 'original Dyckman Bakehouse' is thought to be the living quarters of the enslaved people. This structure is also the oldest structure dating to c. 1725.
The “myth of the mild nature of the Northern slave regime” (White 1991, 79) originates with the agricultural labor and highly-skilled work performed by the enslaved in rural New York in close quarters to their enslavers. Enslaved women likely worked in the kitchen and other areas of the home where they “labored in domestic service, performing the onerous tasks involved in running colonial urban households” (Wall & Cantwell 2004, 32) while the women of the household supervised.
Meet Hannah
Family tradition tells of a free Black woman named Hannah, the daughter of an enslaved worker, who lived with the Dyckman family and worked as a cook. Based on those stories, it is believed she was living in the farmhouse in 1820. According to census records, Hannah was born between 1784 and 1894, which would make her between the ages of twenty-six and thirty-six in 1820.
A 1917 Dyckman historical document states the following: “The cook, Black Hannah, who had been born on the place as the daughter of a slave was partly of Indian blood. Tradition describes her with a bright-colored headgear, face black as ebony, temper decidedly irregular, and a strong leaning toward a corncob pipe” (Dean 1916, 35).
With one document about Hannah, there is limited knowledge about her life. It is uncertain if Hannah’s mother was enslaved by the Dyckmans with lack of material evidence. We must take into consideration the early 1900s white, male perspective that likely paints a false depiction of Hannah’s characteristics and lifestyle.
Newspaper section of New York Markets listings, including Dyckman potatoes for sale. "Prices" 1860.
New York farms were self-contained units in which the enslaved members of the household needed skills to grow crops, as well as tend livestock, do carpentry work, make clothing, clean, cook, and be caretakers of children (Harris 2003, 30). Unlike the South, Northern laws were more lenient towards familial connections and pay. This leads researchers to believe that enslaved men and women worked closely on the farmland with their enslavers and possibly earned money selling goods to local markets. In the 1860s, the Dyckmans were selling their potatoes to New York City markets, so it is likely they had these market transactions in previous years (“Prices” 1860).
Slavery in New York state ended in 1827, yet traces of it survived until 1841. The Dyckman family continued their slave ownership through generations up until emancipation and after with free workers and servants. According to the 1790 census record under Widow Dyckman, wife to William, the household had seven enslaved, which was unusually high for this region, even for a substantial 250-acre farm. Ten years later after Jacobus and Hannah moved in, there was one enslaved man according to the 1800 census. Then, as stated in the 1810 Census, two freed and two enslaved people.
Meet Francis
Francis Cudjoe, one of very few enslaved people known by full name in Upper Manhattan, was manumitted in 1809 by Jacobus Dyckman, according to the manumission letter in the museum’s archives. Currently, the museum is unsure of Jacobus’ motives for freeing Francis, whether for Francis’ health or the stigma surrounding slavery. Francis Cudjoe’s life is only one of the many enslaved on the Dyckman property that has been discovered.
An 1819 Jury Census record reveals that there was a “Frank Cudja” living in today’s neighborhood of Greenwich Village on 9th Avenue near 12th Street (Ancestry.com 2021). A year later, the 1820 census lists a “Frans Cudjoy on 9th avenue living with one ‘free colored female’ between sixteen and forty-four years old. Despite the misspelling of the name, it is possible that this is Francis Cudjoe. His age is listed as fifty-four years old in 1819 and having the occupation of ‘Gardener,’ with two ‘colored’ female occupants.
Recorded for and at the request of Francis Cudjoe the 11th day of Jan-
uary 1809.
Know all men by there presents [sic] that I Jacobus Dykeman [sic] of the City
of New York in consideration of motive of humanity and sum of one dollar to
me in hand paid Do hereby manumit and set free a Black man named Francis
Cudjoe aged about Forty Years. In Witness whereof I have hereunto subscri-
bed my name and affixed my seal the eleventh day of January Anno Domini
One Thousand eight hundred and nine. Jacobus Dyckman L S Witness
Peter Ogilvie Jun. Be it remembered that on the eleventh day of
January 1809 appeared before me Dewitt Clinton Mayor of the City of New York
the above named Jacobus Dykman [sic] and acknowledged the above statement
to which he had subscribed the name to be his voluntary act and Deed.
Dewitt Clinton P C Van Wyck
​
​
A large focus of DyckmanDISCOVERED is centered on bringing awareness to the Inwood African Burial Ground. Continue to learn about this sacred site and how the community has been involved to shed light on those who once rested here.
Historical and archaeological research “clearly demonstrate[s] the diversity of lives lived in the shadow of slavery” (Delle 2019, 30). The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum has funded research for their initiative DyckmanDISCOVERED which is focused on finding more details about the free and enslaved people who lived and worked for the Dyckman family. These narratives have been shared with the public since 2015 under a new museum director who aims to emphasize using the museum as a tool to connect to the community. It is through their research that we now have information on Francis Cudjoe and other enslaved and freed individuals. The DyckmanDISCOVERED initiative reinforces the importance of inclusive historical narratives in America’s historical institutions, of all sizes.
Through a runaway slave ad, the person with the most visual description amongst the Dyckman's enslaved people is a man named Will. These ads were known to be full of detail including phenotypic appearance, clothing, languages spoken, and talents such as playing an instrument. "Fugitive Slave-Ad for Will, or Wiltshire." 1765.
Bibliography
Ancestry.com. 1820 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Ancestry.com. New York, New York, U.S., Ward Jury Census, 1816, 1819, 1821 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021.
Berlin, Ira, and Leslie M. Harris, eds. Slavery in New York. New York: New Press, 2005.
Bolton, Reginald Pelham. Washington Heights and Its Eventful Past. NY: Dyckman Institute,
1924.
Dean, Bashford and Alexander McMillan Welch. Dyckman House Park and Museum 1783-1916. NY: 1916, p. 35.
Delle, James A. “Slavery, Freedom, Archaeology.” The Archaeology of Northern Slavery and
Freedom. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, 2019, pp. 9-30.
​
Dyckman, Jacob. “Fugitive Slave-Ad for Will, or Wiltshire.” New York: The New York Gazette, May 27, 1765.
​
Habersham, Stanton A. "HABS NY,31-NEYO,11- (sheet 5 of 11) - Dyckman House, Broadway & 204th Street, New York County, NY." Historic American Buildings Survey. New York: Library of Congress, February 28, 1934.
Harris, Leslie M. In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863.
Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2003.
"Prices." Commercial Advertiser (New York, New York), November 17, 1860: 4. Readex: Readex AllSearch.
Riker, James. Revised History of Harlem (city of New York): Its Origin and Early Annals. New
York: New Harlem Pub, 1904.
Wall, Diana diZerega & Anne-Marie Cantwell. Touring Gotham’s Archaeological Past. CT: Yale University Press, 2004.
​
Wenzel, Edward. "Isham Garden, Inwood Hill." Digitized by Inwood.net. New York: New York Historical Society. 1906.
White, Shane. Somewhat More Independent. The End of Slavery in New York City, 1770-1810.
GA: University of Georgia Press, 1991.