History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes and kindle with pale gleams the passion of former days. ~Winston Churchill The town of Martinsville is located between North Brunswick and Dayton running along the Crosswicknung Trail, more commonly known today as Georges Road. We know this village as Deans today, which was established around 1800. John Martin built a distillery and ran a general store in the center of town. J.V. Wrightmire operated a hotel in 1861 and Thomas Hubbard owned the coal yard. It was the …

After the American Revolution, abolitionists began flooding the New Jersey legislative assembly with antislavery petitions. New Jersey began to place heavy fines on slave traders and the manumission process was made easier. Slave owners could be fined and punished for cruel treatment of the enslaved. Many farmers began to express their displeasure with the concept of slavery.  A pamphlet written by Quaker David Cooper called A Mite Cast into the Treasury: Or, Observations on Slave-Keeping was published in Philadelphia in 1772. Cooper attacked the institution of Slavery from the opening lines …

When I chose to travel into that "Particular Institution" called slavery, truth was my companion. There are many tales, stories and yarns that have been spun, the need to be as factual as possible strikes to the credibility of my work. In February 2009, my inspiration Mr. Giles Wright passed away. I heard him speak twice, I never met him personally. His passion and conviction, as well as a desire to bring the story to light with truth and compassion guided me into this research and taught me to speak from the heart with knowledge as my guide. As the leading authority on slavery in New Jersey…

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally," Abraham Lincoln, speech, Mar. 17, 1865. When the Dutch first settled the New Netherlands in the 1600's (New York and New Jersey at the time) they were already deeply entrenched in the African slave trade. By 1629 the Dutch had created a plantation system known as the "Patroon System." The system promised each Dutch land owner 12 men and women. In 1644, the English defeated the Dutch and took the land holdings of the New World, including New Jersey.  By 1702 the two New Jersey's united, …

Nineteenth century wills contain a captivating amount of information within them.  The will of Gerardus Beekman states, "his Negro man Thomas shall have his freedom so long as a time to make fifteen years from the first day of March 1802." This information aligns with his manumission written in 1817. The will also states "the negro girl Charlotte to serve until free by law," serving his wife, which once again provides supportive documentation to the story of Thomas Titus.   Shortly after his release in 1817, Thomas purchased a two and a half acre farm with the mark of "X" from Ferdinand Van …

My mind is plagued with questions no person living today can answer.  This quandary leaves me with speculation, assumption and conjecture, none of which are friends of the historian. In 1785, Thomas Titus was born enslaved in central New Jersey.  His wife Sarah TenBrock was born enslaved in 1789. This union brought 12 children, six of which were born enslaved, six born free.  When I first became aware of the Birth of Slave children registry, one for each county in New Jersey, my plan was to find a transcribed copy. In the Alexander Library's New Jersey Special Collections at Rutgers …

The past is our definition. We may strive, with good reason, to escape it, or to escape what is bad in it, but we will escape it only by adding something better to it-Wendell Berry In 2001 during my initial journey into slave history, I became aware of a rumor that has circulated in South Brunswick for many years. An ex-slave was buried in Kendall Park named Thomas Titus. All cemeteries had been accounted for and inventoried by Janet Riemer in 1977. As I read the listing I came across the Titus Family plot, showing one grave of Thomas Titus who died July 21, 1819. This was the catalyst …

The verification of slaves buried in the Deans Cemetery carried important historical value. The existence of slaves in central New Jersey was not a topic covered in the public school system, yet not unknown to scholars and historians of New Jersey. This was the inspiration for me to begin my journey to uncover the untold story of slaves who walked the same areas we do today and, in essence, to be their voice. Reaching out to the public lead me to a Deans relative in Montana, who was one of the last of the Deans to reside in town. Peggy graciously supplied me with documents to verify her …

In Elementary School I was taught to seek answers through the Public Library. The Deans Cemetery handed me many questions with very few resources for an answer. I went to the South Brunswick Public Library almost certain they would laugh at me questioning a history of this cemetery, but thankfully there was a file on this family. The Deans file contained articles about the cemetery and personal letters written by members of the family. In this documentation was a letter addressed to Alma from the Union Switch and Signal Company written in January 1926. Alma was researching her Dean's family …

"The past is never dead,"- William Faulkner, Requiem for a Nun. There are 21 known cemeteries in South Brunswick. Seven of these cemeteries are lost in time, locations now unknown or unmarked, apparitions of people long ago. The first cemetery I researched in town is the long forgotten Deans Cemetery. Located across the train tracks from Crossroads South Middle School, this cemetery had its first interment in October 1783.  A child named Andrew Dean, just 2-years-old. Aaron Dean, an Englishmen who was one of the first residents in Deans, purchased 1,000 acres of land to build his family …

Welcome to The History Shack!  My name is James Shackleford and I 'm an independent researcher specializing in Slavery, Dutch and English families and cemeteries. Having been a resident of South Brunswick for over 20 years, I have discovered a vast and rich history here starting in the eighteenth century. The history of South Brunswick cannot be discussed without Cranbury and Plainsboro being included, because of the close proximity of these towns and the fact that both communities were once a part of South Brunswick Township. Cranbury Township was created in 1872 and Plainsboro Township was …