Background Information: This archive was developed in 2025 to create access to historical documents about enslavement in Pequannock, New Jersey, in the 19th century. These documents were compiled by Rutgers University researchers in consultation with an advisory council that was formed in 2024. The council, called Acknowledging the History of Enslavement and Liberation of African Americans in Pequannock, is made up of community leaders and researchers whose goal is to share knowledge and contribute diverse perspectives. The documents included in this archive are from various sources discussed below.

Scope, Content, and Arrangement: The records collected for this archive are photographs, United States census records, newspaper articles, Sandborn maps, records of enslavement, chains of title, last wills and testaments, marriage and death records. These documents give a historical overview of the DeMott family and the individuals they enslaved in the mid to late 1800s in Pequannock, New Jersey. The dates of these records range from 1802 to 2025.

Subjects:

Slavery–Pequannock, New Jersey

Pequannock, New Jersey

Morris County, New Jersey

Great Notch Corporation

Acknowledging the History of Enslavement and Liberation of African Americans in Pequannock

Henry B. DeMott, Henry G. DeMott, Michael H. DeMott, John H. DeMott, Garret G. DeMott, Cornelius DeMott, Hendrick DeMott

York DeMott, Dinah Mandeville DeMott, Andrew DeMott

Thomas Dey

Contents Listing:

Maps (1868) from the collections of the Caroline Rose Foster, North Jersey History & Genealogy Center, The Morristown, and Morris Township Library

Map (1853) from Morristown, N.J.: J.B. Shields

Map (2024) Google Maps

United States Census Records (1830–1900) from FamilySearch.com

Newspapers (1936-1938) from Newspapers.com (The Morning Call, Paterson News, Paterson Morning Call, and The Paterson Evening News)

Last Will and Testaments (1802–1828) New Jersey State Archives, and Calendar of New Jersey wills, administrations, etc., Volume X, 1801-1805

Marriage License (1852) Records of the First Reformed Church at Pompton Plains, New Jersey

Slave Records (1756–1841) Rutgers Special Collections/University Archives: SINCLAIR NJ, E445 .N54M47 2002.

Chain of Titles (1837–1931) New Jersey State Archives

Link to Acknowledging the History of Enslavement and Liberation of African Americans in Pequannock website: https://aahistpeq.org/aahistpeq/