Document signed by James Hight. Fishkill, Dutchess County, New York, 30 October 1801. 1 page, 4to, docketed to verso. Witnessed by John Beckwith.

A New York bill of sale for "a Negro man slave aged about nineteen years named Dick," sold by James Hight to Thomas Parker of Poughkeepsie for $200. 

Enslavement was a part of New York's earliest colonial history, with the Dutch West India Company putting enslaved Africans to work in the New Netherland Colony as early as 1628. A law for gradual abolition was passed in 1799, but manumitted no living slaves. Rather, children born to enslaved women would be indentured servants until 28 (men) and 25 (women). Slavery would not be abolished fully in New York until 1827. 

Slavery-related documents from New York are scarce. 

[African Americana, African American History, Black History, Slavery, Enslavement, Abolition, Emancipation] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]

Lower third fully separated along old fold. Repair to verso of upper fold.