Learning From Our History: Dockets of Trials of Enslaved People in Delaware County

February, 2022. The Delaware County Bar Association and Delaware Community College announced a year-long residency of a docket for enslaved people in Delaware County at the college beginning February 2022. This well-preserved book contains information from judicial proceedings as well as certain registration and manumission affidavits related to enslaved people in Delaware County from the years 1762 – 1831.

Esteemed panelists, Honorable Nathaniel C. Nichols, Retired Judge of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, and Dr. Ife Williams, Professor of Political Science at Delaware County Community College, guide viewers to explore the significance of this piece of history and what can be learned from it.

The video, which can be viewed at “Events and Education”/“Distance Learning” at www.delcobar.org, features readings from notable works that shed light on the history and impact of slavery in the United States.

Approximately fifteen years ago, the Delaware County Bar Association became the custodian of certain historical records colloquially known as “The Slave Dockets.” This book is the original docketing, or official transcript, of criminal and other legal matters relative to persons of African ancestry living in colonial Pennsylvania in what was then known as Chester County. The first entry dates back to 1762.

What are the “Slave Dockets”? A bit of history is necessary to understand the historical significance of these documents. The area that is now Delaware County, Pennsylvania is the oldest settled section of Pennsylvania. The first major European settlement in Delaware County was in 1643, under Governor Prinz and it was settled under Swedish rule. By 1680, it came under English Rule, under King Charles II. In 1681 William

Penn was granted land charters in what then became known as the Province of Pennsylvania.

William Penn first landed in Chester, Pennsylvania. William Penn initially created three counties from his land: Philadelphia, Chester, and Bucks. What we now know as Delaware County was part of the original Chester County. The city of Chester, PA was the legal, political and industrial center of Chester County. On December 7, 1682, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania met with Penn and the Assembly adopted Penn’s “ Great Law of Pennsylvania.” The document granted the right to vote, citizenship, freedom of religion and trial by jury to all settlers in Chester, Pennsylvania. William Penn created a form of government which established Pennsylvania as a haven for the oppressed of all nations, with an emphasis on religious freedom and fair treatment of all people, regardless of citizenship status, and a democratic form of government. The county of Delaware was created in 1789, when it split from Chester County, after Chester County voiced its desire to move the County seat from Chester to West Chester. Chester, PA remained the county seat of Delaware County until 1850, at which time Media became the county seat.

On November 27, 1700 the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed “An Act for the Trial of Negroes.” Acts such as this one were passed throughout the colonies and are commonly referred to as “Slave Codes.” This Act did not specifically reference slaves, but was primarily applied to slaves. By 1725, however, these provisions applied to all black people in Pennsylvania, whether enslaved or free. In so passing the Act, the general Assembly stated that “some difficulties have arisen within the Province and territories about the manner of trial and punishment of negroes committing crimes,” such crimes ranging from murder to burglary, and the legislature provided for the speedy trial and punishment of those accused of same. The Act thereby established a Court consisting of two justices of the peace of the respective counties of the Province, along with “six of the most substantial freeholders of the neighborhood” to hear the evidence presented against the accused and determine guilt or innocence.

The Act set forth the various offenses that would be applicable, along with the punishments to be meted out with respect to same. In addition to common law crimes such as burglary, rape, murder, etc., there were additional crimes that were applicable only to Black people. Punishments ranged from being whipped, to death by hanging. The Act also provided that the “owner” of any person who was convicted of crimes was required to make satisfaction to the party wronged.

In 1780 Pennsylvania passed “An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery.” While this Act did not abolish slavery instantly, it did limit it, with the intention that gradually same would no longer exist in the state. It was the first time legislature was passed in a democracy to ultimately abolish slavery. The Act prohibited any further importation of slaves into Pennsylvania. In order to ensure compliance with this, all slave holders were required annually to register their slaves with the state. Failure to do so would result in the manumission of the slave. It further provided that all people born in Pennsylvania would be free, regardless of the status of his/her parents. With respect to slaves, however, their children, born after the enactment of the Act, would be indentured servants until the age of 28 years.

The docket in possession of the Delaware County Bar Association is but one of an innumerable number of dockets that chronicled the trials that took place in accordance with the Acts passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly. This particular one sets forth, in the original handwritten form, a summary of the trials occurring in Chester County from 1762-1772. In addition, the docket sets forth several registrations of slaves, which registration was required by the Act of 1780 providing for the gradual abolition of slavery. Finally, the docket also contains the registration of slave manumissions. These registrations were vital for the enslaved person to prove that he or she was granted his/her freedom and therefore not subject to the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1854.

• Dr. Joy Gates Black, President of Delaware County

Community College • Delaware County Community College Board of Trustees • Board of Judges of the Delaware County Court of Common

Pleas (for their donation of the dockets to the DCBA) • Retired Judge Nathaniel C. Nichols (for his work on this presentation) • Dr. Ife Williams (for her work on this presentation) • DCBA Historical Committee • Colleen M. Neary, Esquire (Chair) • O. Warren Higgins, Esquire (past Chair of the DCBA

Historical Records Committee) • Harry Spies, Esquire (past Chair of the DCBA Historical

Records Committee) • Elizabeth C. Price (First Executive Director of the DCBA) • William Baldwin, Esquire (Executive Director of the

DCBA) • Patricia Swanson (for her beautiful photos of the dockets themselves) • The Delaware County Community College “Learning from

Our History” planning committee