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their duty, forthwith to bind out such child, until it shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, in the manner described by the fourth and fifth sectious of the act conceruing apprentices and ser

vants.

d.

VI. And be it further enacted, That every person, being an inAge of child habitant of this state, who is or shall be entitled to the service of a to be recordchild born of a slave, as aforesaid, shall, within one year after the passing of this act, or after the birth of such child, cause to be delivered to the clerk of the city or town whereof such person shall be an inhabitant, an affidavit in writing, containing the name and addition of such person, and the name, age and sex of the child so born; which affidavit, whether the same be delivered before or after the said one year, shall be recorded by the said clerk in a book to be by him for that purpose provided; and such record thereof shall be good evidence of the age of such child; and the said clerk shall receive from such person twelve cents for recording every such affidavit; and if such persons shall neglect to deliver such affidavit to the said clerk, within the said space of one year, then the child or servant, concerning whose birth such affidavit shall have been so neglected to be delivered, shall be released from his or her servitude at the age of eighteen years, any thing in any former law notwithstanding; and every servant so released, shall be bound to service by the overseers of the poor, as is directed in and by the preceding section of this act.

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VII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the owner of any slave, to manumit such slave, by last will and testament, or by any instrument in writing under his band; but if such manumit. In slave, at the time of such manumission, be above the age of fortyfive years, or within that age and not of sufficient ability to provide for his or her support, the person manumitting such slave, and his or her heirs, executors and administrators, shall respectively be liable for the maintenance of the slave so manumitted, in case such slave shall become a charge to any city or town within this state; and the overseers of the poor of any such city or town, shall and may, from time to time, recover the amount of the monies expended for the maintenance of the person so manumitted, from the person by whom he or she was so manumitted, or from his or her heirs, executors and administrators, by an action of trespass on the case, for money expended for his use or their use, in any court having cognizance thereof: Provided nevertheless, that if the owner of such slave, at or immediately before the time of such manumission, shall obtaiu a certificate, signed by the overseers of the poor of the city or town where such owner shall reside, or the major part of them, or if in either of the cities of New-York or Albany, by the mayor and recorder of such city, certifying that such slave appears to be under the age of forty-five years, and of sufficient ability to provide for himself or herself, or that the parent or parents of such slave is or are willing and able to maintain and provide therefor, and shall cause such certificate to be recorded in the office of the clerk of such city or town, such certificate, or certified copy thereof, shall be conclusive evidence of the facts therein contained, and forever exonerate such owoer and his representatives from the maintenauce of such slaves; and May apply in case of the refusal of such overseers, or such mayor and record-sessions.

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er, to grant such certificate, such owner may apply for the same to the court of general sessions of the peace of the city or county in which such owner shall reside, giving ten days notice of such application, to the said overseers, or mayor and recorder; and if such certificate be granted by the said court, the same shall be as effectual as if signed by such overseers, or mayor and recorder; and it is hereby made the duty of such overseers, mayor and recorder or court, to grant or refuse such certificate, according to the truth of the case; and for their services in granting such certificate, such overseer, or mayor and recorder, shall be entitled to receive from such owner, the sum of fifty cents each, and no more.

VIII. And be it further eaacted, That all manumissions of slaves made by the people called Quakers, and others, before the ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight, although not in strict conformity to the statutes then in force concerning such manumissions, shall be valid from the time the same were made: Provided, that every owner of a slave, so manumitted, and the heirs, executors and administrators of such owner, shall be liable for the maintenance of such slave, in case such slave hath or shall become a charge to any city or town within this state, and from time to time be subject to suits by the overseers of the poor, for monies expended by any such city or town, in the same manner as is provided in the preceding section of this act.

IX. And be it further enacted, That no person held as a slave ported to be shall be imported, introduced or brought into this state, on any pretence whatever, except in the cases herein after permitted; and if any person, so held as a slave, shall be introduced or brought into this state, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, he or she shall be and is hereby declared free; and any slave who shall have been imported, introduced or brought into this state, contrary to the laws in force for the time being, shall be and is hereby de clared free.

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X. And be it further enacted, That no person shall, under any color or pretext whatever, sell as a slave, or transfer, for any period, any person who shall have been imported or brought into this state, after the eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, as a slave, and that every person so imported or brought into this state and sold, or transferred, contrary to the true intent and meaning of this act, shall be free, except as is hereinafter otherwise excepted.

XI. And be it further enacted, That no indenture, bond or contract for personal service, hereafter made or entered into by any person who has been held or possessed as a slave without this state, shall be obligatory within this state, on the person so bound to service, but the same is hereby declared to be utterly void; and every such indenture, bond or contract, made since the thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ten, shall likewise be utterly void; and if any person so having been holden as a slave, shall have been, since the day last aforesaid, or shall hereafter be indented, or bound by such indenture, bond or contract, he or she shall be and is hereby declared to be free.

XII. And be it further enacted, That notwithstanding any thing be hired out. in this act, it shall be lawful for all persons residing in this state,

who have emigrated from any other of the United States, between the fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred, and the first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and ten, who hold in their own right, slaves which they lawfully brought with them from either of the said states, to retain in service or hire out their said slaves to any citizen of this state for a term of time not exceeding seven years; but at the end of such term of time for which such slave may be so hired, every such slave shall be free: Provid- Proviso, ed always, that the owners of such slaves shall not be exonerated from their liability to maintain any such slave, who at the expiration of the term for which he or she shall be so hired out, shall not be of sufficient ability to maintain himself or herself: And provided also, that nothing herein, nor in the act, entitled "an act relative to slaves and servants," passed the ninth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen, contained, shall be construed to deprive any person of freedom, who was entitled thereto by virtue of the act, entitled "an act for the payment of certain officers of government, and for other purposes," passed the sixth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and ten.

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XIII. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall send Penalty for to sea, or export, or attempt to export from this state, or send or car slaves. ry out of, or attempt to send or carry out of this state, except as is by this act provided, any slave or servant, every person so exporting, or attempting to export, or sending or carrying out of this state, or attempting to send or carry out of this state, such slave or ser vant; and every person aiding or consenting to such exportation, or attempt to export, or to such sending or carrying out of this state, or to such attempt to send or carry out, shall be deemed guilty of a public offence, and forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, with costs of suit, to be recovered by any person who will sue for the same, in any court of record having cognizance thereof; the one half of which forfeiture shall be paid to the overseers of the poor of the city or town in which such offence shall be committed, for the benefit of the said poor, and the other half to the person who shall sue for the same to effect: And further, that every slave or servant, so exported, or attempted to be exported, or sent to sea, shall be free: Provided, that nothing herein contained shall apply to any slave or servant, who shall be pardoned by the executive on condition of leaving this state.

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XIV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for every person who shall have resided ten years within this state, and who Persons re shall be about to remove permanently therefrom, to carry with him this state moving from or her every such slave as shall have been the property of such per certain reson during ten years next preceding: Provided, that before such strictions, person shall attempt to carry away such slave out of this state, he or slaves with she shall make legal proof before a judge of the court of common pleas them. of the county, or before the mayor or recorder of the city, in which he or she last resided, that such slave hath been his or her property during ten years then next preceding; and shall also prove to the satisfaction of the said judge, mayor or recorder, by the oath of two credible witnesses, who shall be known to the said judge, mayor or recorder, or who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the said judge, mayor or recorder, to be credible witnesses, that such person intend

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ing to carry away such slave out of this state, hath resided within this state ten years next preceding; and that such slave hath been in the service or employment of such person, as a slave, during that time, and shall obtain a licence from such judge, mayor or recorder, to carry such slave out of the state: And provided also, that nothing in this act contained shall be deemed or taken to authorise any person, so residing as aforesaid, who shall be entitled to any slave or servant, or shall hold such slave or servant upon condition of ser vices for a term of years, and who shall be about to remove permanently from this state, to take such slave or servant therefrom; and every master of a vessel who shall knowingly receive on board his vessel, for the purpose of carrying out of this state, any slave, for whose exportation such licence as aforesaid hath not been obtained, or who having ignorantly received on board his vessel such slave, shall suffer such slave to depart from his said vessel, in any place out of this state, shall be deemed guilty of a public offence, and for every such offence shall forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, to be recovered, with costs of suit, by any person who will sue for the same, by action of debt, in any court of record having cognizance thereof, the one half of which forfeiture shall be paid to the treasurer of this state, for the use of the people thereof, and the other half to the person who shall sue for the same to effect.

XV. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any elling may person not an inhabitant of this state, who shall be travelling to or with them. from, or passing through this state, to bring with him any slave, and take such slave with him from this state, provided such slave shall not reside or continue in this state more than nine months; and it shall also be lawful for any inhabitant of this state, going a journey to any other part of the United States, to carry with him or her any such slave or servant as aforesaid; but such inhabitant shall bring back such slave or servant, and in default thereof shall be deemed to have committed a public offence; and for every such offence shall forfeit the sum of five hundred dollars, to be recovered and paid in like manner as the forfeiture mentioned in the thirteenth section of this act, unless he or she shall, within one month after his or her return, make proof by his or her own oath, or otherwise, to the satisfaction of such judge, mayor or recorder as aforesaid, that every such slave or servant, not brought back as aforesaid, could not be brought back, by reason of some unavoidable accident; and unless such person shall forthwith file a certificate of having made proof as aforesaid, signed by the magistrate before whom such proof hath been made, in the office of the clerk of the city or town in which he or she shall reside.

in this state,

XVI. And be it further enacted, That any person coming into this state, with intent to reside permanently therein, may bring with Persons com him or her any slave born since the fourth day of July, in the year ing to reside of our Lord obe thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, and belonging to him or to her, provided such person shall, within six months after bringing such slave into this state, file, with the clerk of the city or town, in which he or she shall reside the affidavit of such person in writing, containing the name and addition of such person, and particularly the name, age and sex of such slave; which affidavit shall be recorded by the said cleri, in the book directed to

be kept by the sixth section of this act, and a certified copy of the said record shall be good evidence of the age of such slave.

to be free at

XVII. And be it further enacted, That every slave born since the said fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, and brought into this state in the Slaves who manner mentioned in the last preceding section, shall be free, but are brought shall remain the servant of the person who brought such slave into into this state this state, as aforesaid, and the executors and administrators of such 25 and 288 person, in the same manner as if he or she had been bound to service by the overseers of the poor, and shall continue in such service, if a male, until the age of twenty-eight years, and if a female, until the age of twenty-five years; and the master or mistress of such ser- To be taught vant shall be bound to use all reasonable means to teach such / servant to read, if under the age of twenty-one years, as is directed in and by the fifth section of this act, and subject to the same penalty for neglect, as is therein contained.

XVIII. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any person who is or shall be entitled, by virtus of this act, to the service of any person born of a slave, to abandon such servant, at any time after he or she shall be of the age of twenty-one years; the person so abandoning such servant shall, at, or immediately before, such abandonment, obtain a certificate, signed by the overseers of the poor of the city or town where he or she shall reside, or the major part of them, if of the city of New-York, or of Albany, by the mayor and recorder of such city, certifying that such servant appears to be of the age of twenty-one years, and of sufficient ability to provide for himself, or herself, which certificate shall be recorded in like manner, and have the same effect, with the certificate mentioned in the seventh section of this act; and in case of refusal to grant such certificate, the said master or mistress may apply to the court of general sessions of the peace, in the manner mentioned in the said seventh section; and it shall be the duty of such overBeers, mayor, recorder and court, to grant or refuse such certificate, according to the truth of the case.

XIX. And be it further enacted, That the children of slaves, born between the fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine, and the thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Loid one thousand eight hundred and four, and who shall have been duly abandoned, previous to the last mentioned day, shall continue to be provided for at the expense of the state, according to the then existing laws thereof; and no contract by any overseers of the poor for the support of any person so abandoned, made before the twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and two, according to the provisions of the then existing statutes, shall be affected by this act; but the same shall be governed by the statutes then in force, any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.

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XX. And be it further enacted, That if any person shall wilfully suffer or permit his slave, or such servant as aforesaid, to beg of Slaves not to others victuals, clothing or other necessaries, such person shall for- beg. feit the sum of twenty-five dollars for every such offence, to be recovered by action of debt, with costs of suit, in any court having

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