All Parochial Giving (1866-1878) to the Freedman's Commission in the Diocese of New Jersey

All Parochial Giving (1866-1878) to the Freedman’s Commission (also known as the “Home Missions to Colored People”) in the Diocese of New Jersey.

 

After the Civil War the General Convention of the Episcopal Church formed a new entity to be called the “Freedman’s Commission” to aid in the education of newly emancipated Black people in the South. Below is listed the raw data for the churches in the Diocese of New Jersey that gave to these domestic “Missions” between 1866 and 1878. The Freedman’s Commission was founded in 1865, then renamed the “Home Mission to Colored People” in 1868, and then folded into the Board of Missions in 1878. This data is culled from the annual parochial reports published in diocesan convention journals during that time period. You will find it far easier to search through this culled material than to search through the publicly available digital scans of diocesan journals directly. Perusing this data will allow you to follow leads from the diocesan journal reporting data more efficiently. Though the racial nomenclature employed in the original documentation is no longer acceptable in modern usage, the original wording of the text is preserved here for the sake of historical accuracy.

 

1866 Convention Journal[1]

Christ Church, Allentown “Two barrels of clothing… to the… Freedmen’s Commission.”

 

1867 Convention Journal[2]

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Freedman’s Commission, $62.96”

Christ Church, Bloomfield to “Freedman’s Commission, $14.50”

St. John’s Church, Boonton to “Freedman’s Commission, $20”

Grace Church, Haddonfield to “Freedman’s Commission, $10”

Trinity Church, Moorestown to “Freedman’s Commission, $13.78”

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “P.E. Freedman’s Com., $42”

Church of the Redeemer, Morristown to “Freedman’s Commission, $16.91”

Christ Church, Newton to “Freedman’s Commission, $37.17”

Christ Church Mission, Waterford to “Freedman’s Commission, $3.80”

 

1868 Convention Journal[3]

Christ Church, Belleville to “Freedmen’s Commission, $7” 

Christ Church, Bloomfield to “Freedman’s Com. Of the P. E. Church, $20.85”

Christ Church, Elizabeth to “Freedman’s Commission, $37.30” 

St. Paul’s, Englewood to “Freedman’s Commission, $35” 

St. Matthew’s, Jersey City to NC normal school for “colored” children $41.85 

Trinity, Moorestown to “Freedmen’s Mission, $10.06” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “Prot. Epis. Freedmen’s Commission, $50.75” 

Church of the Redeemer, Morristown to “Freedmen’s Commission, $18.50” 

St. Andrew’s, Mount Holly to “Freedmen’s Commis., $15.35” 

Trinity, Mount Holly to “P. E. Freedmen’s Commiss., $20.38” 

St. John’s, Passaic to “Aid of Freedmen, $13.37” 

Holy Communion, S. Orange to “Freedmen’s Commission, $13.50” 

Trinity, Swedesboro to “Freedmen’s Commission, $39.50” 

St. Michael’s, Trenton to “Freedmen’s Commission of P.E. Church, $106.50”

 

1869 Convention Journal[4]

St. Mary’s, Burlington to home missions “among colored people” $41.50 

Trinity, Bayonne to home “missions to colored people of P. E. Ch., $40” 

St. Paul’s, Englewood to “Home missions to colored people, $30.85” 

Trinity, Moorestown to “Freedmen’s Mission, $8.04” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “home missions for colored people, $37” 

Grace, Newark to “Freedmen’s Commission, $26.04” 

Trinity, Newark to “Church General Board of Missions for colored people of the South, $237.85” 

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Freedmen’s Commission, $12.61” 

Grace, Orange to “home missions for colored people, $159.18” 

St. Paul’s, Paterson to “P.E. Freedmen’s Mission, $40” 

St. John’s, Salem to “Freedmen’s Commission, $51.77” 

Trinity, Swedesboro to “P.E. Freedmen’s Com., $24.19” 

 

1870 Convention Journal[5]

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “home mission among colored people, $38.81” 

St. Peter’s, Freehold to “home for Colored people, $5” [6]

Trinity, Hoboken to “Home missions to colored people, $17” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “home miss. To colored people, $31” 

St. Philip’s, Newark to Domestic “colored miss., Petersburg, VA., $6.77” 

Trinity, Newark to “Freedmen, $80.40” 

Christ Church, Ridgewood: “Easter offerings for home missions to colored people, $25”  

Trinity, Swedesboro to “P.E. Freedman’s Com., $13.87” 

St. Michael’s, Trenton to “home mission to colored people, $26.96” 

St. John’s Church, Woodside to “Freedmen, $3” 

 

1871 Convention Journal[7]

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Colored People, (in the South,) $27.42” 

Trinity, Bayonne to “Colored people, (in the South,) $40” 

Christ Church, Bloomfield to “Colored People, (in the South,) $14.33”

St. Paul’s, Camden to “Colored People, (in the South,) $20” 

St. John’s, Elizabeth to “Colored People, (in the South,) $200”

Trinity, Hoboken to “Colored people, (in the South,) $12” 

Redeemer, Morristown to “Colored People, (in the South,) $28” 

St. Andrew’s, Mount Holly to “Colored People, (in the South,) $30” 

Christ Church, Newark to “Colored People, (in the South,) $6.50” 

Grace, Newark to “Colored People, (in the South,) $20.35” 

Trinity, Newark to “Colored People, (in the South,) $157.69” 

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Colored People, (in the South,) $28.50”

Grace, Orange to “Colored People, (in the South,) $277.25” 

St. Mark’s, Orange to “Colored People, (in the South,) $61.50” 

Trinity, Red Bank to “Colored People, (in the South,) $7.20”

Christ Church, Ridgewood to “Colored People, (in the South,) $127.57”

Holy Communion, S. Orange to “Colored People, (in the South,) $10” 

Trinity, Swedesboro to “Colored People, (in the South,) $10.21” 

St. Michael’s, Trenton to “Colored People, (in the South,) $12.19” 

 

1872 Convention Journal[8]

Trinity, Bayonne to “Colored people, (in the South,) $16” 

St. Paul’s, Englewood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $32.70” 

Grace, Jersey City to “Colored people, (in the South,) $50” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $49.74” 

St. Paul’s, Newark to “Colored people, (in the South,) per Rev. R.J. Love, $10”

Christ Church, Ridgewood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $100” 

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Colored people, (in the South,) $15.88” 

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy to “Colored people, (in the South,) $9.60” 

St. Peter’s, Spotswood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $12.50” 

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Colored people, (in the South,) $34.68” 

St. Andrew’s, Mount Holly to “Colored people, (in the South,) $20.45”

Trinity, Swedesboro to “Colored people, (in the South,) $17.22”

 

1873 Convention Journal[9]

Trinity, Bergen Point to “Colored people, (in the South,) $201” 

Christ Church, Hackensack to “Colored people, (in the South,) $19.50”

Mission of the Holy Innocents, Hoboken to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $75” 

Trinity, Newark to “Colored people, (in the South,) $89.90” 

Grace, Orange to “Colored people, (in the South,) $40”

St. Paul’s, Paterson to “Colored people, (in the South,) $10.05”

Christ Church, Ridgewood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $83.35” 

St. James, Eatontown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $2” 

St. John’s, Elizabeth to “Colored people, (in the South,) Theol. Education, $500” 

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Colored people, (in the South,) $14” 

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy to “Colored people, (in the South,) $23.25” 

Trinity, Princeton to “Colored people, (in the South,) mite boxes, $22.24” 

St. Peter’s, Spotswood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5”

Trinity, Woodbridge to “Colored people, (in the South,) $25”

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Colored people, (in the South,) $11.05” 

St. Paul’s, Camden to “Colored people, (in the South,) $25” 

St. Andrew’s, Mt. Holly to “Colored people, (in the South,) $18.47”

Christ Church, Riverton to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5”

Christ Church, Waterford to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5”

 

1874 Convention Journal[10]

Church of the Redeemer, Morristown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5” 

St. Peter’s, Morristown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $54.59”

Grace, Orange to “Colored people, (in the South,) $77.29” 

St. Paul’s, Paterson to “Colored people, (in the South,) $60.50” 

Christ Church, Ridgewood to “Colored people, (in the South,) $50”

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Colored people, (in the South,) $20” 

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy to “Colored people, (in the South,) $50”

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Colored people, (in the South,) $40.87” 

St. Stephen, Beverly to “Colored people, (in the South,) $20” 

St. Paul’s, Camden to “Colored people, (in the South,) $25”

Grace, Haddonfield to “Colored people, (in the South,) $11”

Trinity, Moorestown to “Colored people, (in the South,) $4.27”

St. Andrew’s, Mount Holly to “Colored people, (in the South,) $19.52” 

Christ Church, Riverton to “Colored people, (in the South,) $5”

 

1875 Convention Journal[11]

St. Mary’s, Burlington “to Colored people, $29.13” 

Grace, Elizabeth “to Colored people, per Rev. Mr. Love, $15”

Grace, Haddonfield “to Colored people, $6”

St. Andrew’s, Mount Holly “to Colored people, $10”

Trinity, Moorestown “to Colored people, from Sunday School, $12.50” 

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick “to Colored people, $19.50” 

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy “to Colored people, $52”

Christ Church, Riverton “to Colored people, $3”

St. John’s, Salem “to Colored people, $25”

 

1876 Convention Journal[12]

St. Andrew’s, Bridgeton to “home missions to colored people, $5.75”

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “home missions to colored people, $38.76”

St. Paul’s, Camden to “home missions to colored people, $50”

St. Peter’s, Freehold to “home missions to colored people, $2”

Grace Church, Haddonfield to “home missions to colored people, $6.70”

St. Andrew’s, Mt. Holly to “home missions to colored people, $20”

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “home missions to colored people, $20

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy to “home missions to colored people, $20”

Christ Church, Riverton to “home missions to colored people, $5”

Christ Church, Shrewsbury to “home missions to colored people, $12”

Trinity Church, Swedesboro to “home missions to colored people, $32.58” 

 

1877 Convention Journal[13]

St. Stephen’s, Beverly to “home missions to colored people, $8.50”

St. Andrew’s, Bridgeton to “home missions to colored people, (box of clothing), $25

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “home missions to colored people, (including boxes,) $310;”

St. Paul’s, Camden to “Home Missions to colored people, $80”

Christ Church, Elizabeth to “Home Missions to colored people, $33.65”

St. John’s, Elizabeth to “Home Missions to colored people, $140.20”

St. Peter’s, Freehold to “Home Missions to colored people, (individual,) $5”

St. Andrew’s, Mt. Holly to “Home Missions to colored people, $20”

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Home Missions to colored people, $12”

St. Peter’s, Perth Amboy to “Home Missions to colored people, $10”

Christ Church, Riverton to “Home Missions to colored people, $11.65”

Trinity Church, Swedesboro to “Home Missions to colored people, $13.75”

St. Michael’s, Trenton to “Home Missions to colored people, $19”

Trinity Church, Trenton to “Home Missions for colored people, $26.31”

Trinity Church, Woodbridge to “Home Missions to colored people, $10”

 

Reported (separately) through Women’s Auxiliary to the Board of Missions [14]

“One box from Christ Church, Woodbury… $30.00” 

“One box from St. John’s Church, Salem… $94.50”

“One box from St. Andrew’s Church, Bridgeton… $1.00” 

“One box from St. Peter’s Church, Freehold… $20.00” 

“Two boxes from Trinity Church, Princeton… $52.90” 

“Two boxes from St. Mary’s Church, Burlington… $300.00”

 

1878 Convention Journal[15]

St. Mary’s, Burlington to “Home Missions to Colored People, $11.31”

St. Paul’s, Camden to “Domestic Missions, including the colored people, $92.00”[16]

St. John’s, Elizabeth to “Home Missions to Colored People, $42.69”

St. Peter’s, Freehold to “Home Missions to colored people, box of clothing from Woman’s Auxiliary, $48.57” 

St. Andrew’s, Mt. Holly to “Homes [sic] Missions to Colored People, $13.00”

St. Andrew’s, Mt. Holly “for box to Freedmen, $14.00”

St. John the Evangelist, New Brunswick to “Home Missions to colored people, $10.50”

St. John’s, Salem to “Home Missions to Colored People, $94.00”

Trinity, Swedesboro to “Home Missions to colored people, $7.00”

Trinity, Woodbridge to “Home Missions to Colored People, $5.00”

Christ Church, Woodbury to “Home Missions to Colored People, $22”

 

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparations Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

---

[1] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Third Annual Convention Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday, May 30^th, M,DCCC,LXVI (Philadelphia: J.B. Chandler, 1866), 46.

[2] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Fourth Annual Convention Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 29^th and 30^th, MDCCCLXVII (New York: John W. Amerman, 1867), 63-109.

[3] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Fifth Annual Convention, Held in Grace Church, Newark, on Wednesday and Thursday, May 27^th and 28^th, MDCCCLXVIII (New York: John W. Amerman, 1868), 64-107.

[4] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Sixth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 25^th and 26^th, MDCCCLXIX (New York: John W. Amerman, 1869), 47-84.

[5] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Seventh Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in Grace Church, Newark, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 31^st and June 1^st, MDCCCLXX (New York: John W. Amerman, 1870), 51-93.

[6] Not a typo.

[7] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Eighth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 30^th and 31^st, MDCCCLXXI (New York: John W. Amerman, 1871), 53-92.

[8] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Eighty-Ninth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in Grace Church, Newark, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28^th and 29^th, MDCCCLXXII (New York: John W. Amerman, 1872), 53-105.

[9] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninetieth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, On Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27^th and 28^th, MDCCCLXXIII (Newark: The Daily Advertiser, 1873), 60-118.

[10] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-First Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New Jersey, Held in Grace Church, Newark, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 26^th, 27^th and 28^th, MDCCCLXXIV (Newark: The Daily Advertiser, 1874), 84-125.

[11] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Second Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of New Jersey, Held in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 25^th and 26^th, MDCCCLXXV (Trenton: William S. Sharp, 1875), 58-78.

[12] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Third Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. Michael’s Church, Trenton, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 30^th and 31^st, MDCCCLXXVI (Trenton: William S. Sharp, 1876), 137-162.

[13] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-fourth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, In the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. John’s Church, Elizabeth, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 29^th and 30^th, MDCCCLXXVII (Trenton, NJ: John L. Murphy, 1877), 96-126.

[14] It is unclear whether these numbers are included in parochial giving reports, or whether there is no overlap. Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-fourth Annual Convention, 34.

[15] Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of the Proceedings of the Ninety-Fifth Annual Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, In the Diocese of New Jersey, Held in St. Paul’s Church, Camden, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 28^th, and 29^th, MDCCCLXXVIII (Trenton: John L. Murphy, 1878), 88-117.

[16] This giving is only partly for “colored people.”

NESRI Database an Invaluable Resource to New Jersey Slavery Researchers

The Northeast Slavery Record Index (NESRI) is an absolutely invaluable resource for researchers of slavery in New Jersey. It is a searchable database of digitized slavery records of various kinds including "census records, slave trade transactions, cemetery records, birth certifications, manumissions, ship inventories, newspaper accounts, private narratives, legal documents and many other sources." You can search by date, place name, enslaver name, or name of the enslaved. The database is a collaborative project with many sponsors and contributors, but is hosted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The website hosts a very helpful article by Ned Benton and Judy Lynne-Peters about "How Religious Institutions Can Study and Redress Historical Enslavement." The documentation of slavery is obviously not exhaustive, but it is an excellent starting point for churches looking to investigate the ties to slavery of former members or leaders of their congregation.

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

Bishop William H. Stokes on Racism, Slavery, and Reparations in the Church

Originally posted on August 11, 2023, the following article is being republished in the wake of the underlying documents being deleted by the Diocese of New Jersey in February of 2025. The articles can still be found (for now) through archive.org and the Reparations Commission has saved digital copies of the cited articles, but the practice of deleting important records related to racism (even accidentally) must be stopped. We have been able to save these because we were already aware of the target URLs. Many other records that have been deleted may be functionally irretrievable.

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparations Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

--------------------------

Original article begins here:

Bishop Stokes (seated center-right) at the Diocesan Stations of Reparations Service,
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Freehold, New Jersey, March 25, 2023 (photo Jolyon Pruszinski)

The Rt. Rev. William H. Stokes, recently retired Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, made it a special emphasis of the final years of his episcopate to highlight both the historic ties of the Diocese to slavery, and present racism that requires continued redress. His influential support for the work of identifying these problems, repenting, and working to repair them has led, in part, to the creation of the current Diocesan Reparations Commission and to the Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review. Below are links to many of his public communications from the concluding years of his episcopate on these topics:

March 16, 2021: “New Jersey, it’s time to tell the truth” – NJ.com

June 25, 2021: "A Call for the Establishment of a Reparations Task Force in the State of New Jersey

Opening Remarks and Invocation" published in the “Bishop’s Weekly Message – June 25, 2021” 

October 1, 2021: “House of Bishops, Reparations, and Racial Justice” 

 

February 11, 2022: “Absalom Jones and the Legacy of Black Churches” 

March 11, 2022: “Strengthening Disciples for the [God’s] Future (Bishop’s Address to the Diocesan Convention, March 5, 2022” 

June 17, 2022: “June 17 – The Legacy of Juneteenth”

October 7, 2022: “Honoring Indigenous People’s Day”

October 14, 2022: “Affordable Housing is a Gospel Justice Issue”

October 21, 2022: “Oct. 21 – Faith Allies and Darnella Frazier”

February 3, 2023: “Black History Month & Jemar Tisby” 

February 17, 2023: “Confronting the Church’s Complicity with Racism”

March 17, 2023: “Notes on the House of Bishops Meeting”

June 16, 2023: “Juneteenth Observances”

NEWS: Diocesan Slavery History Pilgrimage Featured in GNGS

The Diocese of New Jersey Reparations Commission Slavery History Pilgrimage was recently featured in the April 5, 2025 issue of Good News in the Garden State and was posted by the Diocese of New Jersey to its website. The weather is warming up, so now is a great time to go. Invite a friend, or your whole congregation! The pilgrimage guide can be found here.

“Reparations: My Take” by Cn. Noreen Duncan

Canon Noreen Duncan[1]

One of the original co-conveners of the diocesan Reparations Task Force, Canon Noreen Duncan is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Ewing, New Jersey. While serving on the Reparations Task Force in 2022, Cn. Duncan wrote the following article “Reparations: My Take”[2] to raise the profile of the work within the Diocese of New Jersey: 

 

Merely suggesting that the United States owes the descendants of formerly enslaved Africans on this land recompense for unpaid labor over several centuries causes some of us to push back from the table and go to watch television in another room. Just saying the word “Reparations” triggers some of us. We protest and argue blamelessness, denial: “My people did not own slaves, did not come to the US until recently.” So I am going to use the word, repeatedly, forcefully: Reparations. The United States of America is an ideal, a vision of the best that humankind could be on this planet. The history of the creation of that identity, of that hope that people could offer each other the finest fruits of human endeavor, was not forged in goodness. Even as the designers of that Utopia on Earth were drafting the outline, they—all men—owned other men, raped women, sold children so that they had the leisure and the means to dream the dream. The ideal, forged among men who had the best intentions, did not come without the most terrible price: the enslavement and attempted annihilation of other men, women, and children. So what is owed the hundreds of thousands of the generations of unpaid builders of the ideal, whose descendants still bear the memory of the lash? Reparations. There is no argument that many of the current citizens of the United States are not descended from former slave-owners. Your story is that your ancestor came in through Ellis Island or Angel Island, or illegally entered and never left, bringing only a letter to find a relative and $8.00. Your ancestor lived in the slums of New York, Detroit, San Francisco, worked in the factories and kitchens and sewers, scratched out a gambling survival, scrabbled to grow farms on the Plains. You do not get a pass, however, by merely asserting the obvious because you are a third generation U.S. citizen. You do not get a pass, because as soon as the descendants of the former slave owners needed your ancestors, they declared them white. And with that declaration, your ancestors were able to claim heritage and brotherhood with the former slave-owners, and they, you, accepted it! So that acceptance joins you in the conversation about Reparations.[3]  

 

A tireless advocate in the work of justice, Cn. Duncan has served as the Trinity Cathedral Academy Board president, on the Cathedral Major Chapter, on the Episcopal Church Executive Council, on the Mission Within Joint Standing Committee, and as the Anglican Church of Canada liaison. She has been one of the primary creators and teachers of the diocesan Antiracism training course, training over 300 clergy both domestically and internationally.[4]

 

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparations Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

---

[1] Diocese of New Jersey, “Nominating Committee Report, 238^th Diocesan Convention,” 3: https://dioceseofnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Doc-16-2022-Nom-Cmte-Rpt.pdf). Used with permission.

[2] Noreen Duncan, "Reparations: My Take" was first published February 19, 2022 by the Diocese of New Jersey. It was deleted from the Diocesan website in February 2025. The Diocese of New Jersey Racial Justice Review is posting the text of this article as part of an effort to preserve important historical documents related to slavery, racism, and reparative justice that have recently been deleted from the diocesan website. It is still accessible thanks to archive.org at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220521132323/https://dioceseofnj.org/know_your_story/reparations-my-take/.

[3] Duncan, "Reparations: My Take."

[4] Diocese of New Jersey, “Nominating Committee Report, 238^th Diocesan Convention,” 3.

VIDEO: Interview with Ms. Nataliece Moore of St. Augustine's, Camden

On March 15 of 2024 I had the great privilege of conducting an oral history interview with Ms. Nataliece Moore of St. Augustine's Camden. Here are a few excerpts from our lovely conversation (which also featured in the Stations of Reparations service of repentance at Christ the King Episcopal Church, Willingboro on March 15, 2025):

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparations Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

Rev. John Talbot (1645-1727), “Apostle of New Jersey,” Enslaver

Icon of George Keith (L) and John Talbot (R) displayed at the diocesan headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey.
The Greek to the right of Talbot is translated “The Holy John.” Photo by Jolyon Pruszinski.

One of the earliest priests installed in New Jersey was the Rev. John Talbot, who, together with the Rev. George Keith, worked to plant and sustain many of the earliest congregations in the colony. He served most consistently at St. Mary’s Burlington, where he resided and served in his later years, until his death in 1727.[1] Talbot was best known as a well-established priest who appears to have sought to become the bishop of the colonies through debatably reputable channels.[2] And while the latter years of his priestly service were tarnished by allegations of seeking, and claiming, dubious episcopal authority, he should also be known as an enslaver. This source of his wealth and his practice of enslavement is typically glossed over by church historians, taking a cue from contemporaneous avoidance of the topic. The Rev. Nathaniel Horwood, who immediately followed Talbot in Burlington, insisted that few residents of Burlington owned slaves, and that though some Anglicans in Burlington did enslave Black people, for the most part their servants were white.[3] This articulation of the situation seems to strain to avoid the fact that the wealth of many Anglican Burlington families was tied to plantation ownership (and enslavement) in other locations, particularly the West Indies. Talbot was among those with significant West Indies holdings, as is shown by legal documentation from the time. In her last will and testament, which came into effect only three years after the death of Rev. John Talbot, the widow Mrs. Talbot bequeathed to her children at least seven enslaved persons, most of whom were enslaved in the West Indies.[4] The avoidant treatment of this practice of enslavement has been perpetuated by Episcopal historians, including Nelson Burr,[5] who repeats Horwood’s characterization of Anglican enslavement in Burlington uncritically even as he was aware of the documentary evidence of Talbot’s practice of slavery.[5]

 

Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.

Reparations Commission Research Historian

Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey

---

[1] Robert W. Duncan, Jr., “A Study of the Ministry of John Talbot in New Jersey, 1702-1727: On ‘Great Ripeness,’ Much Dedication, and Regrettable Failure,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church 42.3 (1973): 233-256.

[2] Nelson Burr, The Anglican Church in New Jersey (Philadelphia: The Church Historical Society, 1954), 643-44.

[3] Horwood to the SPG Secretary, from Burlington, April 22, 1728 (SPG Correspondence Letter Book A, Vol. 21, pp. 327-331): https://britishonlinearchives.com/collections/11/volumes/37/the-a-series-letter-books-1702-1737. He writes “There are no large plantations hereabout, so yt ye substance of ye inhabitants does consist in negroes slaves but in trade, they keeping only white servants generally, & they few that keep negroes not about one to a family…”

[4] Anne Talbot, “The Will of Mrs. Talbot,” in George M. Hills, History of the Church in Burlington, New Jersey (Trenton, NJ: William S. Sharp, 1876), 246-47.

[5] But also Robert Duncan in “A Study of the Ministry of John Talbot in New Jersey, 1702-1727.” Duncan, like Burr, is aware of the documentation in Hills’ History of the Church in Burlington.

[6] Burr, The Anglican Church in New Jersey, 225: “Horwood observed that there were no large plantations about the town and therefore few Negro slaves, and that the people were mostly traders and kept white servants.” It is clear from other citations that he is aware of the material reproduced in Hills’ History of the Church in Burlington (See Burr, The Anglican Church in New Jersey, 667-68).