“Negro George” lived in Morris County and his life was worth $300.
That is according to the New Jersey residents who bought and sold him multiple times between 1806 and 1808 and neatly recorded his name and price in a sales contract now in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society.
What was his actual name? How old was he? What kind of labor was he forced to do? From whom in his family was he separated? The contract provided no answers. One thing that is clear: George, like the other enslaved Black people who helped to build the wealth of the Garden State, did not receive wages for his forced labor.