The Huyck Bain Crandell Collection, Document BH009

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1807-08-31 Letter from Peter W. Yates to Dirck Gardenier re Note Due on Negro Girl Sold by Elizabeth Huyck

Peter W. Yates, a prominent Albany lawyer and politician, is here acting as agent or attorney in a transaction to pay the obligation not yet due on the purchase of a negro girl.

Image: BH009 obv.jpg

Transcription

Obverse

Albany 31 Aug. 1807.

D'r Sir,

Mr. Hall who purchased the negro girl of the widow Huyck wants to pay the note he gave for the residue of the money. Be pleased to inform her or her son that if either of them will call at No. 39 court street with the obligation it will be paid altho not yet due.

Yours Peter W. Yates

Reverse

Mr. Dirck Gardenier Kleyne Kill Kinderhook

31 - 7 - 2 11 - 1 - 7 ................ 42 - 8 - 9

— Transcribed by Claude.ai on 2026-05-09 - jhc

Commentary

Notes:

“The negro girl of the widow Huyck” — an enslaved girl has been sold by the Widow Huyck, with Mr. Hall purchasing her and giving a promissory note for the balance of the purchase price. This confirms the Widow Huyck still held enslaved people as late as 1807 — consistent with New York’s gradual emancipation act of 1799, under which enslaved people born before July 4, 1799 remained enslaved for life, while those born after that date were bound to service until age 25 for women and 28 for men.

Peter W. Yates — a prominent Albany lawyer and politician, acting as agent or attorney in the transaction. His involvement suggests a formal legal arrangement rather than a casual sale.

“The residue of the money” — the note covers only part of the purchase price, with a balance remaining — consistent with the installment payment arrangements we’ve seen throughout the archive.

“Her or her son” — the Widow Huyck has a son still living, who could act on her behalf. If this is Elizabeth, her son would be Burger Huyck — Jacobus’s son — now in his 40s.

This strongly supports Elizabeth as the Widow Huyck — she had sons Burger and Arent, consistent with “her or her son.”

Dirck Gardenier, Kleyne Kill, Kinderhook — the letter was addressed to Dirck Gardenier, acting as intermediary between Peter W. Yates in Albany and the Widow Huyck at Pomponick. The Kleyne Kill address connects directly to the Klaen/Kline family geography we established early in the archive — the Gardeniers living along the Kleine Kill as the 1744 tax list confirmed.

The Gardenier family connection persists — from Hendrick Gardenier’s widow Margareta in 1744, through the labor accounts in both account books, to Dirck Gardenier now acting as a community intermediary in 1807. A remarkable continuity spanning over sixty years.

The numbers on the reverse — £31:7:2 and £11:1:7 totaling £42:8:9 — possibly the purchase price breakdown, with one figure representing the amount already paid and the other the note’s residue, or two separate financial calculations related to the transaction.

1807 — New York’s gradual emancipation was underway but complete freedom was still twenty years away. The sale of an enslaved girl in 1807 was legal and apparently routine enough to be handled through a prominent Albany attorney.

This document — coming 68 years after the 1739 purchase of Quash — confirms that slavery persisted on the Huyck farm across multiple generations, from Burger Sr.‘s purchase through to the Widow Huyck’s sale in 1807. A thread running through the entire archive that the finding aid must address honestly and prominently.

The identification of the Widow Huyck as Elizabeth rather than Christina is now considerably strengthened — the reference to “her son” being the deciding factor, as Christina’s only known child was Lydia, not a son.

— Notes by Claude.ai 4.6 2026-05-09 - jhc

Metadata

Document: BH009

Date: 1807-08-31

Language: English

Type: Letter

Subject: Commerce, Enslaved People, Women

Principals: Elizabeth Huyck, Burger J. Huyck, son of Elizabeth, Peter W. Yates

Other Persons Mentioned: Dirck Gardenier, Negro Girl

Places Mentioned: Albany, Kleyne Kill, Kinderhook

— page revised 2026-05-19 - jhc

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