in a tavern with a man of the name
of Broomly. I immediately employed a friend of mine, Mr. Ramsay of
Albany, to negotiate with the man for the purchase of her. He did so
stating that I wished to buy her freedom, in consequence of which the
man readily complied with my wishes, and altho' he declared she was
worth to him L100 (_i.e._, $250) he gave her to me for 50 dollars.
When I saw her, she was overjoyed and appeared as happy as any person
could be, at the idea of seeing her child Dorin, and her children once
more, with whom if Dorin wishes it, she will willingly spend the
remainder of her days. I could not avoid doing this act, the
opportunity seemed to have been thrown in my way by providence and I
could not resist it. She is a good servant yet--healthy & strong and
among you, you may find her useful, I have promised her, that she may
work as much or as little as she pleases while she lives--but from the
character I have of her, idleness is not her pleasure, I could not
bring her with me, she wanted to see some of her children before she
sets out; I have paved the way for her, and some time this month,
Forsyth, upon her arrival here will forward her to you...."

Then follows a pathetic touch:

"I saw old Cato, Lavine's father at Newark, while I was at Col.
Ogden's; he is living with Mrs. Governeur--is well taken care of &
blind--poor fellow came to _feel_ me, for he could not _see_, he asked
affectionately after the family."

In the will of the well-known Colonel John Butler of Butler's Rangers
there are bequests to his son Andrew of "a negro woman named Pat": to
his grandson John of "a Negro Boy named George ... until the said
negro arrives at the years that the Law directs to receive his
freedom" and to John's sister Catharine "a negro girl named Jane" for
a similar time.

[14] _Michigan Hist. Coll._, XIV, p. 659. But the actual effect of the
Ordinance of 1787, even after 1805 was not absolute. "As late as 1807
Judge Woodward refused to free a negro man and woman on a writ of
habeas corpus, holding in effect that as they had been slaves at the
time of the surrender in 1796, there was something in Jay's Treaty
that forbade their release." _Michigan as a Province, Territory and
State_, 1906, p. 339. "There is a tradition that even as late as the
coming of Gen. John T. Mason, as Secretary of the Territory in 1831,
he brought some domestic slaves with him from Virginia. It is not
improbable that a few domestic se