SLAVERY – Maybe it's a good thing we haven't erected a statue of Frenchtown's founder, Paul Henri Mallet-Prevost. Because his Front Street household included at least two enslaved people.
New Jersey passed an abolition law in 1804 that was so gradual that there were still a few hundred African-Americans in the state who were freed when slavery was abolished nationwide in 1865.
When Paul Prevost testified at Aaron Burr's treason trial, he told of an 1806 family rendezvous with Burr in New Hope, Pa. Prevost said his entourage included “a young black nurse,” brought along to take care of his 11-month-old grandchild.
The following year a woman held in legal captivity by Prevost, gave birth to Sophia Nickens. This child was sold to Moses Everitt (1774-1821) of Kingwood Township around 1812, according to Clarence Fargo's “History of Frenchtown.” Nickens was then sold to two other captors in succession, attaining freedom circa 1832. Forty-four years later, at age 69 she was residing in Lambertville, according to the Lambertville Beacon. She died in 1880 in Kingwood Township.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"
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