The sale occurred during the gradual phase out of slavery in New York, where Peter would have been an indentured servant until he was older. Meanwhile, her son Peter was sold into slavery in Alabama. She went to work for the Van Wagenen family, and took their surname. “This is Sojourner Truth, this is where she shows up in this story.”īorn into slavery in or around 1797 in the Hudson Valley, she walked away from the home of her final owner in 1826 with her infant daughter after he reneged on a promise to free her. The rest is legalese and all of that,” said State Archivist Thomas Ruller, pointing at the mark on the page. “This is her DNA left behind on this document. She could neither read nor write, but left a simple “X” on the page by her name. The documents are written in the same sort of lawyer-speak still used in courts today, including Van Wagenen’s testimony.
“We always wondered, ‘Where were these records?’” said Paul O’Neill, Ulster County’s commissioner of jurors. In her brief deposition, she said Peter was 9 years old. Though Truth later recalled that the event happened in open court in the autumn of 1828, court papers indicate it happened that spring, and not in open court, Folts said. Researchers compare the surprising find to coming across missing puzzle pieces.
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