by Davy James, Staff Writer
As time passes, some of South Brunswick’s history has been lost in the name of progress and development.
For one township resident that loss is tragic, which is why James Shackleford is working to save some of South Brunswick’s historical sites, particularly those with a connection to slavery.
In celebration of Black History Month, Mr. Shackleford spoke to students at Crossroads North Middle School on Monday and detailed the history of slavery in South Brunswick and his work researching it.
”When I first found out about the history of slaves in South Brunswick my reaction was disbelief,” Mr. Shackleford said. “I had no idea. I didn’t know slavery was in New Jersey, I thought it was only down South.”
The longtime Dayton resident has spent more than eight years researching the history and stories behind slavery in South Brunswick. His passion for slave graveyards has led him to become an expert on slavery in Central Jersey, and has led to appearances on the public access program History Hunters and interviews on Air America radio and several newspapers including the New York Times.
”Central New Jersey’s slave history hides under a cover of ignorance and indifference,” Mr. Shackleford said. “In 1750, when people settled in South Brunswick, if you had to clear the land then you had to purchase slaves. That’s why they were brought in, to clear the land.”
Mr. Shackleford spent countless hours consulting numerous sources while mining for information. He said that if he spent eight hours researching to come up with two sentences of information, he was thrilled.
Mr. Shackleford told the students that by 1738 there were more than 4,000 slaves in the state. He also told the children about some of South Brunswick’s historical slave sites, such as Titus Farm, which located off of New Road.
”Titus Farm is a property that was purchased by a man named Thomas Titus, who was a freed slave,” Mr. Shackleford said. “In 2007 a barn on the property caught fire and burned down. When South Brunswick tore that barn down, they also tore down the other structures on the property. That is history lost and that is what I fight against. That’s a heartbreaker for someone like me because we can’t get this back.”
The history lost when the property was torn down is of great concern to Mr. Shackleford.
”Right now Thomas Titus’ headstone is lying on a pallet in the South Brunswick Public Works building surrounded by trucks and tools.”
Mr. Shackleford told the students about the fight to save the Van Dyke Farm and its farmhouse, built in 1713, with slave quarters still intact. The property was purchased by a developer in 2005 who is seeking to build a 76-unit housing development on the land.
”In the Van Dyke House we physically have a place where slaves lived,” Mr. Shackleford said.
Mr. Shackleford said he hopes the students gain more of a connection with South Brunswick from what they learned.
”I hope the kids take away a sense of community,” he said. “Our society has a lot of movement and a lot of these kids aren’t living where they were born so they don’t have that connection to their roots.”
Mr. Shackleford said he hopes his work inspires more people to learn about the history of the area before its lost.
”I think most people just don’t know what went on here,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of history in this area and some wonderful things happened here. But people will never become interested in it if we don’t show them.”

