I Samuel Rowland of Sussex County on Delaware Yeoman do hereby manumit & set absolutely free my Negro Girl called Frances aged about sixteen years, so that she shall henceforth be deemed adjudged and taken for & as a free Woman to all Intents & Purposes and at Liberty to act for herself without the Lett Hindrance or Molestation of Me or any other Person or Persons claiming or to claim by from or under Me forever: and I do hereby further bind myself my Heirs Executors Administrators & every of them in the penal Sum of one hundred Pounds lawful Money of this Government unto the afsd Negroe Frances, to be recovered of such of us as may attempt to deprive her or her Liberty as afsd; and likewise in the same Sum to compel such of us, as may make such an attempt, to do or perform any other Act or Deed that she may reasonably require or need in Order to further confirm and establish her just Liberty granted as afsd. In Witness ^whereof I do hereto set my Hand & affix my Seal this Eleventh Day of the first Month in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred & seventy eight. Samuel Rowland {seal}

Sealed & delivered in the presence of Warner Mifflin Isaiah Rowland William Wilson Philena Lay Susanna Cox

N.B. I do hereby before the sealing and delivery hereof reserve the Government over the afsd negro Frances, till she arrives of lawful age towitt eighteen & then to be free as above said.

Record Examined Warner Mifflin

U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935; Delaware, Kent County, Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, Manumissions 1774-1792

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2189/images/31906_275426-00501?pId=2350954

Transcribed 21 May 2026 by Nancy Maliwesky