Delaware Day 2020 - Expanding the Delaware Story:  James Summers
Channel: DelawareHistory
Date: 2020-12-03

James Summers was born a free Black man in the later part of the 18th century. He married an enslaved woman, meaning his children were enslaved at birth. By 1797, he had worked out an arrangement with the family that held his children in bondage and was able to sign the manumission document setting them free in the Recorder of Deeds office in the State House (now Old State House) in Dover, Delaware.

Additional information:
• https://bit.ly/ManumissionDocument - Manumission document of Ruth and Thomas Summers - Source: Delaware Public Archives
• No online information is available at this time. Research continues by division staff and the descendants of James Summers. 

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