Caesar ( ( supposedly) – 1852) was an enslaved person who is notable for possibly being the earliest-born person ever photographed while alive, when his

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

was taken in 1851. He was also the last slave to be

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

in New York.

Biography

Caesar was supposedly born in 1737, on the property of Rensselaer Nicoll, who owned the Bethlehem House property in

Bethlehem, New York Bethlehem is a town in Albany County, New York, United States. The town's population was 35,034 at the 2020 census. Bethlehem is located immediately to the south of the City of Albany. Bethlehem includes the following hamlets: Delmar, Elsmer ...

. Within his lifetime, Caesar had outlived at least three or four generations of masters on the Nicoll estate in Bethlehem. He was allowed to retire in 1817, at the age of 80, and lived with the Nicoll family until his death. Although most slaves in New York were freed by July 4, 1827, he was not officially manumitted until around 1841, when all forms of slavery were banned in New York. In 1849, the artist G. W. Woodward had a sketch of Caesar drawn as he sat dozing in a chair, which has since been lost. In 1851, his final master's son persuaded Caesar to sit for a

portrait, one of the earliest photographic images of an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. The 1/6th plate daguerreotype later became known as ''Daguerreotype of Caesar: A slave''. A note included with the portrait reads: "Ceasar , born a slave of Van R. Nicoll, son of William, in 1737 at Bethlehem, N.Y., where he died in 1852. The last slave to die in the North. This daguerreotype was taken in 1851. His 2nd master was Francis Nicoll, son of Van R. Nicoll and his 3rd master Wm. Nicoll Sill, grandson of Francis who left all to his wife Margaret Sill . . ." Caesar died in 1852, aged 115, according to the inscription on his marble tombstone, in the state of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Currently no contemporary evidence has been found which can verify his age. Only his year of death is certain. If his age is confirmed, he would not only be one of the earliest-born persons ever photographed (surpassing

Conrad Heyer Conrad Heyer (April 10, 1749 – February 19, 1856) was an American farmer, veteran of the American Revolutionary War, and centenarian who is notable for possibly being the earliest-born person to have ever been photographed. Biography H ...

and other such claimants), he would be one of the longest-lived Americans on record.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar 1737 births 1852 deaths 18th-century American slaves 19th-century American slaves Bethlehem, New York History of photography Longevity claims