Note: All manuscript pictures below are courtesy Pennsylvania Abolition Society Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Some stories deserve to be shouted from rooftops. Others linger quietly in the archives, waiting for someone to pull the thread.
This is how I found the story of Pollidore and Rose. Scattered receipts, various notes, a manumission paper - A folder within a folder that indicated that the documents held together there had a relationship to each other.
An earlier considerate archivist had created a folder of receipts of Black people freeing Black people. I felt that all the stories in this folder were filled with so much love...and sacrifice.
Pollidore and Rose's starts on New Year’s Eve, 1767, at St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia. Rose and Pollidore stood together and said their vows—two people enslaved by the same man, Abraham Mason, trying to claim a sliver of joy under the weight of bondage.
But love, as we know, can be radical. When Mason decided to send Rose south to be sold in Maryland, Pollidore refused to let her vanish. He didn’t have power or property—but he had persistence.
What followed was a two-year campaign to keep his family whole.
I found a receipt showing that he had been paying Mason over time for Rose's freedom. This also means that Pollidore must have been working over time. As an enslaved person most of his day would have been work done without any payment. Any additional funds he made would have been outside of work, after hours.
The 1838 team went to St. Peters to see where Pollidore and Rose got married. To our delight, the docents invited Matthew Palmer to tell the story...from the pulpit!
He gave ten pounds himself. This was a huge amount of money at the time, nearly $3000 today. We know that he had some influence on others to help with paying for Rose's freedom because there is a list of subscribers, mostly white Quakers, who pitched in what they could. A pound here. Three shillings there. We have a note that indicates that he carried it around with him as he went to visit each of these folks.
Even still, Rose's legal status was tenuous. She moved from enslavement to indenture with Pollidore working the whole time to raise money to pay first one identure, and then, due to a change in circumstances, two identitures.
All of it to say: she matters to me.
By 1771, with their child on the way, Joseph Pemberton stepped in and paid the final sum. Rose was free. And that fall, their daughter Sarah was born into a very different world than the one her parents had known.
We don’t have letters from Pollidore. No dramatic speeches. Just ledgers and receipts and indentures—paper trails of a man who bent the system using the only tools he had: relationships, reputation, and relentless effort.
It’s easy to talk about resistance as rebellion. But sometimes resistance looks like showing up, again and again, with a quiet kind of fury. Like Pollidore.
Let us remember: before the Pennsylvania Abolition Society was even formed, Black Philadelphians like him were already organizing, fundraising, and advocating.
Hurry to our Free, As One Exhibit where you can see all of Pollidore's receipts up close!
Here is the full detail of Pollidore's efforts:
Rose and Pollidore (Polydore) are married
Dec 31, 1767 – Rose and Pollidore are married on New Years Eve at St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia. Both are enslaved by Abraham Mason.
Abraham Mason Sends Rose to Maryland to be Sent Further South
1770 – Mason sends Rose to Maryland to be sold for £50. Pollidore begins urgent efforts to get her back.
Pollidore Bargains and Makes a Partial Payment, Keeping Rose in Philadelphia
June 1, 1770 - An arrangement must have been made to get Rose back. We see that in early June, someone (we believe this is Mason) acknowledged that Pollidore had give £10 for Rose's freedom.
Rose Moves Legally from Enslavement to Indentured Servant when Joseph Yeates Pays Abraham Mason the Remaining Amount for Rose
June 6, 1770 - Perhaps the arrangement that was made was between Mason and a man named Joseph Yeates because on June 6, a week later, we see that Yeates is now acknowledging the receipt of the £10. We infer from this receipt that Yeates must have paid the remaining balance.
It seems as if Pollidore asked Yeates to basically take Rose on as an indentured servant ("Pollidore has offered to sell her for a term"). Indentures used the same language as enslavement. Instead of indicating that the person involved in the indenture contract would be working, they often refer to the person under contract as an object to be sold.
June 20, assumed 1770 - Pollidore must have been working and paying for Rose over a long period. This receipt shows many payments. This also means that Pollidore must have been working overtime. As an enslaved person most of his day would have been work done without any payment. Any additional funds he made would have been outside of work, after hours.
Mid-1770 – Mason agrees to reduce the price to £45. Joseph Yeates provides a bond, and Pollidore gives £10 toward Rose’s return.
Joseph Yeates Indicates that He Needs to be Paid Back, so Pollidore Works to Find Funders to Pay Joseph Yeates.
Summer 1770 – To raise the funds to pay Yeates, Pollidore influences a network of Quaker allies who "do agree to lend unto Rose...towards her obtaining freedom."
John Pemberton
John Head
James Pemberton
Joseph Pemberton
William Savery
William Clifton
Isaac Gray
John Graves
John Wister
Richard Peter
Charles Pemberton
William Goddard
Thomas Hamill
John Reynell
Henry
George Emlen
Joshua Emlen
Thomas Rogers
James Parish
Thomas Paschall
Sam Pleasants
Rose's Legal Status Again Becomes Unstable when Yeates Indicates That Time is Up and Payment Needed to be Immediately Made
Aug 16, 1770 – Yeates places an ad to sell Rose's indenture contract. This would mean that Rose could possibly be moved out of Philadelphia again. A plan is formed to sell Rose’s labor under indenture for several years.
Rose's Contract is Purchased by Rich Porter, Keeping her in Philadelphia
Sept 6, 1770 – Rich Porter takes the indenture for six years. However the amount is not the full amount that Yeates felt he was owned, and so this puts Rose in a situation of having two contracts. Technically, Yeates can still make a claim, and move Rose out of Philadelphia.
Knowing Rose's Tenuous Legal Status, Pollidore Visits Subscribers to Encourage them to Pay
Sept 17, 1770 – A notice is issued urging remaining subscribers to pay, so Pollidore can “obtain a clearance” for his wife. This note says "The bearer Pollidore". We assume that Pollidore went to visit each person and showed them this letter, and offered a personal plea to help him purchase Rose's freedom.
In 1771, Rose is Finally Manumitted, Just Before the Birth of Her Daughter
July 25, 1771 – Pollidore and Rich Porter must have had a conversation that Rose would need to be released from his contract. Pollidore's leadership in all of these negotiations is indicated Porter's note that Poladore has 'the liberty' to find another contract. He notes that Rose is “honest and not addicted to drinking”. It is likely that this note was written the same day that Joseph Pemberton writes the manumission. These notes may all be legal transference documents that occured at the same time.
July 25, 1771 – Joseph Pemberton pays the final amount to Joseph Yeates, freeing Rose from the Yeates contract. This manumission paper says that Joseph Yeats had died. This could mean that his estate would be recalling all debts, putting more pressure to free Rose immediately. In this Manumission paper, we see that Rose and her child are "Discharged from my service." We see also that she was pregnant as there is reference to nursing costs for "child bed".
Sept, 1771 – Rose gives birth to their daughter Sarah.
March 10, 1772 – Sarah is baptized. The family is finally together and free.
Sources:
Pennsylvania Abolition Society papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Collection 0490, Series IV Manumission and Identitures, Box 3A, Folder 18 Indentures and releases: both parties to contracts being black 1770-1771, 1793, 1796, 1801, 1803, 1807, 1809, 1813, 1817-1818.
Baptismal Record, St. Peters Church, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, U.S., Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Church Records, 1759-1972 - Ancestry.com. (2023). Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62460/records/105631340
Marriage Register. St Peter's Church, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, U.S., Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Church Records, 1759-1972 - Ancestry.com. (2021). Ancestry.com. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62460/records/641051