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Administrative History
A law of 1799 (Chapter 62) entitled "An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery" stated that any child born to a slave in New York State after July 4, 1799, would be free but would remain the servant of his mother's master until, if male, he reached his 28th birthday; if female, her 25th birthday. Within a year of the child's birth, the master had the right to abandon all claims to his service by filing a certificate of abandonment with the town clerk. Abandoned children of slaves were to be supported at the state's expense by the local overseers of the poor.
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