Nov.3, 1820, Private & Temporary Acts 45th G.A., p. 139.
1. BE IT ENACTED by the Council and General Assembly of this state, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That it shall and may be lawful for the said John Boyd, to take his male negro slave named Sam, about twenty-one years of age, his female negro slave Dinah, about seventeen years of age, and his negro boy named Ned, fifteen years of age on the fifteenth day of October, eighteen hundred and twenty, bound to service, from this state to the state of New-York: Provided, That previous to the removal of the said slaves, and negro boy Ned, they shall severally, without any threats, constraint or compulsion, before two of the judges of the court of common pleas, in and for the county of Sussex, on private examination, express and declare their free will and consent, so to be taken and removed; and the consent of the wife of the said negro slave, named Sam, to the removal of her husband, shall be obtained in like manner; and the said John Boyd shall obtain a certificate of such consent of each of the said negroes, in writing, signed by the said judges, and have the same recorded in the clerk's office of the said county of Sussex; which said certificate shall contain the names, age and sex of each of his said negroes, and the time for which the said John Boyd is now entitled to the service of the said negro boy, named Ned, by the laws of this state.
A. Passed November 3, 1820.