Lymas [Elimas or Elymus] Derby - LYMA2

Title

Lymas [Elimas or Elymus] Derby - LYMA2

Name

Lymas [Elimas or Elymus] Derby

Unique Person Identifier

LYMA2

Ancestry

African

Status

Enslaved

Status II

Freed

Status III

Free

Sex

Male

Location or Address

Southold

Enslaver or Household

1) William Albertson; 2) Jeremiah Moore; 3) Henry Packer (H.P.) Dering

Source/s

Original Southold parish register accessed at Ancestry.com under the collection entitled, U.S., Presbyterian Church Records, 1701–1970>New York>Southold>First Presbyterian Church>Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths>1749-1832>image 295/340 [baptism].

The runaway advertisement, published in the National Advocate (New York, New York), ran for at least 11 weeks (March 31, 1815–June 23, 1815).

John Jermain Memorial Library (Sag Harbor) for Bill of Sale, dated April 1, 1817 between Jeremiah Moore and H.P. Dering and Receipt dated April 1, 1819.

Sag Harbor First Presbyterian Church, Meetings and Vital Statistics, 1797-1834, page 120 (marriage record of Lymus and MIra).

The diary of Reverend Epher Whitaker noted the date of Limas's funeral and his age. See Epher Whitaker diary; Whitaker Collection, Southold Free Library, page 211 [unpublished].

In 1872, administration papers of Elymus Derby were filed at Suffolk County Surrogate Courthouse in Riverhead.

"Limas" biographical paragraph taken from J.W. Case, “Kedar and his Family” in Long Island Traveler, January 23, 1879.

Records of town of Southampton, Volume IV. Page 39. (Manumission)

Biographical Text

The will of William Albertson (Liber D: 159, dated August 20, 1815) instructed, "my will is that my negro man Limas be manumitted by my executors...and that they pay him the sum of $25 and give him his clothes...." On March 17, 1816, Albertson added a codicil, "And as to the disposition in my said will made of my negro man Limas and negro girl Margaret, I hereby revoke the same and direct Limas to be manumitted according to the act and his clothing delivered to him...." William Albertson died September 26, 1818; his will was proved October 6, 1818.

In his manumission application, Elymus was referred to as "late a slave of of Henry P. Deering [Dering]." He was 34 at the time of his manumission.

Baptism Date

September 18, 1800

Birth Date

1789, calculated from his reported age (80 years) at the time of his death.

Marriage Date

April 21, 1821 (likely first marriage)

Death Date

August 26, 1869
August 27, 1869 (funeral)

Misc. Date

March 24, 1817 (conveyance from Albertson to Moore). April 1, 1817 (conveyance from Moore to Dering).

Biographical Notes

He was the son of Kedar (#1639) and Pegg (#1640). Oral tradition states he married twice and fathered six children. He likely married his first wife, Mira, in Sag Harbor. It's unknown if they had children. His second wife, Zipporah, died between 1850–1860 [she was enumerated in the 1850 Federal census, but not in 1860].

Lymas can be found in four Federal censuses: 1830 at Southampton, 1840 at Southampton, 1850 at East Hampton, and 1860 at East Hampton. He can be found in the 1865 New York State census, residing in East Hampton/Sag Harbor post office.

A petition to prove his will was submitted to Suffolk County Surrogate Court on November 6, 1869, naming his heirs (he was a widower). His known children include Austin Derby (died 1871 at Sag Harbor), Caroline Derby Cuffee (probably died 1901 at Sag Harbor), Maria Jane [also Jane M.] Derby Youngs (probably died 1902 at Yaphank almshouse), and Margaret Derby.

Files

1800.BAP.Limas_Catherine_Eunice.JPG
1815.Limas runaway advert.Albertson.jpg
1879.Limas_JWCase.JPG
Lymus_HP Dering.pdf
Handwritten-2022-03-17-095740.pdf

Collection

Citation

“Lymas [Elimas or Elymus] Derby - LYMA2
,” Plain Sight Project, accessed March 29, 2024, https://plainsightproject.org/items/show/1643.