This is Caesar, an enslaved man from New York.

He was the last slave to be “manumitted” (freed by his master) in the State of New York, when all forms of slavery were outlawed there in 1841.

He had outlived at least three or four generations of his “masters”, the Nicholls family, and when they allowed him to retire at age 80, he lived with them until he died.

This photograph of him, taken in 1851, has a significance. Caesar was believed to have been born circa 1737, and in the 1850 census, his age was given as 110.

There is no solid documentation of his exact birth due to the time period and poor record-keeping for slaves.

If his age was correct, this would make him the earliest-born person to have been photographed (alive).