The Townsend family slave Bible returns to Raynham Hall Museum after being successfully bid on at the Monday, Feb. 28 auction at the Swann Galleries' 10th Annual African-Americana auction in New York City.

"It's a wonderful thing that the Bible's come home to Raynham Hall. I really do think there are certain things whose value is so intrinsic to Raynham Hall, that they really belong there," said Scott Greenfield. An Oyster Bay Cove resident, Mr. Greenfield went with Raynham Hall Museum Director Sarah Abruzzi; Friends of Raynham Hall Museum Board President Frances Mortati; and Past President Alice Gromisch to help in the auction process. He's been on the other side of the gavel, acting as the auctioneer at their recent galas.

The 1771 Bible contains a contemporary inscription on the front pastedown which states "Bible for the Servants in the House of Samuel Townsend Oyster Bay Long Island" and the inscriptions at the end of the volume give the dates of births and deaths of the Townsend slaves. The pre-auction estimate for the Bible was between $3,000 to $4,000. The Townsend Slave Bible is 6.5 inches tall and 4 inches wide. It is 2 inches thick.

There is no information available about whom last owned the Bible. Wyatt Day, an Africana expert at the Swann Galleries obtained the Bible from a reliable source. Adam M. Walker of Janine Gordon Associates, who publicized the sale, said, "the provenance is absolutely clean." It is important to the auctionhouse that the seller remains anonymous. The same is true of the woman who financed the purchase for the museum.

The museum got the Bible for a final bid of $9,000. Add to that the buyer's premium and the total was $10,350.

"This time around we were incredibly fortunate in that we have an anonymous donor who has been incredibly generous. She truly believed we should have this piece. Try as I would she doesn't want her name out there," said Ms. Abruzzi.

She said, "Scott Greenfield has been very helpful to us at our auctions. He was the one who did the bidding for us. He was the one who was cool and collected. It all went pretty quickly. The Bible was one of the few items that morning that seemed to garner a lot of attention. Many items came and went without much interest and some were more significant, including the Bible. When its time came up, there was immediate interest in the room. The bidding started at about $2,800 and went up in increments of $500. There was a woman in the room who was biding; there was one person on the telephone and another had pre-arranged a bid, so there were four of us vying on the Bible. I could barely focus," she said. The four really wanted to be sure they got the Bible.

The Bible was expected to be delivered to the museum on Monday, March 7. The collection committee met on Thursday, March 3, and while no decision has been made, Ms. Abruzzi said she expected the Bible to be part of their fall exhibit which will open in early September. "We are thoroughly excited," she said adding, there are a lot of things they have to do to showcase the Bible. "We have to make a plan and develop a program around the slaves. It will be unique for this area and the Bible is invaluable."

She thanked the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot for calling to alert her of the auction. "Thank you so much," she said. "We wouldn't have known about the auction otherwise," she said. The Swann Galleries sent an e-mail about the auction to this newspaper.

Tom Kuehhas, Oyster Bay Historical Society director said, "I was a little disappointed that the owner didn't approach Raynham Hall initially, instead of putting it up for auction. I understand they wanted money but they could have asked for a fair price. I think the museum should have been given the right of first refusal. I am happy they managed to get the bible. It would have been a big loss for Oyster Bay if they had been outbid."

Mr. Kuehhas said the OBHS has a census of slaves going back into the 17th century. "The first freed slave that we know of was a man named Tom Gall. He was manumitted in 1685. Manumitted means being officially freed according to his former master's will. It happened on Oct. 26, 1685. The document said, 'This is to certify that I Mary Andrews do hereby declare that Tom the negro, formerly my mother's servant has performed what he was to do by my mother Alice Crabbs will and testament and therfore no longer to be in bondage but to be a free man from this day to the day of his death'. It is the earliest manumission of a slave on Long Island according to the town records."

Mr. Kuehhas said, "Not knowing that such a thing as the Townsend Slave Bible existed before, it is so nice now to be able to document that part of Raynham Hall's history." He said that slavery was abolished in New York State on Nov. 28, 1819.

The Lists of Names

One page of writing inside the Bible says:

Jeffrey son of Susanah was born the 7th day of July 1769.

Catharine daughter of Susan was September 1792.

Lilly daughter of Susan was born September 1774.

Susannah (sic) died of the small pox 1779.

Harry the son of Jane the daughter of Susan was born the 19th of February 1783.

Rachel the daughter of Jane and Gabriel was born the 3rd of September 1786.

Violet the daughter of Hannah was born the 29th of April 1787. Died January 1795. Susanah the daughter of Jane and Gabriel was born the 8th of June 1788.

Mary Ann the daughter of Jane and Gabriel born 1790.

Another page continued the list of names:

Nancy, Kate, Jim and Josh were also the children of Gabriel and Jane, born after those whose births are recorded on the opposite page. They were coloured people (slaves) belonging to the family of Samuel Townsend of Oyster Bay, long Island, State of New York.

Gabriel and Jane were given to his son Solomon Townsend, upon his marriage, and settling in the City of N.Y. after the revolution, about the year 178?.

Richard Ryan, director of the Townsend Society in America said the first Federal Census was taken 1790. The US Constitution was adopted in 1787 and it required that a census be taken every 10 years. The first census in 1790 is listed by county and town. As a result it is possible to correlate the information in the Townsend Bible with the statistics in the census, he said.

The Friends of Raynham Hall are holding a gala fund-raising event on March 12 at The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on Centre Island. The Friends of Raynham Hall will gratefully honor the Atlantic Steamer Fire Company #1 and the Oyster Bay Fire Company #1 at the event, due to the protecting the museum from fire - twice.

The invitation invites guests to "A Bon Voyage Party," from when Robert and Edythe Townsend of Raynham Hall were off on a two-month European voyage, their first transatlantic passage. The invitation states: "In real life Robert, the son of Solomon Townsend II, was a successful lawyer who was graduated from Columbia College as the most popular man in his class. In 1885 he founded Oyster Bay's first newspaper, The Oyster Bay Pilot."

That newspaper is now the Oyster Bay Enterprise Pilot, after it incorporated with the East Norwich Enterprise on June 3, 1926. For information about the gala, please call 922-6808.