"don't quite understand what appears to deliberate badgering"
George,
I would be the last one to badger anyone. I just don't think that having slaves in New York in the early 1700's has anything to do with what we have been discussing. I think the first slaves were brought to our shores at Virginia in the middle 1600's but that don't have anything to do with it either. For the most part we talk about the period from 1860 to 1865 give or take a few years. Slavery was illegal in Illinois but it existed in south eastern Illinois, the area we call Little Egypt for a long time. Perhaps up to the start of hostilities. There was a place near Golconda that had a "breeding facility" It was located in a very large two story house that still exists as far as I know where they had females and larger males that they breeded for strength and stamina so they could work harder in the fields. I assume that they sent the harvest south to someone. Not really sure where they went.
As I stated a few days ago, in 1860 we had six slaves living in Springfield. I don't know what they did but no one stopped it either.
FC