For 53 years, Thomas Titus and his descendants farmed this plot of land. Once an enslaved person, Thomas Titus lies here in an unmarked grave. Gerardus Beekman, who held him in slavery, was a member of the prominent Beekman family of New York and New Jersey. In 1814, Beekman wrote that Thomas would have freedom after serving his heirs, or any man he chose, until fifteen years had passed from March 1, 1802. Although not yet free, Thomas and his wife, Sarah Tenbroeck, bought a small farm for $50 from Ferdinand Van Dyke in August 1817. On August 3, 1818, Thomas's official manumission was written and filed at the county clerk's office in New Brunswick. He farmed this land for the next 32 years, cultivating oats, wheat, potatoes, and corn near an orchard of peach trees. Thomas and Sarah also raised twelve children, six born after the family's manumission. On July 21, 1849, Thomas Titus died of the Plague at age 64.