From the February 1999 Issue --
INDENTURED
SERVANTS
by Karen Mullian
The institution was not considered inhumane - many of our Quaker
ancestors came to Pennsylvania and other colonies
as indentured servants to more well-to-do Friends. Still, it is
certainly true that there were probably as many
miserable masters of indentured servants as there were miserable
slavemasters. Servant's time was certainly not
his or her own during the term of servitude; however, for the most
part, those who hired themselves out under such
terms knew that, assuming all went well and there was no sickness or
pregnancy, then after a specific period of
time, and the time varied greatly, they would be free.
Generally speaking, servants could not marry during the term of their
indenture. If a female servant became pregnant,
regardless of who the father of the child might be, her term could be
extended for the period of time during which
she was incapable of working due to pregnancy and any consequences
thereof. If an indentured servant was accused
of fathering a child, he could face legal action and if the mother of
the child was another servant, the time she
might miss on account of her condition could be added to the
servant-father's time as well as her own. Servants
(and bound apprentices) were also expected, if learning a trade, to
keep all the "mysteries" of the trade
secret, a holdover from the medieval trade guilds.
Servants were usually to work for a set number of years at a specific
trade, if one was already had, or learning
a trade could be part of the bargain. Women usually were to be trained
in the skills of housewifery, far more demanding
than anything housewives do today. I know this, because I have been
learning 18th century housewifery skills for
the last 8 years. At the end of the term, the servant would be given
his or her freedom dues a suit of clothes,
sometimes along with hand-farming implements (grubbing hoe, rakes,
etc.), and his or her freedom.
Those servants who came over to work for a specific person in this
country were one type of indentured servants.
Early on in the founding of Pennsylvania, indentured servants were
granted a tract of land, an incentive established
by William Penn to induce young landless individuals to settle his
colony. They were often kinsmen or members of
the same community as their masters who would pay their passage, and
the time they served as to repay the master
for footing the bill of transatlantic travel.
There were also redemptioners, generally Germans and sometimes Scots,
whose passage was paid for by the shipmaster
and then their contracts were sold to the highest bidder when they
landed in a port. Sometimes whole families came
over this way. The Pennsylvania Gazette is full of ads from people
looking for siblings with whom they had come
over but as the families were split up and individuals sold to masters
from different parts of the colony, they
hadn't seen them in years. Sometimes they never saw one another again.
Although the average age for ordinary children to be bound as an
apprentice to learn a trade was 14, poor children
could be bound out as early as 18 months to 3 years of age for periods
as long as 18-20 years, or until they reached
maturity (usually 21 for males, 18 for females), as evidenced by a list
of indentured servants who were bound out
under the guidance of the Guardians of the Poor of the City of
Philadelphia now housed by the Philadelphia City
Archives. Some of the trades to be learned were weaving, shallop
fishing, husbandry (farming), housewifery, cordwaining,
tobaccanist, shoemaker, joinery (carpentry), tanning, and curriery
(sp?). Sometimes all the indenture says is that
the child is to learn to read, write and cipher. or to read, sew, knit,
and spin, especially in indentures before
1762.
After that time, the expectation changed to specify the freedom dues as
well, such as "Farmer, read, write,
cipher, 2 compleat suits of apparel, one to be new" or "Read, write,
cypher to rule of 3, spade, axe,
grubbing hoe, and sickle, freedom." In the case of Anne Callins who was
indentured in 1768 for 15 years to
William Moore of West Caln, she was to be trained in "housewifery,to be
taught to read, write, and cipher,
and sew, knit and spin, and to have the customary freedoms." Elizabeth
Baley in 1770 was bound to Matthew
Taylor of Edgmont for 15 years and she was to be taught "housewifery,
sew, knit, and spin, to read in the
Bible, and write a legible Hand." Gabriel Stevenson was bound for six
years in 1770 to Thomas Swain of Ridley
who was to provide Gabriel with 12 months of school six months of which
were to be in the last year of his term.
In 1779 Thomas Bubridge (possibly Burbridge) was bound to Edward Horne
of Darby and was to learn "the trade
of a farmer or fuller, read the Bible, write a legible hand, and cipher
as far as the Rule of 3, with the customary
dues." Edward Hoope was bound in 1799 for 3 years to John Jones of
Radnor, "to be taught the art &
mistery of a mariner."
Undoubtedly, many of these children became like members of the family.
Not surprisingly, some probably opted to
bolt at the first opportunity. There were many advertisements in local
papers, primarily the Pennsylvania Gazette,
the Pennsylvania Evening Post, and the Virginia Gazette. These
advertisements, while necessarily subjective, often
provide a detailed description of facial features, hair color, height,
and the clothing the person "had on
and took with" him or her. The clothing descriptions alone give a
fascinating look at the wide variety of
clothing worn (and stolen) by runaway servants.