I recently received an ask about runaway slave/indentured servant ads, and being that I have a folder of literally hundreds that I’ve collected over the years I’ve decided to share some of them.
Before I start posting them though, I want to give a quick overview of why I love them so much and why they are so important historically…
The people in the past we usually read about were prominent figures in their own times. People like Alexander Hamilton and George Washington had details of their lives recorded down to the day and sometimes even the hour.
It’s easy to forget that this was not the norm.
Your average resident of the 18th or early 19th century left little trace in the historical record, and what they did leave is largely abstract and impersonal.
A mention in a will or deed. A date in a church ledger. A name on a gravestone.
And even these small traces often occur only with the wealthy and middle class. People who had enough personal property to justify writing a will. People who could afford to buy a gravestone and had family to maintain it.
For the rest of society (slaves, servants, the people on the fringes), the vast majority of the population of early America you are lucky to find anything at all.
Names, dates, lists of property. Information that, while it can paint a picture in broad strokes, often gives you little idea of who these people really were.
What did they look like? What did they wear? Did they have any hobbies? Any personal quirks or interests?
THIS is why ads offering rewards for runaway slaves, indentured servants, apprentices, deserters and missing persons are so amazing…
Mooncustafer 