George Johnston depones, that he was sent over to Virginia by an uncle, to be put under the care of a friend there; that the ship in which he sailed was called the Indian Queen, Captain Ferguson, commander; and the said ship sailed from Aberdeen, and had above sixty boys on board, under indentures to serve for a number of years in Virginia: That, as the deponent has been frequently informed, many of these boys were engaged by different artifices to enter into the said indentures, without the consent of their parents; and the deponent particularly knows, that there were two brothers went over in the said ship, viz. James and William Sheds, the eldest of whom was about fifteen years of age, and the other about six years; that these two brothers were bought by one John Graham, in Quantigo Creek, in Virginia; that the eldest served out the time of his indenture, which was five years, and the youngest was adjudged to serve the said John Graham until he was twenty-one years of age [1].

Depones, that he has been well informed, that James Abernethy, John Elphingstone, and John Burnet, merchants in Aberdeen, were very much employed in engaging boys as aforesaid.

Depones that he knows that six or seven of the boys before-mentioned were sold [2] in Virginia [3] to different masters; one of them, named Thomas Whitehead, was sold to the deponent's master; that one of them, called James Shed, the youngest of the two Sheds above-mentioned, was sold to a planter within three miles of where the deponent lived; that he deserted his master's service, was apprehended and whipped [4] for so doing, and adjudged to serve for a year longer than otherwise he was obliged to do, he having deserted his service for the space of a month.

Depones, that he knows that in the year 1745, there came a ship from Aberdeen to Virginia, and that he was particularly acquainted with Thomas Whitehead above-mentioned, who, upon recollection, he remembers came over a passenger in that ship, and not in the ship before-mentioned; that the said Thomas 'Whitehead acquainted the deponent, that he was engaged by James Abernethy, merchant in Aberdeen, to go to Virginia to serve there.

Depones, that the boys brought over as above, and engaged to serve in Virginia, are in use to be maintained by their masters during the time of their service; and at the end of their service to get 50s. sterling [5], and have no other encouragement.

Depones, that during their service, they are commonly very harshly used by their masters, and kept upon a very coarse diet, so that they are often forced to desperate measures, and to make away with themselves.

Depones, that he returned to Britain in the end of the year 1745, and soon thereafter came to Aberdeen: and that there several of the parents of the children that had gone over with him, came to the deponent, and with great anxiety inquired after their children; and particularly one Helen Law asked the deponent about her son, and at the same time poured out a great many curses upon the said James Abernethy for decoying young boys and sending them to America, and particularly her own son; and this she did in presence of the said James Abernethy.

And depones, that the deponent was sent down by his master, along with John Spriggs, to bring up, the said Thomas Whitehead, together with several others of the boys that came along with him, in order for gale.

Depones, that he never saw the pursuer [Peter, who was conducting this inquiry] in Virginia, but has good reason to believe he was there, not only because some of his nearest relations had told him so, but that himself had conversed particularly with him, with regard to several persons and places there, of which he gave a just and true account.

1. 16 years of forced servitude

2. To be sold and used as the buyer sees fit, does not qualify as slavery to Modern Americans and academics, but as something less, usually called indentured servitude, a term that was used and preferred by the masters, but often rejected by the servants who spoke of themselves as slaves. How is the buying, selling, beating and starving of children against their will, for profit in an ongoing enterprise, not slavery?

3. According to T. H. Breen after 1710 there were no more whites held in Virginia against their will. But in 1726 William Byrd II boasted of being a veritable biblical patriarch among his “bond-men and bond-women.”

4. Again, this condition and treatment fall short of the academic definition of slavery in America, 2016, as no establishment history will call this slavery.

5. The lack of white slave rebellions in this period is here explained, as they are treated better than black slaves by being give terms of limited bondage and a reward at the end of their term, but not being treated any differently while held in bondage. With their history of uprisings, white slaves would not be held for life as this assured revolution.