The illustration of the runaway Irishman depicts him walking through a wooded area in knee breeches, a knee-length coat and a hat. Over his shoulder is the classic hobo-stick with a cloth bundle of possessions tied on the end. In cartoons of the 1920s and 1930s this was a common homeless motif thought to depict hobos.

The text reads:

“Three Pounds Reward

“Runaway from subscriber, living at Warwick furnace, Minehole, on the 23d inst. An Irish servant man, named Dennis M’Callin, about five feet eight inches high, nineteen years of age, has a freckled face, light colored curly hair. Had on when he went away, an old felt hat, white and yellow striped jacket, a new blue coat, and buckskin breeches, also he took with him a bundle of shirts and stockings, and a pocket pistol, likewise, a box containing gold rings, etc. Whoever takes up said servant and secures him in any goal, [1] so as his master [2] may get him again, shall have the above reward and reasonable charges paid by JAMES TODD.

“N.B. All masters of vessels, and others, are forbid from harbouring or carrying him off, at their peril.” [3]

1. Goal was a British term for jail derived from the old French term for cage, jaiole. With England ruled by French speakers from Normandy from 1066, the etymology is understandable.

2. White chattel of the age were almost always referred to as servants, while black chattel were referred to as negroes. Only abolitionists and freed whites generally referred to the condition as slavery. Do note, that the one ingredient that most assuredly makes a persona a slave is a master, so named here as James Todd.

3. This threat to ship’s masters is common with such ads. Anyone who aided and abetted an escaped person was fair game for the person’s owner and might be killed without much legal worry. Long after his escape, Frederick Douglas refused to credit the poor whites who helped him escape for fear that they would come to harm.