Below is the interesting case of a runaway tutor.
March 22, 1764
The Pennsylvania Gazette
RUN away from the Subscriber, living in North Sasquehannah Hundred, Cecil County, Maryland, on the 15th inst. March, a Servant Man, named Bartholomew Barron, born in the West of Ireland, about 30 Years old, about 5 Feet 9 Inches high, of a fair Complexion, has fair Hair tied behind, very much pock marked, tender eyed, and has the Brogue on his Tongue;
he is a good Scholar, and understand some of the Languages:
Had on, when he went away, the following Articles, viz. an old ash coloured Great Coat, a Strait Coat of the same Kind, black Broadcloth Jacket, old Buckskin Breeches, Check Shirt, light coloured Worsted Stockings, old Shoes, Brass Buckles, but not Fellows, and a halfworn Felt Hat.
Whoever takes up the said Servant, and secures him, so that his Master may have him again, shall have Forty Shillings Reward, and reasonable Charges, paid by JOHN ANDERSON.
Notes
Bartholomew has worn clothes, has stolen nothing, is well regarded and is on short time as indicated by his low ransom. If servitude was the opportunity that historians represent it as, why would this man run away, having stolen nothing, if, as indicated by general histories after the 1930s, that a term of servitude was merely the paying of dues to a community through work?
There is very little evidence that servants, having worked off their time, stayed on or about the plantation or workhouse.
When Your Job Sucks
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