‘The Master of the Servant’
November 13, 1766
The Pennsylvania Gazette
RUN away, the 29th of October, from the Subscriber, living at Christine Bridge, Newcastle county, a convict servant woman, named Alice McCarty, alias Eleanor Brown, about 35 years of age, born in Ireland, has brown hair, very lusty and fat; [1]
had on, and took with her, an old brown camblet gown, 2 short gowns, the one white linen, the other dark calicoe, both new, a cream coloured skirt, a red quilt, 2 check aprons, a pair of neat made mens shoes, and a pair of diamond cut silver buckles, marked E. H. a linen handkerchief, spotted red and white, coarse sheet and blanket, and a pair of womens shoes, all which she stole when she went away; [2]
it is supposed she is in company with a man, his name unknown. Said servant has been several times whipped in the workhouse, in Philadelphia, and whipped for theft at the public post. [3]
N.B. The master of the servant forgot to put his name to his advertisement.
Notes
1. The fact that Alice was a convict does not mean she committed a crime as we know it, for being homeless, jobless, penniless or without a travel pass, where all crimes punishable by enslavement.
2. Note that every stitch of clothing Alice wore was stolen, meaning she was normally barefoot, presumably dressed only in a shift or slip.
3. Alice would have her upper body stripped naked as she was publically whipped.
So Her Master May Have Her Again
A History of Runaway White Slaves in Plantation America: Part Two
