Letter Home (1623)
Richard Frethorne, an indentured servant in the Chesapeake, discusses the miseries of his life in this letter to his parents.
Topic: Indentured Servitude
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LOVING AND KIND FATHER AND MOTHER:
My most humble duty remembered to you, hoping in god of your good health, as I myself am at the making hereof. This is to let you understand that I your child am in a most heavy case by reason of the country, [which] is such that it causeth much sickness, [such] as the scurvy and the bloody flux and diverse other diseases, which maketh the body very poor and weak. And when we are sick there is nothing to comfort us; for since I came out of the ship I never ate anything but peas, and loblollie (that is, water gruel). As for deer or venison I never saw any since I came into this land. There is indeed some fowl, but we are not allowed to go and get it, but must work hard both early and late for a mess of water gruel and a mouthful of bread and beef. A mouthful of bread for a penny loaf must serve for four men which is most pitiful. [You would be grieved] if you did know as much as I [do], when people cry out day and night - Oh! That they were in England without their limbs - and would not care to lose any limb to be in England again, yea, though they beg from door to door. For we live in fear of the enemy every hour, yet we have had a combat with them and we took two alive and made slaves of them. But it was by policy, for we are in great danger; for our plantation is very weak by reason of the death and sickness of our company. For we came but twenty for the merchants, and they are half dead just; and we look every hour when two more should go. Yet there came some four other men yet to live with us, of which there is but one alive; and our Lieutenant is dead, and [also] his father and his brother. And there was some five or six of the last year's twenty, of which there is but three left, so that we are fain to get other men to plant with us; and yet we are but 32 to fight against 3000 if they should come. And the nighest help that we have is ten mile of us, and when the rogues overcame this place [the] last [time] they slew 80 persons. How then shall we do, for we lie even in their teeth? They may easily take us, but [for the fact] that God is merciful and can save with few as well as with many, as he showed to Gilead. And like Gilead's soldiers, if they lapped water, we drink water which is but weak.
And I have nothing to comfort me, nor is there nothing to be gotten here but sickness and death, except [in the event] that one had money to lay out in some things for profit. But I have nothing at all-no, not a shirt to my back but two rags (2), nor clothes but one poor suit, nor but one pair of shoes, but one pair of stockings, but one cap, [and] but two bands [collars]. My cloak is stolen by one of my fellows, and to his dying hour [he] would not tell me what he did with it; but some of my fellows saw him have butter and beef out of a ship, which my cloak, I doubt [not], paid for. So that I have not a penny, nor a penny worth, to help me too either spice or sugar or strong waters, without the which one cannot live here. For as strong beer in England doth fatten and strengthen them, so water here doth wash and weaken these here [and] only keeps [their] life and soul together. But I am not half [of] a quarter so strong as I was in England, and all is for want of victuals; for I do protest unto you that I have eaten more in [one] day at home than I have allowed me here for a week. You have given more than my day's allowance to a beggar at the door; and if Mr. Jackson had not relieved me, I should be in a poor case. But he like a father and she like a loving mother doth still help me.
For when we go to Jamestown (that is 10 miles of us) there lie all the ships that come to land, and there they must deliver their goods. And when we went up to town [we would go], as it may be, on Monday at noon, and come there by night, [and] then load the next day by noon, and go home in the afternoon, and unload, and then away again in the night, and [we would] be up about midnight. Then if it rained or blowed never so hard, we must lie in the boat on the water and have nothing but a little bread. For when we go into the boat we [would] have a loaf allowed to two men, and it is all [we would get] if we stayed there two days, which is hard; and [we] must lie all that while in the boat. But that Goodman Jackson pitied me and made me a cabin to lie in always when I [would] come up, and he would give me some poor jacks [fish] [to take] home with me, which comforted me more than peas or water gruel. Oh, they be very godly folks, and love me very well, and will do anything for me. And he much marvelled that you would send me a servant to the Company; he saith I had been better knocked on the head. And indeed so I find it now, to my great grief and misery; and [I] saith that if you love me you will redeem me suddenly, for which I do entreat and beg. And if you cannot get the merchants to redeem me for some little money, then for God's sake get a gathering or entreat some good folks to lay out some little sum of money in meal and cheese and butter and beef. Any eating meat will yield great profit. Oil and vinegar is very good; but, father, there is great loss in leaking. But for God's sake send beef and cheese and butter, or the more of one sort and none of another. But if you send cheese, it must be very old cheese; and at the cheesemonger's you may buy very food cheese for twopence farthing or halfpenny, that will be liked very well. But if you send cheese, you must have a care how you pack it in barrels; and you must put cooper's chips between every cheese, or else the heat of the hold will rot them. And look whatsoever you send me - be in never so much-look, what[ever] I make of it, I will deal truly with you. I will send it over and beg the profit to redeem me; and if I die before it come, I have entreated Goodman Jackson to send you the worth of it, who hath promised he will. If you send, you must direct your letters to Goodman Jackson, at Jamestown, a gunsmith. (You must set down his freight, because there be more of his name there.) Good father, do not forget me, but have mercy and pity my miserable case. I know if you did but see me, you would weep to see me; for I have but one suit. (But [though] it is a strange one, it is very well guarded.) Wherefore, for God's sake, pity me. I pray you to remember my love to all my friends and kindred. I hope all my brothers and sisters are in good health, and as for my part I have set down my resolution that certainly will be; that is, that the answer of this letter will be life or death to me. Therefore, good father, send as soon as you can; and if you send me any thing let this be the mark.
ROT
RICHARD FRETHORNE,
MARTIN'S HUNDRED .
Author : |
Richard Frethorn |
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Keyword / Topic : |
Colonial America; indentured servants |
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Citation / Source : |
Source: Richard Frethorne, letter to his father and mother, March 20, April 2 & 3, 1623, in Susan Kingsbury, ed., The Records of the Virginia Company of London (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1935), 4: 58-62 |
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Reference : |
America: A Narrative History, 9th Edition, Chapter 2; Inventing America, Chapter 2; Give Me Liberty, Chapter 2
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Indenture Contracts for Three Boys (1699).
An example of an indenture contract
Topic: Indentured Servitude
Please study this document and answer the following questions.
A contract recording the terms of indenture for three boys, illustrating the terms and conditions of this very common form of securing the labor of young adults and recent immigrants.
RG 3800.000 Kent County Court Record Book, 1699-1703, page 1. Transcript from: Leon DeValinger, Jr., Court Records of Kent County Delaware, 1680-1705, (Washington: American Historical Association, 1959), pp. 132-133.
Thomas Bedwell brought into Court a Servant boy Named Marcus Linshey to be Judged, he comminge in without Indenture, which being Considered, the Court doe deeme him the said Marcus Linshey to be now about Thirteene yeares of age, and doe order that he shall Serue the said Thomas Bedwell or his Assignes untill he shall arriue to One and Twenty yeares of age. Accordinge to Law, and that at the Experition thereof, the said Thomas Bedwell or his Assignes shall pay him his Corne Cloaths and Toolls as the Law directs John Evans brought into Court a Servant boy named Patrick Gorden to be Judged, he cominge in without Indenture, which being considered, The Court doe deeme him the said Patrick Corden to be about Thirteene Yeares of age, and doe order that he shall Serue the said John Evans or his assignes untill he shall arriue to One and Twenty yeares of age, and that at the Expiration thereof the said John Evans or his Assignes shall pay him his Corne Cloaths and Tools Accordinge to Law.
James Smothers in his Owne proper person Came into Court and Voluntarily binds his sone Thomas Smothers an infant aged Six yeares old or thereabouts Unto Stephen Simons and Sarah his wife to Serue them the said Stephen Simons and Sarah his wife, Untill he shall arrive to One and Twenty years of Age, and at the Expiration thereof the said Stephen Simons and Sarah his wife is to giue and allow to him the said Thomas Smothers, Two good merchantable Cows to his owne pro[per] Use and behoofe, And Farther it is Concluded that if incase it should soe happen that the said Stephen Simons and Sarah his wife should both dye before the Expiration of the said Terme of time, then in such case the said Thomas Smothers, shall immediately thereupon be free and full discharged from the Remainder of his said time, and Notwithstandinge, he shall haue the aforesaid Cows deliuered to him at the time of his said freedom, as aforesaid.
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Advertisement for Two Run-Away Servants (24 July 1769)
This advertisement reveals the value masters placed on the labor of their servants.
Topic: Indentured Servitude
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An advertisement for a run-away servant illustrating the very real constraints on their freedom, and the seriousness of their masters in apprehending their indentured laborers.
Copyright 2002 by the American Antiquarian Society and NewsBank, inc. All Rights Reserved.
Philadelphia, July 24, 1769. Eight Dollars Reward.RUN-AWAY Last Sunday Night, Two Servant Boys, from the Subscribers, living in Philadelphia; THE one named WILLIAM QUIRK, (alias M'Quirk) of a small Visage, smooth Face, light coloured Hair, which he commonly ties with a String: Had with him when he went away, a bearskin Jacket, a black shagg Ditto, in the fore Parts, a fine white Shirt, a Check Ditto, a blue Worsted Plush Pair of Breeches, a Pair of Thread Stockings, and a Pair of ribb'd Yarn Ditto. The other named JOHN DYLLYWY, a pale fac's Fellow, pitted with the Small-Pox, his Head lately shaved, and wears a Whig: Had with him when he went away, a blue Jacket, a striped Ditto without Sleeves, a coarse white Shirt, a Pair of blue and white striped Breeches, and a Pair of coarse Trowsers. Whoever secures the said Servants, so that their Masters may have them again, shall have the above Reward, or THIRTY SHILLINGS for either of them, and all reasonable Charges, paid byPETER SUTTER and DAVID CUMING.N.B. All Masters of Vessels are forbid to carry them off at their Peril. They lately arrived from Waterford, in the Brig Swallow, James Bruce, Master.
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Robert Beverley: FROM The History and Present State of Virginia (1705)
Beverley's history of Virginia compares the lives of servants and slaves.
Topic: Indentured Servitude
Please study this document and answer the following questions.
Source: Robert Beverley, The History and
Present State of Virginia (London, 1705). Some spelling has been
modernized.
Of the Servants and Slaves in
Virginia
50. Their Servants, they distinguish by the
Names of Slaves for Life, and Servants for a time.
Slaves are the Negroes, and their Posterity,
following the condition of the Mother, according to the Maxim, partus
sequitur ventrem [status follows the womb]. They are call'd Slaves, in
respect of the time of their Servitude, because it is for Life.
Servants, are those which serve only for a few
years, according to the time of their Indenture, or the Custom of the Country.
The Custom of the Country takes place upon such as have no Indentures. The Law
in this case is, that if such Servants be under Nineteen years of Age, they must
be brought into Court, to have their Age adjudged; and from the Age they are
judg'd to be of, they must serve until they reach four and twenty: But if they
be adjudged upwards of Nineteen, they are then only to be Servants for the term
of five Years.
51. The Male-Servants, and Slaves of both
Sexes, are employed together in Tilling and Manuring the Ground, in Sowing and
Planting Tobacco, Corn, &c. Some Distinction indeed is made between them in
their Cloaths, and Food; but the Work of both, is no other than what the
Overseers, the Freemen, and the Planters themselves do.
Sufficient Distinction is also made between
the Female-Servants, and Slaves; for a White Woman is rarely or never put to
work in the Ground, if she be good for any thing else: And to Discourage all
Planters from using any Women so, their Law imposes the heaviest Taxes upon
Female Servants working in the Ground, while it suffers all other white Women to
be absolutely exempted: Whereas on the other hand, it is a common thing to work
a Woman Slave out of Doors; nor does the Law make any Distinction in her Taxes,
whether her Work be Abroad, or at Home.
52. Because I have heard how strangely cruel,
and severe, the Service of this Country is represented in some parts of
England; I can't forbear affirming, that the work of their
Servants, and Slaves, is no other than what every common Freeman do's. Neither
is any Servant requir'd to do more in a Day, than his Overseer. And I can assure
you with a great deal of Truth, that generally their Slaves are not worked near
so hard, nor so many Hours in a Day, as the Husbandmen, and Day-Labourers in
England. An Overseer is a Man, that having served his time, has acquired
the Skill and Character of an experienced Planter, and is therefore intrusted
with the Direction of the Servants and Slaves.
But to compleat this account of Servants, I
shall give you a short Relation of the care their Laws take, that they be used
as tenderly as possible.
By the Laws of their
Country.
1. All Servants whatsoever, have their
Complaints heard without Fee, or Reward; but if the Master be found
Faulty, the charge of the. Complaint is cast upon him, otherwise the business is
done ex Officio.
2. Any Justice of Peace may receive the
Complaint of a Servant, and order every thing relating thereto, till the next
County-Court, where it will be finally determin'd.
3. All Masters are under the Correction, and
Censure of the County-Courts, to provide for their Servant-, good and wholsme
Diet, Clothing, and Lodging.
4. They are always to appear, upon the first
Notice given of the Complaint of their Servants, otherwise to forfeit the
Service of them, until they do appear.
5. All Servants Complaints are to be receiv'd
at any time in Court, without Process, and shall not be delay'd for want of
Form; but the Merits of the Complaint must be immediately inquir'd into by the
Justices; and if the Master cause any delay therein, the Court may remove such
Servants, if they see Cause, until the Master will come to
Tryal.
6. If a Master shall at any time disobey an
Order of Court, made upon any Complaint of a Servant; the Court is
impower'd to remove such Servant forthwith to another Master, who will be
kinder; Giving to the former Master the produce only, (after Fees deducted) of
what such Servants shall be sold for by Publick Outcry.
7. If a Master should be so cruel, as to use
his Servant ill, that is fallen Sick, or Lame in his Service, and thereby
render'd unfit for Labour, be must be remov'd by the Church-Wardens out of the
way of such Cruelty, and boarded in some good Planter's House, till the time of
his Freedom, the charge of which must be laid before the next County-Court,
which has power to levy the same from time to time, upon the Goods and Chattels
of the Master; After which, the charge of such Boarding is to come upon the
Parish in General.
8. All hired Servants are entitled to these
Priviledges.
9. No Master of a Servant, can make a new
Bargain for Service, or other Matter with his Servant, without the privity and
consent of a Justice of Peace, to prevent the Master's Over-reaching, or
scareing such Servant into an unreasonable Complyance.
10. The property of all Money and Goods sent
over thither to Servants, or carry'd in with them; is reserv'd to themselves,
and remain intirely at their disposal.
11. Each Servant at his Freedom, receives of
his Master fifteen Bushels of Corn, (which is sufficient for a whole year) and
two new Suits of Cloaths, both Linnen and Woollen; and then becomes as free in
all respects, and as much entituled to the Liberties, and Priviledges of the
Country, as any other of the Inhabitants or Natives are.
12. Each Servant has then also a Right to take
up fifty Acres of Land, where he can find any unpatented: But that is no great
Privilege, for any one may have as good a right for a piece of Eight.
This is what the Laws prescribe in favour of Servants, by
which you may find that the Cruelties and Severities imputed to that Country,
are an unjust reflection. For no People more abhor the thoughts of such Usage,
than Virginians, nor take more precaution to prevent
it.
Reference : |
America: A Narrative History, 9th Edition, Chapter 4; Inventing America, Chapter 4; Give Me Liberty, Chapter 3
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Lament of Elizabeth Sprigs (22 September 1756)
Sprigs discusses the abuse she endures as a servant.
Topic: Indentured Servitude
Please study this document and answer the following questions.
In this letter, the indentured servant Elizabeth Sprigs condemns her treatment as worse than slavery.
Maryland, Septemberr 22, 1756
Honored Father
My being for ever banished from your sight, will I hope pardon the Boldness I now take of troubling you with these, my long silence has been purely owning to my undutifullness to you, and well knowing I had offended in the highest Degree, put a tie to my tongue and pen, for fear I should be extinct from your good Graces and add a further Trouble to you, but too well knowing your care and tenderness for me so long as I retain'd my Duty to you, induced me once again to endeavor if possible, to kindle up that flame again. O Dear Father, believe what I am going to relate the words of truth and sincerity, and Balance my former bad Conduct my sufferings here, and then I am sure you'll pity your Destress Daughter, What we unfortunate English People suffer here is beyond the probability of you in England to Conceive, let it suffice that I one of the unhappy Number, am toiling almost Day and Night, and very often in the Horses drudgery, with only this comfort that you Bitch you do not halfe enough, and then tied up and whipp'd to that Degree that you'd not serve an Animal, scarce any thing but Indian Corn and Salt to eat and that even begrudged nay many Negroes are better used, almost naked no shoes nor stockings to wear, and the comfort after slaving during Masters pleasure, what rest we can get is to rap ourselves up in a Blanket and ly upon the Ground, this is the deplorable Condition your poor Betty endures, and now I beg if you have any Bowels of Compassion left show it by sending me some Relief, Clothing is the principal thing wanting, which if you should condiscend to, may easily send them to me by any of the ships bound to Baltimore Town Patapsco River Maryland, and give me leave to conclude in Duty to you and Uncles and Aunts, and Respect to all Friends
Honored Father
Your undutifull and Disobedient Child
Elizabeth Sprigs
Notes:
While some planters in the eighteenth-century Chesapeake began to build spacious mansions and rely on the labor of increasing numbers of white and black dependents, most white southerners lived in far humbler circumstances. In Maryland most small farmers were tenants, renting their land from larger landowners. Landless men and women worked as agricultural tenants, laborers, or domestic servants. Elizabeth Sprigs, a servant in a Maryland household, financed her passage from England in exchange for a term as an indentured servant (a frequent practice in the seventeenth century but more rare by the eighteenth). She wrote to her father in 1756 and complained bitterly of the brutal treatment by her master and the harsh privations of daily life, begging him to send clothing.
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