USA > Pennsylvania > Jefferson County > Brookville > A pioneer history of Jefferson county, Pennsylvania and my first recollections of Brookville, Pennsylvania, 1840-1843, when my feet were bare and my cheeks were brown > Part 29
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As will be seen in this chapter, under the head of advertisements, many of the leading merchants in Philadelphia were engaged in this nefarious business. In answer to the daily advertisements of " Redemp- tioners for Sale," citizens from all parts of Pennsylvania and adjoining States visited Philadelphia and bought these poor white people, the same as sheep and oxen. Many of the best families and people in this State are descendants of these " white slaves." We have some such descendants in Jefferson County. I could name them.
Under this debasing system of indentured apprentices, the legal exist- ence of African slavery, and the legalized sale of white emigrants in our
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State, is it any wonder that among the people intemperance, illiteracy, lottery schemes for churches, gambling, and profanity was the rule, or that to the poor, the weak, and the wretched the prisons were the only homes or hospitals for them, and that the " driver's lash" fell alike on the back of the old and young, black or white, minister, school-master, or layman ?
" I pity the mother, careworn and weary, As she thinks of her children about to be sold ; You may picture the bounds of the rock-girdled ocean, But the grief of that mother can never be told."
ACT OF 1700.
" AN ACT FOR THE BETTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS IN THIS PROVINCE AND TERRITORIES.
" For the just encouragement of servants in the discharge of their duty, and the prevention of their deserting their masters' or owners' ser- vice, Be it enacted, That no servant, bound to serve his or her time in this province, or counties annexed, shall be sold or disposed of to any person residing in any other province or government, without the con- sent of the said servant, and two Justices of the Peace of the county wherein he lives or is sold, under the penalty of ten pounds ; to be for- feited by the seller.
" II. And be it further enacted, That no servant shall be assigned over to another person by any in this province or territories, but in the presence of one Justice of the Peace of the county, under the penalty of ten pounds ; which penalty, with all others in this act expressed, shall be levied by distress and sale of goods of the party offending.
"III. And be it enacted, That every servant that shall faithfully serve four years, or more, shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a dis- charge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel, whereof one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new axe, one grubbing-hoe, and one weeding-hoe, at the charge of their master or mistress.
"IV. And for prevention of servants quitting their masters' service, Be it enacted, That if any servant shall absent him or herself from the service of their master or owner for the space of one day or more, with- out leave first obtained for the same, every such servant shall, for every such day's absence, be obliged to serve five days, after the expiration of his or her time, and shall further make such satisfaction to his or her master or owner, for the damages and charges sustained by such absence, as the respective County Court shall see meet, who shall order as well the time to be served, as other recompense for damages sustained.
" V. And whosoever shall apprehend or take up any runaway servant, and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of the county, such person shall,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
for every such servant, if taken up within ten miles of the servant's abode, receive ten shillings, and if ten miles or upwards, twenty shillings reward, of the said Sheriff, who is hereby required to pay the same, and forthwith to send notice to the master or owner, of whom he shall receive five shil- lings, prison fees, upon delivery of the said servant, together with all other disbursements and reasonable charges for and upon the same.
" VI. And to prevent the clandestine employing of other men's ser- vants, Be it enacted, That whosoever shall conceal any servant of this prov- ince or territories, or entertain him or her twenty-four hours, without his or her master's or owner's knowledge and consent, and shall not within the said time give an account thereof to some Justice of the Peace of the county, every such person shall forfeit twenty shillings for every day's concealment. And in case the said Justice shall not, within twenty-four hours after complaint made to him, issue his warrant, directed to the next constable, for apprehending and seizing the said servant, and com- mit him or her to the custody of the Sheriff of the county, such Justice shall, for every such offence, forfeit five pounds. And the Sheriff shall by the first opportunity, after he has received the said servant, send notice thereof to his or her master or owner; and the said Sheriff, neglecting or omitting in any case to give notice to the master or owner of their servant being in his custody as aforesaid, shall forfeit five shil- lings for every day's neglect after an opportunity has offered, to be proved against him before the next County Court, and to be there adjudged.
"VII. And for the more effectual discouragement of servants imbez- zling their masters' or owners' goods, Be it enacted, That whosoever shall clandestinely deal or traffic with any servant, white or black, for any kind of goods or merchandise, without leave or order from his or her master or owner, plainly signified or appearing, shall forfeit treble the value of such goods to the owner ; and the servant if a white, shall make satisfaction to his or her master or owner by servitude, after the expira- tion of his or her time, to double the value of the said goods ; And if the servant be a black, he or she shall be severely whipped, in the most public place of the township where the offence was committed."
ACT OF 1705.
" SECTION 2. Provided, That no person shall be kept in prison for debt or fines, longer than the second day of the next session after his or her commitment, unless the plaintiff shall make it appear that the person imprisoned hath some estate that he will not produce, in which case the court shall examine all persons suspected to be privy to the concealing of such estate ; and if no estate sufficient shall be found, the debtor shall make satisfaction by servitude to the judgment of the court where such
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
action is tried (not exceeding seven years if a single person, and under the age of fifty and three years, or five years if a married man, and under the age of forty and six years) if the plaintiff require it ; but if the plain- tiff refuse such manner of satisfaction, according to the judgment of the court as aforesaid, then and in such case the prisoner shall be discharged in open court.
"SECTION 3. Provided, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to subject any master of ship or other vessel, trading into this province from other parts, to make satisfaction for debt by servitude as above said."
Up to 1842 this law of Pennsylvania authorized the imprisonment of men for debt. The act of July 12 of that year abolished such imprison- ment. Quite a number of men were committed to the old jail in Brook- ville because of their inability to pay their debts. Sometimes their friends paid the debt for them, and sometimes they came out under the insolvent debtor's law. Below I give an exact copy of an execution issued by 'Squire Corbett, a justice of the peace in Brookville :
" JEFFERSON COUNTY, SS.
" The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to James Cochran, constable of borough, greeting : Whereas judgment against Stephen Tibbits for the sum of 5 dollars and 27 cents and the costs was had the 6th day of Jany, '39, before me, at the suit of Heath, Dunham & Co .: These are there- fore in the name of the commonwealth, to command you to levy distress on the goods and chattels of the said Stephen Tibbits, and make sale thereof according to law to the amount of said debt and costs, and what may accrue thereon, and make return to me in twenty days from the date thereof ; and for want of goods and chattels whereon to levy, you are commanded to convey the body of said Stephen Tibbits to the jail of the said county, the jailer whereof is hereby commanded to receive the same, in safe custody to keep until the said debt and costs are paid, or other- wise discharged by due course of law. Given under my hand and seal the 15 day of May, 1841.
" JAMES CORBETT."
This execution was numbered 811. The debt was $5.27 ; interest, 60 cents ; justice's costs, 25 cents ; execution and return, 2012 cents ; total, $6.3212. The whole sum was paid May 26, 1841.
By the act passed April 8, 1785, entitled " An Act for establishing the office of a register of all German passengers who shall arrive at the port of Philadelphia, and of all indentures by which any of them shall be bound servants for their freight, and of the assigments of such servants in the city of Philadelphia," it was provided that the register should un- derstand and speak both German and English languages, and that he could have " all the powers and authorities of a justice of the peace, as
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
far as the same shall be required for the support and efficiency of his office, and the laws respecting the importation of German passengers and binding them out servants." All indentures and assignments to be made and acknowledged before the register or his deputy, and he to register all indentures or assignments, as servants' indentures or assignments.
Under the act for regulating the importation of German and other passengers, passed February 7, 1818, the captain was compelled to give a bill of lading of merchandise to passengers, under a penalty of one hundred dollars. Passengers to be discharged on payment of freight. When passengers were sold for servitude, the indenture to be acknowl- edged before the mayor of the city of Philadelphia ; " but no master, captain, owner, or consignee of any ship or vessel shall separate any husband and wife, who came passengers in any such ship or vessel, by disposing of them to different masters or mistresses, unless by mutual consent of such husband and wife ; nor shall any passenger, without his or her consent, be disposed of to any person residing out of this Com- monwealth, under the penalty of one hundred dollars." The goods of each passenger to be a pledge for freight.
AN ACT FOR THE RELIEF OF REDEMPTIONERS.
" SECTION I. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, That the several provisions of an act of Assembly of this Commonwealth, passed the twenty-ninth day of September, one thousand seven hundred and seventy, entitled ' An Act for the regulation of apprentices within this province,' and of an act passed the eleventh day of April, one thousand seven hundred and ninety- nine, entitled a supplement to the act, entitled ' An Act for the regula- tion of apprentices,' be and the same are hereby extended to all Redemp- tioners bound to service for a term of years." Passed 9th February, 1820.
ACT OF SEPTEMBER 29, 1770.
"SECTION I. All and every person or persons that shall be bound by indenture, to serve an apprentice in any art, mystery, labour, or occupa- tion, with the assent of his or her parent, guardian or next friend, or with the assent of the overseers of the poor, and approbation of any two Justices, although such persons, or any of them, shall be within the age of twenty-one years at the time of making their several indentures, shall be bound to serve the time in their respective indentures contained, so as such time or term of years of such apprentice, if female, do expire at or before the age of eighteen years, and if a male, at or before the age of twenty-one years, as fully to all intents and purposes as if the same apprentices were of full age at the time of making the said indentures.
" SECTION 2. If any master or mistress shall misuse, abuse, or evilly
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
treat, or shall not discharge his or her duty towards his or her apprentice, according to the covenants in the indentures between them made, or if the said apprentice shall abscond or absent him or herself from his or her master's or mistress's service without leave, or shall not do and discharge his or her duty to his or her master or mistress, according to his or her covenants aforesaid, the said master or mistress, or apprentice, being aggrieved in the premises, shall or may apply to any one Justice of the Peace, of any county or city, where the said master or mistress shall re- side, who, after giving due notice to such master or mistress, or appren- tice, if he or she shall neglect or refuse to appear, shall thereupon issue his warrant for bringing him or her, the said master, mistress, or appren- tice, before him, and take such order and direction, between the said master or mistress and apprentice, as the equity and justice of the case shall require : And if the said Justice shall not be able to settle and ac- commodate the difference and dispute between the said master or mistress and apprentice, through a want of conformity in the master or mistress, then the said Justice shall take a recognizance of the said master or mis- tress, and bind him or her over, to appear and answer the complaint of his or her apprentice, at the next county court of Quarter Sessions, to be held for the said county or city, and take such order with respect to such apprentice as to him shall seem just ; and if through want of conformity in the said apprentice he shall, if the master or mistress or apprentice re- quest it, take recognizance of him or her with one sufficient surety, for his or her appearance at the said sessions, and to answer the complaint of his or her master or mistress, or commit such apprentice for want of such surety, to the common gaol or work-house of the said county or city respectively ; and upon such appearance of the parties and hearing of their respective proofs and allegations, the said court shall, and they are hereby author- ized and empowered, if they see cause, to discharge the said apprentice of and from his or her apprenticeship, and of and from all and every the articles, covenants, and agreements in his or her said indenture con- tained ; but if default shall be found in the said apprentice, then the said court is hereby authorized and empowered to cause, if they see sufficient occasion, such punishment by imprisonment of the body, and confine- ment at hard labour, to be inflicted on him or her, as to them, in their discretion, they shall think his or her offence or offences shall deserve."
ACT OF APRIL 11, 1799.
"SECTION I. If any apprentice shall absent himself or herself from the service of his or her master or mistress, before the time of his or her apprenticeship shall be expired, without leave first obtained, every such apprentice, at any time after he or she arrives at the age of twenty-one years, shall be liable to, and the master or mistress, their heirs, executors, or administrators, are hereby enabled to sustain all such actions, and
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
other remedies against him or her, as if the said apprentice had been of full age at the time of executing his or her indenture of apprenticeship.
"SECTION 2. When any master or mistress shall die before the term of apprenticeship shall be expired, the executors or administrators of such master or mistress, provided the term of the indenture extended to executors and administrators, shall and may have a right to assign over the remainder of the term of such apprenticeship to such suitable person of the same trade or calling mentioned in the indenture, as shall be approved of by the court of Quarter Sessions of the county where the master or mistress lived, and the assignee to have the same right to the service of such apprentice as the master or mistress had at the time of his or her death ; and also when any master or mistress shall assign over his or her apprentice to any person of the same trade or calling mentioned in the indenture, the said assignment shall be legal, provided the terms of the indenture extended to assigns, and provided the apprentice, or his or her parents, guardian or guardians, shall give his, her, or their consent to such assignment before some Justice of the Peace of the county where the master or mistress shall live."
These advertisements are selected from a large number of a similar kind that are found in Relf's Philadelphia Gazette and Daily Advertiser for the years 1804-5 :
"GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
" To be disposed of, the time of a number of German Redemptioners, consisting of Clerks, Shoemakers, Taylors, Cloth makers, Weavers, Stock- ing weavers, Blacksmiths, Watch makers, Miniature painters &c. on board the Ship Cato, Capt. Barden, from the river Jade, lying off Vine Street, apply to the captain on board Cato.
" SMITH RIDGWAY & CO. " No. 50 n. front street. " Nov. 3rd (1804)." "TO BE DISPOSED OF.
" The Time of a German Servant Girl, who has eight years to serve. She is strong and hearty, understands English, and can be well recom- mended. Enquire at No. 15 South Third Street.
" January 9th 1805."
"GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
" A number of German Redemptioners of different ages and profes- sions, to be disposed of on board ship Venus from Amsterdam. For terms apply on board, opposite Callowhill street.
" Sept. 9th ISO5."
"SWISS AND GERMAN PASSENGERS. " The Time
" Of the following passengers mostly farmers and a few mechanics, viz : 17 men, II women, 13 boys and 14 girls now to be seen at the
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
Spread Eagle Tavern, Callowhill street near the water, to be disposed of by their agents Winkleblick & Bund, at the Red Lion Tavern, Market Street, between 6 and 7 street, South from 9 in the morning till 6 o'clock in the evening. The payment to be made at the counting house of Mr. L. Huson, No. 19 South Wharves."
" GERMAN REDEMPTIONERS.
" On board the ship Indostan laying in the stream above Vine street, consisting of carpenters, bakers, butchers, gardeners, blacksmiths, sugar refiners, glass makers, taylors, servants &c. &c. whose times are to be disposed of, by
" ISAAC HAZELHURST & SONS. " April 16th IS04."
"20 DOLLARS REWARD.
" RAN AWAY on Saturday last from the subscriber, a German in- dentured servant man, named Tobias Schwenck, a weaver by trade, about 25 years of age, about 5 feet 6 inches high. When he speaks he has a fashion of swinging his arms in a very passionate manner, pale face, slender made, light straight hair, speaks a little English ; took with him a tight body blue coat made in the German fashion, a blue surtout coat, two pair of Russia sheeting trousers, and a pair of blue velvet pantaloons, and a number of other clothing, a pair of new full boots broad round toed.
" Whoever secures the above run away in any gaol, or delivers him to the subscriber, shall receive the above reward and reasonable charges paid by
" HENRY DOTTERER, "Sign of the Buck, Second street, Philadelphia. "Oct. 1804."
" 2 DOLLARS REWARD.
" Ran away, an indentured Dutch servant girl, (the property of Richard Baily, near the 7 mile stone, Germantown) about 8 years of age, light complection, named Maria, was dressed in a striped lindsey short gown and petticoat, blue worsted stockings, and speaks but little of her native language. All persons are cautioned against detaining or harboring the said girl. In addition to the above reward, any reason- able expense will be allowed.
" Dec. ISth IS04."
" 10 DOLLARS REWARD.
" Ran away from the subscriber living in the village of New- Holland, Lancaster County, on the evening of the 7th last, a German indentured servant Girl, named Anna Maria Wagner, she came from Germany last fall in the brig Newton, Capt. Reilly. She is about 19 or 20 years old,
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PIONEER HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, PENNA.
of a low stature, she hath short and sandy hair, freckled face, her arms, hands, and feet, very small. Had on when she went away, a blue and white striped petticoat of German manufacture, and a blue jacket, which is remarkable, being lined after the German manner with whalebone. It is said that she hath a sister living in the neighborhood of Kutz town, Berks county, bound to Mr. Lesher. Whoever will secure and deliver her in any gaol, and give notice to the subscriber thereof, so that he may get her again, shall have the above reward, and reasonable charges paid. All persons are hereby forewarned not to harbour her at their peril.
" JONATHAN ROLAND.
" NEW-HOLLAND, Jan. 3rd 1805."
" In law, this system was known as an apprenticeship, or service en- tered into by a free person, voluntary, by contract for a term of years on wages advanced before the service was entered. The servants, by per- forming the service, were redeeming themselves, and therefore called ‘ Re- demptioners.' In practice, however, with a certain class of people, and in instances hereinafter related, this system was as revoltingly brutal and degenerating as the negro slavery abolished in our own time in its worst aspects.
" It was conceived and had its beginning in the harmless and in some respects' benevolent idea to help a poor person in Europe who wished to emigrate to America and had not the money to pay for his passage across the ocean, by giving him credit for his passage-money, on condition that he should work for it after his arrival here, by hiring as a servant for a term of years to a person who would advance him his wages by paying his passage-money to the owner or master of the vessel.
" There are instances on record when school-teachers, and even min- isters of the gospel, were in this manner bought by congregations to render their services in their respective offices. Laws were passed for the protection of the masters and of the servants. Whilst this is the bright side of the Redemptioners' life, it had also a very dark side. The Re- demptioners on their arrival here were not allowed to choose their mas- ters nor kind of service most suitable to them. They were often sepa- rated from their family, the wife from the husband, and children from their parents ; were disposed of for the term of years, often at public sale, to masters living far apart, and always to the greatest advantage of the shipper. I have read many reports of the barbarous treatment they re- ceived, how they were literally worked to death, receiving insufficient food, scanty clothing, and poor lodging. Cruel punishments were in- flicted on them for slight offences when they were at the mercy of a hard and brutal master. Their fellow black slave was often treated better, for he was a slave for life, and it was in the interest of the master to treat him well to preserve him, whilst the poor Redemptioner was a slave for
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a number of years only, and all his vital force was worked out of him during the years of his service.
" No public records were kept of the contracts entered into abroad by the Redemptioners, nor of the time of the expiration of their service. The Redemptioners were not furnished with duplicates of their contracts. They were sometimes, and could be, mortgaged, hired out for a shorter period, sold, and transferred like chattel by their masters. The Redemp- tioners belonging to the poor and most of them to the ignorant class, it is apparent that under these conditions they were at a great disadvantage against a rapacious master, who kept them in servitude after the expiration of their true contract time, claiming their services for a longer period.
" For many years the Redemptioners in Maryland had come prin- cipally from England and Ireland. The abuses of the system having be- come known in England, rigorous laws and measures were adopted in England for their better protection, and letters and articles appeared in the newspapers warning the poor people from entering into these con- tracts. The first and early immigration of Germans came into Maryland from Pennsylvania. From Lancaster County it extended into Baltimore, Harford, Frederick, and the western counties of our State. As wages advanced, the trade of shipping Redemptioners to the colony became highly lucrative. Large profits were made in a successful voyage with a full cargo of human beings, who, on their arrival here, were sold to the highest bidder for a term of years.
" The Dutch, who, in 1620, had sent the first cargo of negro slaves to this country, and had amassed great wealth in the pursuit of the negro slave-trade from distant Africa, discovered that it was less troublesome and equally remunerative to engage in a sort of a white slave-trade, by shipping Redemptioners from their own country, Germany, Switzerland, and adjoining countries, to the American colonies. The shipping mer- chants of Holland would send regular agents, or drummers, as we now would call them, who received one-half of a doubloon for every Redemp- tioner shipped by them into these colonies. These agents generally ap- peared in gaudy dress, with flourish of trumpets, and in glowing language depicted the wealth and happiness of the people of this country, whereof all could partake if they only would come here ; that they did not need any money for their passage, as all they had to do was to sign a contract that on their arrival here they would pay for the same out of their first earnings. In this manner these agents would travel from village to vil- lage, deluding the poorest and most ignorant to follow them to the New Eldorado.
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