Pennsylvania runaways, 1784-1790 / compiled by Joseph Lee Boyle

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boyle, Joseph Lee, compiler.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Indentured servants--Pennsylvania.

Indentured servants.

Enslaved persons--Pennsylvania.

Enslaved persons.

Fugitive slaves--Pennsylvania.

Fugitive slaves.

African Americans--Pennsylvania.

African Americans.

Indians of North America--Pennsylvania.

Indians of North America.

Slavery--Pennsylvania.

Slavery.

Physical Description:

vii, 455 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 2024

Summary:

"The runaway ads abstracted for this new volume are more diverse than have appeared in previous ones. For instance, multiple ads for slave and Native American runaways appear, and they are identified by race and surname (when available). The Pennsylvania Slave Act, passed on March 19, 1780, which was the first extensive abolition legislation in the western hemisphere, likely encouraged some African Americans to seek their freedom in Pennsylvania. The act stopped the importation of slaves into the state, required all slaves to be registered, and established that all children born in the state were free, regardless of race or parentage. Many of the newspaper ads provide distinctive physical features of the escapees, such as "a slow hobbling gait" or "his feet remarkably deformed," or "both his arms are marked with the letters W. H." As he has with previous books, Mr. Boyle has included ads placed by men whose spouses "eloped" from them for one reason or another." - publisher

Local Notes:

Pennsylvania Abolition Society Complimentary Collection

ISBN:

9780806359670

0806359676

OCLC:

1420076021