Runaway records: comparing and contemplating

Dr Darren Reid of the University of Dundee is running an series of seminars over Skype on Atlantic History and, as part of this, I was asked to write these posts. Dr Reid posed a simple question; “what do these runaway records tell us about the past?” with a variety of options for how it might be taken, directions to explore, but with an invitation to explore as interest directed.

As such I have selected, more or less at random, two of the earliest advertisements from the Virginia Gazette one for a female servant (Anne Harmon) and one for a pair of nameless black slaves. Both were published in October 1730 and were within the first few advertisements available to me.

I have examined the first piece, which told of Anne Harmon, an indentured Englishwoman who fled from Essex County (Virginia) in September of 1730, and then the second which revealed the plight of a pair of black men who were enslaved and who fled from Caroline County (Virginia) around August of the same year.

The information in each was interesting, revealing something of the three people who ran and rather more of the things which were considered important about them by those who had power over them (John Corries in the case of Ms Harmon and Peyton Smith for the two men), and also the sort of thing which would be considered relevant to allow people to identify the runaways.

Comparing the two advertisements it is quite clear that there is more attention to detail in the case of Ms Harmon, a fairly complete (if brief) description of the lady and of her clothes:

"...an English Servant Woman, named Anne Harmon, aged about 20, of a middle Stature, well featur'd, and has black Hair and Eyes: She had on, when she went away, a Cotton Gown and Petticoat, strip'd with red and Blue; and an English Straw Hat, lin'd with White Callico"

Balanced against that description it is clear that the two black men do not enjoy such detailed descriptions of either themselves or their clothing:

"Two new Negro men, of a middle Stature; one of them of a yellow Complexion, with a Scar on the Top of his Head. The other a black Fellow; and they took with them several Linen Cloths, and Cotton Frocks, without Sleeves, which they had when I bought them" 

It is entirely possible, perhaps even likely, that the reason for this lack of detail for the two men when compared to the young lady is due to familiarity. They are described as being “Two new Negro men”, which suggests they have recently come into workforce of Mr Smith, and if they were part of even a moderate workforce he might not have paid particular attention to them as individuals to be able to describe them.

Equally likely though is that a pair of black men would be obviously out of place and would come under scrutiny and suspicion more than a young white woman, there would be few places they could hope to go – there would be little opportunity to leave the country and return to Africa (if that were where they originated from) whereas Ms Harmon, if she had coin, could conceivably return to England or travel to another town or colony where she might find work or a future.

There is more detail still in the advertisement seeking Ms Harmon of when she was found to be missing, that she “RAN away, on the 17th of September last” where the two men are noted simply as having “RAN away, about the middle of August last”. From this we can see that Ms Harmon is sought by Mr Corries after a very short time (the advertisement runs from Friday, September 24, to Friday, October 1, 1736, which is a week after her absence is noted) whereas Mr Smith has allowed a significantly longer time before placing a public appeal (the advertisement there runs from Friday, October 15, to Friday, October 22, 1736), allowing some two months to pass.

Mr Smith may have had good reason for his delay; placing the advertisement would not be free and may have other knock-on effects, alerting his neighbours to problems within the business and workforce. It may equally well be that he determined the pair of men would be unable to get very far and that spreading the word through Caroline County would be sufficient.

So by simply comparing the detail on the three individuals, only one of whom is named, it is clear to me that greater detail is provided for Ms Harmon than for the two black men, but that there may be reasons other than simple lack of care for this. That a white woman stands out less than a pair of black men, that there is greater value placed on the goods which she took than the value of the black men, that there is a greater degree of familiarity between the lady and her supervisor than between the two newly obtained men and their owner, or that the time between the individual[s] being missing and the advertisement being placed was different, allowing less time for details to become fogged.