Runaway Slave

July 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

North-Carolina Gazette (July 7, 1775).

“EXTRACTS from the Votes and Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.”

When they perused the July 7, 1775, edition of the North-Carolina Gazette, readers encountered an advertisement that proclaimed, “JUST PUBLISHED, And to be sold at the Printing Office … EXTRACTS from the Votes and Proceedings of the AMERICAN CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, held at Philadelphia, on the Fifth Day of September, 1774.”  The Extracts, however, were not “JUST PUBLISHED,” though James Davis certainly had them for sale at the printing office in New Bern.  The Adverts 250 Project previously featured this advertisement’s appearance in the April 7, 1775, edition of the North-Carolina Gazette.  Few issues of that newspaper survive, preventing a complete reconstruction of when the advertisement ran.  Only seven issues, all from 1775, are available via America’s Historical Newspapers, the most comprehensive database of digitized eighteenth-century newspaper.  Davis’s advertisement for the Extracts did not run on March 24, but appeared on April 7, May 5, and May 12.  It was not in the June 30 issue, yet it returned for the July 7 and July 14 issues.

It is not clear how often the advertisement ran between May 12 and June 30, but Davis did not insert it in the issue immediately before the one that delivered several important updates that might have influenced him to believe that readers who had not yet purchased the Extracts would have increased interest in the “Bill of Rights, a List of Grievance, Occasional Resolves,” and “General Gage’s Answer to the Letter sent him by the General Congress.”  The Extractsdocumented the meeting of the First Continental Congress in the fall of 1774.  When the advertisement ran on July 7, 1775, the Second Continental Congress had been meeting for nearly two months.  That issue included an update that “By Letters from the Congress of the 19th of June, we are informed, that Col. Washington, of Virginia, is appointed General and Commander in Chief of all the American Forces.”  It also delivered news of the Battle of Bunker Hill, acknowledging that the account received in the printing office was “very imperfect, and must leave us in Suspence till a further Account of this most momentous Affair arrives.”  Indeed, that “imperfect” account inaccurately claimed that “General Burgoyne fell … and was interred in Boston with great Funeral Pomp.”  As he sorted through newspapers and letters arriving from the north, Davis apparently believed that the news he selected for publication would spark new interest in his remaining copies of the Extracts from the First Continental Congress.

As had been the case in the April 7 edition, that advertisement ran alongside another that described an enslaved man who liberated himself by running away from his enslaver.  In this instance, “a Negro Slave … named JEM,” was a fugitive from slavery who might have been “harboured or kept out by his Wife, named Rachel.”  James Biggleston, Jem’s enslaver, suspected that Jem was “lurking in the Neighborhood” of the plantation where Rachel was enslaved. Biggleston offered a reward for the capture and return of Jem in a nota bene at the end of the advertisement, though the main body of the notice consisted of a warrant signed by “Two of his Majesty’s Justices of the Peace” that authorized that “if the said Jem doth not surrender himself, and return home immediately … that any Person or Persons may kill and destroy the said Slave … without Impeachment or Accusation of any Crime or Offence … or without incurring any Penalty.”  Most readers of the North-Carolina Gazette and other newspapers compartmentalized the contents of those publications.  They did so to such an extent that the juxtaposition of colonizers demanding freedom from oppression and enslaved people seeking liberty did not register as a contradiction.

July 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette (July 4, 1775). NB: The compositor mistakenly updated the masthead to “TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1775,” instead of “TUESDAY, JULY 4, 1775.”

“SOLOMON, a negro, … will make for Boston to the soldiers.”

They made their escape together.  Solomon, an enslaved man, and Richard Dawson, a “white servant man” and “an English convict,” ran away from Thomas Cockey, Sr., and Thomas Cockey, Jr., in Baltimore County in the spring of 1775.  Their advertisement describing Solomon and Dawson first appeared in the May 16, 1775, edition of Dunlap’s Maryland Gazette.  The two men apparently eluded capture because the notice ran regularly for the next several months, including in the July 4 edition.

When they departed, both Solomon and Dawson had an “iron collar double rivetted.”  Solomon had also been outfitted with “a darby” or fetters “on each leg with a chain to one of them,” probably because the Cockeys correctly considered him likely to attempt to liberate himself.  He did, after all, have a history of making a break for freedom.  According to the Cockeys, Solomon previously made it to New Castle in Delaware, remaining there for “twelve months and upwards,” but then in July 1774 went to Somerset County, Maryland.  There he was captured, jailed, and “brought home in November.”  Within months, he became a fugitive seeking freedom once again.  The Cockeys believed that Solomon “has been in Philadelphia.”

Solomon was a young man, “about twenty-two years of age,” who had been in the colonies “about four years.”  Dawson, in contrast, was older, “about 55 years of age.”  He had served as a soldier “under the King of Prussia [during the] last war.”  The Cockeys did not indicate which crimes Dawson committed to merit punishment as a convict servant transported to America.  They did speculate that Solomon and Dawson “will make for Boston to the soldiers, as they have often been talking about them,” though they did not reveal the particulars of what the enslaved man and the former soldier had to say about the British troops or when their conversations first occurred.  Had they taken place after learning of the battles at Lexington and Concord?  Did Dawson think that British soldiers might feel some sympathy for a former comrade?  Did Solomon believe that regulars would shelter him from the colonizers who put him in bondage?  Even if they did not hope for aid, Solomon and Dawson might have considered the upheaval in New England the best opportunity to avoid detection and capture.  The Cockeys anticipated that both men would “get their irons off, get other cloaths [to disguise themselves], change their names, and deny their master.”  Since Solomon “talks pretty good English” and evaded capture for so long during his previous attempt to liberate himself, he had likely learned to tell plausible stories.

Some advertisements about enslaved men and women who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers during the era of the American Revolution suggested that they received assistance from enslaved relatives and friends.  On occasion, other advertisements recorded enslaved people and unfree colonizers (indentured servants, convict servants, apprentices) working together.  The role that the battles at Lexington and Concord and the siege of Boston played in Solomon’s decision to make common cause with Dawson cannot be determined from the narrative the Cockeys presented in their advertisement.  What is clear, however, is that Solomon repeatedly made his own declarations of independence.

For other stories of enslaved people liberating themselves originally published on July 4 during the era of the American Revolution, see:

June 14

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Massachusetts Spy (June 14, 1775).

“RAN away … a NEGRO MAN, named TOWER.”

Isaiah Thomas, the printer of the Massachusetts Spy, left Boston just before the battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775.  He had previously advertised that he intended to establish a printing office in Worcester and install a junior partner there to print the town’s first newspaper.  When he decided to leave Boston to escape the ire of British officials he had angered with his advocacy for the Patriot cause, however, he revised his plans.  Instead of a junior partner printing a new newspaper, Thomas moved the Massachusetts Spy to Worcester and continued publishing it there, safely beyond the reach of Tories in Boston.  Although the numbering of the newspaper continued uninterrupted, it gained a new subtitle, American Oracle of Liberty, and a warning that ran across the top of the masthead, “Americans! — Liberty or Death! — Join or Die.”

When published in Boston, the Massachusetts Spy carried advertisements that offered enslaved people for sale and notices that described enslaved people who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers and offered rewards for their capture and return.  Despite the new subtitle and the admonitions in the masthead, Thomas continued to earn revenue for his newspaper by printing those advertisements in the Massachusetts Spy after moving it to Worcester.  Away from the colony’s largest urban port, colonizers did not resort to such notices as often, but they did submit them to the printing office and Thomas did publish them. The June 14, 1775, edition of the Massachusetts Spy, the seventh issue printed in Worcester, carried an advertisement about a “NEGRO MAN, named TOWER” who “RAN away” from Nathaniel Read of the nearby town of Western.  Read stated that “Whoever will take up said Runaway shall be handsomely rewarded.”  That advertisement appeared immediately below a news update that confirmed that residents of Charleston, South Carolina, had received word of “a skirmish, or in fact rather an engagement, which happened between his Majesty’s troops and the Provincials” on April 19.  The extract of the letter, written by a British officer in Boston and sent to a correspondent in Charleston, acknowledged that “On the whole the Provincials behaved with unexpected bravery.”  Tower also acted with courage, though not necessarily “unexpected bravery,” as he enacted his own plan for “Liberty or Death!”  Neither Read nor most readers allowed for that possibility, though an item that appeared in the next issue of the Massachusetts Spyindicated that some colonizers in Massachusetts did grapple with the meaning of freedom for enslaved people and the applied the rhetoric of the Revolution to them as well.  The Adverts 250 Project will feature that item next week.

April 29

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Supplement to the Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (April 29, 1775).

“RUN away … a Mulatto Boy named SAM … will endeavour to pass for a free Boy.”

As the imperial crisis intensified in 1774 and erupted into a war in 1775, Sam, an enslaved youth, had his own concerns and fought his own battle for independence.  Like so many other enslaved people, Sam did not author his own story; instead, it was recorded by an enslaver in a newspaper advertisement that offered a reward for the capture and return of the young man after he had liberated himself by running away.

John Bland’s efforts to recover Sam and return him to bondage stretched over many months.  His advertisement indicated that he composed it on November 10, 1774, three weeks before the Continental Association, a nonimportation agreement enacted in response to the Coercive Acts, went into effect.  It ran regularly, including in the supplement that accompanied the April 29, 1775, edition of John Dixon and William Hunter’s Virginia Gazette.  That supplement included the first reports of the battles at Lexington and Concord that appeared in newspapers published in Virginia.  What did Sam think of those events?  Perhaps he welcomed the distraction they provided, shifting attention away from efforts to discover his whereabouts as he “endeavour[ed] to pass for a free Boy.”

Bland offered a brief biography of Sam, likely not emphasizing the details that the youth would have chosen had he written his own narrative.  The enslaver stated that Sam was a mulatto “born in Frederick Town, Maryland,” but did not say anything about his parents or other relations.  Bland considered Sam a “great Villain” with a “smooth artful Tongue,” but acknowledged that he was “a very good Barber,” a rare note of praise in an advertisement of that type.  Bland reported that in June 1774 Sam had been imprisoned in Yorktown “on Suspicion of having stolen some Money in Williamsburg,” but escaped and made his way to Norfolk.  He had been captured and jailed there before being sent back to Bland.  On September 20, Sam once again made a bid for freedom, escaping from Bland’s overseer and “has not since been heard of.”  Having lived in Fredericksburg, Norfolk, and Yorktown, Sam was “well acquainted with most Parts of Virginia,” a factor that likely aided in eluding Bland.  In addition, the enslaver considered it “probable” that Sam “will procure Clothes” to disguise himself.  Bland warned “Captains of Ships” and “Masters of Vessel” against employing Sam or transporting him out of the colony.

Where was Sam?  Did he manage to get aboard a ship?  What other strategies did he deploy to make good on his escape?  Did he have assistance from other enslaved people, free Black men and women, or even sympathetic white colonizers?  What kind of freedom had he experienced in the months since he fled from Bland?  Was he aware that Bland published an advertisement and offered a reward for him?  What was Sam thinking and feeling over those many months?  Bland’s advertisement does not answer those questions, but it does chronicle Sam’s courage and resilience as well as his commitment to seizing his own liberty during an era when colonizers claimed that Parliament and the king perpetrated acts of tyranny against them.  Like so many other fugitives seeking freedom advertised in newspapers from New England to Georgia, Sam made a declaration of independence.

January 13

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-Hampshire Gazette (January 13, 1775).

“A NEGRO FELLOW named POMP … procur’d a counterfeit Pass.”

On January 13, 1775, nearly two dozen advertisements about enslaved people appeared in newspapers printed in the American colonies.  Twenty-two of them ran in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette, published in Charleston, and one in the New-Hampshire Gazette, published in Portsmouth.  Those numbers tell a familiar story about the size of the enslaved population in the southern colonies, yet the example from New-Hampshire Gazette demonstrates that slavery was practiced throughout the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution.

Ebenezer Sayer of Wells, Massachusetts (now Maine), placed a notice in the newspaper printed closest to his town, the New-Hampshire Gazette, to advise that “a NEGRO FELLOW named POMP” liberated himself by running away sometime during the evening of December 18, 1774.  Sayer described Pomp’s clothing, including the “black silk Handkerchief round his Neck, and a green Cap,” to help readers recognize him.  He also offered a reward to anyone who apprehended Pomp and brought him to Sayer in Wells or secured him in the jail in York, Massachusetts (Maine).

In a nota bene, Sayer revealed that Pomp was quite ingenious and carefully planned his escape from enslavement.  Before he departed, Pomp “procur’d a counterfeit Pass, changing his own Name and his Master’s.”  Sayer did not reveal how he learned about the pass or anything about its origins, though he does suggest that Pomp could read and write well enough to alter the pass on his own.  “All Persons are cautioned against being deceived by such Artifice,” Sayer admonished.  He also issued a standard warning to “all Masters of Vessels and others … not to harbour, conceal or carry off said Negro.”  Those who aided him would face “Penalties of the Law.”  In other words, colonies in New England had their own slave codes to maintain social order, further demonstrating that slavery was not restricted to plantations in southern colonies.  Yet Pomp’s story (and the stories of many of the enslaved people in advertisements in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette) also testifies to the spirit of resistance and resilience among enslaved people on the eve of the American Revolution, an exceptionally important story itself.

October 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Connecticut Courant (October 10, 1774).

“A Negro answering the above Discription has let himself to Mr. Jesse Leavensworth of New-Haven.”

In the fall of 1774, Samuel Boardman of Wethersfield took to the pages of the Connecticut Courant and Hartford Weekly Intelligencer to offer a reward for the capture and return of a “New Negro Man” who liberated himself by running away.  Boardman did not give a name for this man, but instead stated that he “talks but a little English, calls himself a Portuguese, and talks a little of the Tongue.”  He offered a reward to “Whoever will take up said Negro and return him to his Master.”  Dated September 26, the advertisement first appeared in the October 3 edition of the Connecticut Courant.  It included a notation indicating that a “Negro answering the above Discription has let himself to Mr. Jesse Leavensworth of New-Haven.”  Boardman most likely did not include that information in the copy he submitted to the printing office.

Instead, Ebenezer Watson, the printer, likely supplied it upon reading an advertisement that Leavenworth placed in the September 30 edition of the Connecticut Journal and New-Haven Post-Boy.  After all, printers regularly exchanged newspapers in hopes of acquiring content for their own publications.  Leavenworth devoted most of that notice to giving instructions for hiring his ferry, but added a note that recently a “lusty negro man, about 23 or 24 years old, speaks the Portuguese language, but little English” had “let himself to me.”  Leavenworth hired the young man, but was suspicious that he was a fugitive seeking freedom and his enslaver was looking for him.  Just in case, he supplemented his advertisement for the ferry with the description of the Black man who spoke Portuguese.  Given the timing of the advertisements in the two newspapers, Boardman would not have seen Leavenworth’s notice when he drafted his own advertisement.  If he had that information, he could have dispensed with advertising at all.

What role did Watson play in keeping Boardman informed about this development?  He might have dispatched a message to the advertiser in Wethersfield, though he could have considered the note at the end of the advertisement sufficient to update Boardman, figuring that his customer would check the pages of the Connecticut Courant to confirm that his notice appeared.  Watson could have also sent a message to Thomas Green and Samuel Green, the printers of the Connecticut Journal, along with his exchange copy of the Connecticut Courant, expecting they might pass along the information to Leavenworth.  In addition, Leavenworth might have eventually encountered Boardman’s advertisement, depending on his reading habits, or otherwise heard about it.  That alternative seems most likely.  No matter what other action Watson took, inserting the note that connected the unnamed Black man in Boardman’s advertisement in the Connecticut Courant to the unnamed Black man in Leavenworth’s advertisement in the Connecticut Journal alerted readers that they could collect the reward if they decided to pursue the matter.  The power of the press, including a printer whose assistance extended beyond merely setting type and disseminating the advertisement, worked to the advantage of Boardman, the enslaver, against the interests of the unnamed Black man who spoke Portuguese.

September 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

Norwich Packet (September 1, 1774).

“RAN-away … a Negro Man named Jason.”

Like every other newspaper published in the colonies, from New England to Georgia, during the era of the American Revolution, the Norwich Packet carried advertisements that described enslaved men and women who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers.  Such advertisements encouraged all colonizers to engage in surveillance of Black bodies to determine whether the people they encountered matched descriptions in the newspapers, offering rewards to those who provided information or captured and returned fugitives seeking freedom.

One such advertisement appeared as summer turned to fall in 1774.  Jason, an enslaved man “born in this Country,” departed sometime during the night of August 11.  Timothy Waterman of Norwich spent a few days trying to find Jason on his before resorting to a newspaper advertisement dated August 16.  It first ran in the August 18 edition of the Norwich Packet and appeared again on August 25.  For its third iteration in the weekly newspaper, Waterman’s notice included a nota bene with an update: “Information has been received that the above described Negro is harboured on board one of his Majesty’s Ship’s stationed at Boston.”  Waterman did not reveal the source of this information.  Perhaps his advertisement and its dissemination far beyond Norwich yielded this lead.  Waterman warned the captain of that vessel “or any Shipmaster” that should they “attempt to conceal or carry off said slave … that his Master is determined to prosecute them with the utmost severity of Law, and the most unrelenting Vengeance.”  He sought to combine the power of the press and the power of the state in his effort to retrieve Jason and return him to enslavement.

Waterman also expected that the Norwich Packet and the Connecticut, Massachusetts, New-Hampshire, and Rhode-Island Weekly Advertiser circulated widely enough that ship captains in Boston would either see his advertisement or otherwise become aware of it.  The information infrastructure worked in favor of enslavers and against enslaved men and women who made their own declarations of independence during the era of the American Revolution.  That so many of these advertisements appeared in colonial newspapers, year after year, decade after decade, suggests that they must have been effective, at least to some degree, or else enslavers would not have continued investing in them.

July 4

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury (July 4, 1774).

“RAN AWAY … a Negro Man named GEORGE.”

On June 4, 1774, a “Negro Man named GEORGE” liberated himself from his enslaver, Abraham Lawrence of “Flushing on Long-Island,” by running away.  In hopes of recovering George and returning him to slavery, Lawrence ran an advertisement in the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury.  It first appeared in the June 13 edition and continued for several issues, including the one published on July 4.  The enslaver hoped to enlist the aid of the public, offering “FIVE DOLLARS Reward” and providing a description of George so readers could identify him as they engaged in surveillance of Black men they encounter.  Lawrence also issued a standard warning: “All Masters of Vessels and others, are forbid carrying off, or harbouring said Run-away, as they will be dealt with according to Law.”  Already utilizing the power of the press, Lawrence was prepared to deploy the power of the state to return George to slavery and punish anyone who assisted this fugitive from slavery.

Lawrence’s description of George differed significantly from how George would have described himself, focusing on physical characteristics.  According to the enslaver, George “is of a yellowish Complexion, has black bushy Hair, which he commonly wears tied behind; 5 feet 8 Inches high.”  Lawrence did not indicate George’s approximate age, which language(s) he spoke, any skills he possessed or trades he followed, or whether he had been born in the colonies or Africa, nor did he mention any relations with other enslaved people.  Other advertisements often included such details.  Lawrence devoted the most attention to George’s clothing: “a whitish Linen Coat, a grey homespun Coat, blue Jacket, Buff coloured half-worn Velvet Breeches, with some Patches, black Stockings, and old Shoes.”  The enslaver reporter that George “most commonly wears his Hat cocked” and suspected that he “may change his Coat to a brown.”  In so doing, Lawrence acknowledged that George was clever, but condemned him for applying his intelligence to what the enslaver considered nefarious purposes.

Quite possibly, this may be the only trace of George that survives in the historical record, an account of his escape from slavery written not by himself but by an enslaver seeking his capture and return.  It tells an exceptionally truncated account of George’s life.  Despite the intentions of its author, this advertisement tells a story of courage, resilience, and resistance during the era of the American Revolution.  News coverage and editorials elsewhere in the July 4, 1774, edition of the New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury focused on the imperial crisis, especially the aftermath of the Boston Port Act devised as punishment for the Boston Tea Party.  George may or may not have heard rumblings about that.  Either way, he made his own declaration of independence on June 4, 1774, much to the dismay of his enslaver.

For other stories of enslaved people liberating themselves originally published on July 4 during the era of the American Revolution, see:

May 31

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Essex Gazette (May 31, 1774).

“RAN away … a Negro Boy, named GOREE.”

As the summer of 1774 approached, an enslaved youth named Goree saw his opportunity to liberate himself by running away from Daniel Vose of Milton, Massachusetts.  Vose, for his part, joined the ranks of enslavers who placed newspaper advertisement that offered rewards for the capture and return of enslaved men and women who made similar declarations of independence during the era of the American Revolution.  He provided a description of the Goree, encouraging readers to engage in surveillance of all Black people, especially young Black men, with the intention that such scrutiny would aid in identifying him.  Vose also warned “All Masters of Vessels and others … against harbouring, concealing, or carrying off” Goree or else face “the Penalty of the Law” for aiding him.

Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy (May 30, 1774).

Vose made quite an investment in locating and securing Goree.  In addition to offering “six Dollars Reward and necessary Charges” for securing him in jail and sending word to Milford, he also ran advertisements in several newspapers.  On May 30, his notice appeared in the Boston Evening-Post, the Boston-Gazette, and the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy, all three newspapers published in Boston on Mondays.  His advertisement in the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post-Boy even included a crude woodcut depicting an enslaved man on the run as a means of drawing attention to it.  Apart from the masthead, that was the only image in that issue of the newspaper.  The following day, Vose ran the same advertisement in the Essex Gazette, published in Salem.  He did not place his advertisement in the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter or the Massachusetts Spy, both published in Boston on Thursdays, perhaps believing that four newspapers printed in two towns provided sufficient dissemination of Goree’s description and the reward for capturing him.

South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal (May 31, 1774).

Vose was not alone in placing such advertisements in multiple newspapers.  At the same time that he sought to enlist the aid of other colonizers in securing an enslaved youth who liberated himself, Charles Ogilvie ran advertisement about “a Negro Man named MINOS” in the South-Carolina and American General Gazette on May 27, the South-Carolina Gazette on May 30, and the South-Carolina Gazette and Country Journal on May 31.  That accounted for every newspaper published in Charleston and the rest of the colony at the time.  Ogilvie had recently purchased Minos “at Mr. Benjamin Wigfall’s Sale,” but Minos had other ideas.  The enslaver suspected that Minos had assistance from “his Wife at Mr. Elias Wigfall’s” or his “many Relations” in the “Parishes of St. James, Santee, and Christ Church,” believing that they “harboured” or hid him.  Although not his purpose in placing the advertisement, Ogilvie revealed one of Minos’s likely motivations for liberating himself.

In both New England and South Carolina, enslavers like Vose and Ogilvie went to great expense in running advertisements about enslaved people who liberated themselves.  Such notices were not a feature solely of the newspapers published in southern colonies during the era of the American Revolution.  Instead, they appeared in newspapers throughout the colonies, part of the everyday culture of slavery from New England to Georgia.

May 24

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Connecticut Courant (May 24, 1774).

“RUN away … a negro man about 27 years of age.”

An advertisement in the May 24, 1774, edition of the Connecticut Courant offered a reward for the capture and return of an unnamed “negro man about 27 years of age” who liberated himself by running away from Thomas Moses, his enslaver.  Moses provided a description, declaring that the “negro man … lisps in his speech” and wore “a brown coat and red waistcoat, a white holland shirt, a new castor hat, a new pair of leather breeches, [and] a pair of blue stockings.”  He also took other clothing with him, items that he could use to vary his appearance or sell in his efforts to make good on his escape.  Moses stated that he would present ten dollars to “Whoever shall take up said negro and return him to me” or five dollars to whoever would “secure him in any of his majesty’s goals [jails] and send me word so that I may have him again.”  In a nota bene, he warned, “All persons are hereby forbid to harbour said negro on penalty of law.”

The first half of that advertisement appeared at the bottom of a column that featured an editorial with a headline that proclaimed, “JOIN OR DIE!!!”  A more extensive version first ran in the May 16 edition of the Newport Mercury as a combination of news and opinion.  An abbreviated version, the first paragraph, then circulated in other newspapers as printers followed the common practice of reprinting items from one publication to another.  The shorter version featured an additional exclamation mark for emphasis.  The editorial commented on the Boston Port Act and Parliament’s intention “to reduce its spirited inhabitants to the most servile and mean compliance ever attempted to be imposed on a free people.”  This new legislation was “infinitely more alarming and dangerous to our common liberties, than even that hydra the Stamp Act.”  While directed at Boston in retaliation for the destruction of tea the previous December, the Boston Port Act, according to the anonymous author, was also “a direct hostile invasion of every province on the continent.”  The people of Boston “nobly stood as a barrier against slavery.”  Now residents of other towns needed to do the same “to stand … for the relief, support, and animation of our brethren in the insulted, besieged capital of Massachusetts-Bay” because “nothing but unity, resolution, and perseverance, can save ourselves and posterity from what is worse than death — SLAVERY.”

Connecticut Courant (May 24, 1774).

Twice in a single paragraph, the author of the editorial invoked slavery as the consequence of Parliament’s treatment of the colonies.  Ebenezer Watson, the printer of the Connecticut Courant, selected that piece to feature in his newspaper and placed it in proximity to an advertisement that offered a reward for capturing an enslaved man who liberated himself.  A single advertisement, a probate notice, separated the editorial from the “RUN away” advertisement.  Perhaps even as he generated revenue from publishing the latter, Watson recognized the juxtaposition of very different concepts of slavery and could not position one item right after the other.  Just as likely, however, that juxtaposition did not register.  After all, Moses’s advertisement was one of at least eighty-five advertisements about enslaved people that ran in nineteen newspapers, including nine published in New England, that week.  Even as many printers advocated for liberty for colonizers who faced the prospect of figurative enslavement by Parliament, the early American press participated in perpetuating the literal enslavement of Africans, African Americans, and Indigenous Americans with advertisements for buying and selling enslaved people and notices calling on colonizers to capture enslaved people who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers.  The proximity of such advertisements to content similar to the “JOIN OR DIE!!!” editorial was a common feature of newspapers published during the era of the American Revolution.