The Portland daily press., 1897-09-22
COLONIAL SERVANTS.
The Kind of Help They Had in Early New
England.

Domestic service lin America has passed
through three distinct phases. The first
extends from the early colonization to
the time of the revolution; the second
from the revolution to about 1850; the
third from 1850 to the present time
During the Colonial period service of
every kind was performed by transported
convicts, indentured white servants or
''redemptioners," "free willers," negroes
and Indians. The first three classes
were of European, at first generally Eng.
lish, birth.
Protests were often made against this
method of settlement both by the
colonists themselves and by Englishmen,
but it was long before the English govern
ment abandoned the practice Of transport
ing criminals to the American colonies.
OF the three classes of whites, or Chris
tian servants, as they were called to dis
tinguish them from the Indians and
negroes, the free willers were evidently
found only in Maryland. They were re-
ceiyed under the condition that they be
allowed certain number of days in
which.to dispose rsof themselves to the
greatest advantage.
1t is impossible to state the proportion
of servants belonging to the two classes
of transported conyictS and redemption
ers but the statement is apparently fair
that the redemptioners who sold them
selves into service to pay for the cost of
their passage constituted by far the larger
portion. These were found in all the
colonies, though moro numerous in the
southern and middle colonies than in
New England. In Virginia and Mary
land they numbered the negro slaves
until the latter part of the seventeenth
century. In Massachusetts apprenticed
servants, bound for term of years. were
sold from ships in Boston as late as 1870,
while the general trade in bound white
servants lasted until the time of the revo-
luton, and in Pennsylvania even until
this century.
Of English birth, but after time they
were supplanted by those of other nation
alities, particularly by Germans and
Irish. As early as 17lS there was COM
plaint of the Irish immigrants in Massa-
chuSetts.
1t has been said that great majority
of the REDEEM ptioners belonged at first to
q low class in the social scale. A consid-
cradle number, however, both men and
women, belonged to the respectable, even
to the so-called upper class of society.
They were sent over to, prevent disad-
vantageous marriages, to secure 1nher1-
tances to other members of a family or to
further some criminal scheme.
Many of these bond servants sold them
selves into servitude, others were disposed
of through emigration brokers and still
others were kidnapped, being enticed on
shipboard by persons called "spirits. -
The evil of 'sspiriting away both child
rem and adults, became SO great that in
1864 the committee for foreign plantations
interposed, and the council created the
Office of register, charged with the duty
of keeping record of all persons going to
America as servants, and the statement
that they ha d voluntarily left England.
This act was soon followed by another
fixing the penalty of death, without pene-
fit of clergy, in every case where persons
were found guilty of kidnapping children
or adults. But even these extreme meas
ures did not put an end to the evil; and
it is stated that 10 900 persons were an
nually kidnapped after the passage of the
net.
The wages paid were, as rule, small,
though some complaints are found, es-
peoial1y in New England, of high wages
and poor service. More often the wages
were mere pittance. Elizabeth Evans
came from Ireland to serve John Wheel
wright for three years. Her wages were
TO be three pounds year and passage
paid. Margery Batman after five years
of service in Charlestown, was to receive
she goat to help her in starting life.
Mary Polly, according to the terms of her
indenture, was to serve ten years and then
receive three barrels of corn and one
suit of penistone and one suit shirts of
dowlas and one black hood, two shifts of
dowlas and shoes and hose convenient"
Domestic Service.