Slaveholders Listed on this Page
- Dobbin, Alexander (Enslaved persons listed: Becky, Eliza, Sall, Amy)
- Dunwiddie, Jane (Enslaved persons listed: one unnamed slave)
- Ewing, John (Enslaved persons listed: Benjamin Dorsey, a.k.a. Reason or Tom)
- Finley, Ebenezer (Enslaved persons listed: Un-named woman, man, and two children)
- Finley, Margaret (Enslaved persons listed: Jem, John, Moses, Ann)
- Fletcher, John (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed female slave)
- Gorley, Thomas (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed slave)
- Graft, Philip (Enslaved persons listed: Sam Armstrong)
- Hall, Edward (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed female)
- Hatton, Leonard (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed male)
- Heagy, Henry (Enslaved persons listed: Joseph Butler)
- Herman, John (Enslaved persons listed: Samuel, Jonas)
- Hersey, Jacob (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed slave)
- Hersh, John (Enslaved persons listed: Harry)
- Higas, George (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed slave)
- Hoffman, Henry (Enslaved persons listed: Matthew)
- Hoke, Conrad, Jr. (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed male slave)
- Hoke, Henry (Enslaved persons listed: unnamed male slave)
- Horner, Alexander (Enslaved persons listed: Aaron, Tom, Peter)
- Horner, David (Enslaved persons listed: Cyrus)
- Horner, Mary (Enslaved persons listed: Ivory)
- Horner, Robert (Enslaved persons listed: Ralph)
- Horner, William (Enslaved persons listed: Abraham, unnamed woman, unnamed child)
- Houlsworth, Samuel (Enslaved persons listed: Bob)
Enslavement Data
- Slaveholder Name: Dobbin, Alexander
City or Township: Cumberland Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Minister
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Eliza
Sex: Female
Age: Three days old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1800, December 27
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes: Apparent twin sister of Becky, born and registered on same day.
Date of Record: December 30, 1800
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Becky
Sex: Female
Age: Three days old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1800, December 27
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes: Apparent twin sister of Eliza, born and registered on same day.
Date of Record: December 30, 1800
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sall
Sex: Female
Age: Three weeks old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1803, August 20
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Mulattoe"
Notes:
Date of Record: September 10, 1803
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Amy
Sex: Female
Age: Six months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1805, January 30
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: August 05, 1805
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Dunwiddie, Jane
City or Township: Hamilton Bann Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes: Assessed for "one slave" in 1802.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not recorded
Sex: Not specified
Age: Not specified
Date of Birth: Prior to 1802
Status: Not determined
Description: "slave"
Notes:
Date of Record: 1802
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Ewing, John
City or Township: Gettysburg Borough
County: Adams County
Occupation: County Jailer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Benjamin Dorsey, a.k.a. Reason, Tom
Sex: Male
Age: "Between 18 and 19 years of age"
Date of Birth: circa 1798-1799
Status: Escaped from Maryland but imprisoned in Gettysburg as fugitive slave; Escaped from jail
Description: "Black Boy;" "Negro Man"
Notes: Escaped from James Clemson's Hopewell estate in Sam's Creek, Frederick County, Maryland on August 23, 1817. He travelled north to Littlestown, Adams County, Pennsylvania, a distance of about twenty-four miles, where he was captured and put on a wagon, presumably to be driven to the county jail in Gettysburg. He escaped from the wagon driver, and this news made its way back to Clemson, who, knowing him to be at large in Pennsylvania, placed the following ad in the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Franklin Repository:
Fifty Dollars Reward.
RAN away from the subscriber, on the 23d inst. a Black Boy, named
REASON,
But called himself TOM,
Between 18 and 19 years of age; well grown; a good looking boy. He took no clothes with him, except what he had on: they consist of a blue Chambray coat, waistcoat not recollected, striped pantaloons, coarse shoes, a wool hat very much worn, with a small hole in the crown. He was apprehended near Littles-Town on Monday evening last, and sent on with a black man, who was driving a waggon but made his escape.
Whoever takes up said fellow and secures him in jail, so that I get him, shall be entitled to the above reward, & all reasonable expenses, if brought home to me, living on the waters of Sam's Creek, Frederick county, Md.
The person who may apprehend and secure him, will please to direct his letter to Liberty Post Office, Frederick county, Md.
JAMES CLENSON (sic).
August 30, 1817.
Dorsey was caught in Adams County and imprisoned in the jail at Gettysburg as a suspected fugitive slave sometime in the late summer of 1817. He gave his name as Benjamin Dorsey. Jailer Ewing makes no mention of James Clemson in Maryland, and may have been unaware of the ad placed by Clemson a month earlier, but he does seem aware of Dorsey's "alias" names. On September 26 Dorsey "escaped over the wall," and jailer Ewing placed the following ad in regional newspapers in an effort to recover him:
60 Dollars Reward.
ESCAPED over the wall of the Jail Yard, in Gettysburg, Adams county, on the evening of the 26th instant, a NEGRO MAN, committed as a runaway, named
Benjamin Dorsey,
Alias REASON, alias TOM, about 20 years of age, about 5 feet 6 or 8 inches high, stout made, and very black, and down look, but pleasant when spoken to; had on a blue and white Chambray coat, yellow and white striped jacket, and blue and white striped trowsers, coarse shoes and wool hat.
Whoever apprehends said Negro and returns him to the jail of said county, shall receive the above Reward from the subscriber.
JOHN EWING, Jailor.
Gettysburg, Sept. 30.
Note: This ad was published into January of 1818, indicating Ewing's failure to find Dorsey.
Additional notes regarding Dorsey's Maryland enslaver: James and Mary Clemson had just acquired the Hopewell land and farm from James' father, John Clemson. The John Clemson family moved from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Sam's Creek during the Revolutionary War. Though operating a large rural Maryland farm, the Clemsons's owned relatively few enslaved persons in comparison to their neighbors. John Clemson was enumerated with nine enslaved persons in 1820 and James Clemson with six that same year.
Date of Record: 30 August 1817 (Maryland escape ad); 30 September 1817 (Gettysburg jailer ad)
Sources: The Franklin Repository Weekly (Chambersburg, PA), 02 September 1817 (Clemson); 06 January 1818 (Ewing); U.S. Department of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form, "Hopewell, Frederick/Carroll Counties, Maryland," 18 August 1980, rev. 14 November 1980, p. 14.
- Slaveholder Name: Finley, Ebenezer
City or Township: Carroll's Delight (Hamilton Bann Township)
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in sale ad
Sex: Female
Age: "about 34 years of age"
Date of Birth: circa 1761
Status: Slave for life
Description: "Negro Woman"
Notes: Offered for sale in February 1795, along with three other enslaved people.
To be Sold,
A NEGRO WOMAN, about 34 years of age: She is well acquainted with all kinds of house business, especially cooking, washing, &c. Also two children; one is a female, four years old, the other a male, two years old. Likewise, a Negro Man, 25 years of age, who is well acquainted with all kinds of farming business.
Also, a Waggon and team of valuable horses, fit for constant business, with a good harness. Any person inclining to purchase a part or the whole of the above property, may know the terms (which will be made easy for cash or a short credit) by applying to the subscriber, living in Carrol's Delight, York County, Pennsylvania.
EBENEZER FINLEY.
February 5, 1795.
Date of Record: 05 February 1795
Source: The Chambersburg Gazette, 12 February 1795.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in sale ad
Sex: Female
Age: "four years old"
Date of Birth: circa 1791
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Negro female"
Notes: Offered for sale in February 1795, along with three other enslaved people. See above for full text of sale ad.
Date of Record: 05 February 1795
Source: The Chambersburg Gazette, 12 February 1795.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in sale ad
Sex: Male
Age: "two years old"
Date of Birth: circa 1793
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Negro male"
Notes: Offered for sale in February 1795, along with three other enslaved people. See above for full text of sale ad.
Date of Record: 05 February 1795
Source: The Chambersburg Gazette, 12 February 1795.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in sale ad
Sex: Male
Age: "25 years of age"
Date of Birth: circa 1770
Status: Slave for life
Description: "Negro Man"
Notes: Offered for sale in February 1795, along with three other enslaved people. See above for full text of sale ad.
Date of Record: 05 February 1795
Source: The Chambersburg Gazette, 12 February 1795.
- Slaveholder Name: Finley, Margaret
City or Township: Hamilton Bann Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Widow
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jem
Sex: Male
Age: Five months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1800, November 30
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: May 12, 1801
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: John
Sex: Male
Age: Five months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1803, May 10
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: October 19, 1803
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Moses
Sex: Male
Age: Five months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1805, August 09
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: January 07, 1806
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Ann
Sex: Female
Age: Five months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1808, April 06
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: September 27, 1808
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Fletcher, John
City or Township: Franklin Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes: Assessed for one slave in 1799, valued at $80. Taxed for one female slaves, aged 35, in the Septennial Census of 1800.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Female
Age: Aged 35 in 1800
Date of Birth: 1765 (estimated from Septennial Census of 1800)
Status: Slave for life
Description: "slave," "female slave"
Notes: Valued at $80 in 1799
Dates of Record: 1799, 1800
Sources: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. | Septennial Census Returns, 1779-1863; Roll No. 1, Adams County, 1800-Cumberland County, 1800. Reel No. 0242. Microfilm in the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg Pennsylvania.
- Slaveholder Name: Gorley, Thomas
City or Township: Liberty Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes: Assessed for "one negro" in 1801, valued at $100.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Not specified
Age: Not specified, but probably age 12 or older, as enslaved persons younger than 12 were not taxed.
Date of Birth: Prior to 1789
Status: Not known
Description: "Negro"
Notes: Valued at $100 in 1801.
Date of Record: 1801
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Graft, Philip
City or Township: Straban Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Distiller (per 1799 Straban Township tax assessment)
Notes: Revolutionary War service as a private in Captain Thomas Clingam's Company of the York County Militia, 1782. Died in 1842.
Source: "Philip Graft," Find-A-Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14739089/philip_graft, accessed 15 July 2024; History of Adams County, Henry C. Bradsby, 1886, p. 334.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Sam Armstrong
Sex: Male
Age: "aged about 58 years" (at time of 1831 escape)
Date of Birth: circa 1773
Status: Slave for life;
Description: "Negro Man"
Notes: Ran away on September 18, 1818. Text of runaway ad, placed by Graft:
Twenty Dollars REWARD. RANAWAY from the Subscriber, living in Straban township, Adams county, on the 18th of September last, a Negro Man, named Sam Armstrong, about 45 years of age, 6 foot 2 or 3 inches high, stout made, has a mark on his right foot about the ankle, occasioned by a cut from an axe -- has remarkably large lips. He had on when he went away, a light-coloured cloth coat, tow pantaloons, a half-worn wool hat, and coarse shoes.
The above Reward will be given to any person who will apprehend said Runaway, and confine him in any jail so that I get him again, and all reasonable expences paid if brought home. Philip Graft. Oct. 17.
Armstrong was returned to Graft at some point, and remained with him until 1831 when me made another escape on November 15 of that year:
$10 REWARD.
LEFT the service of the subscriber, living in Straban township, Adams county, on the 15th ult. a NEGRO MAN, named Samuel Armstrong, aged about 58 years; above 6 feet high, and stout made; is lame; and has a large white mark on one of his legs above the ancle. He has with him two hats, one fur, and the other wool; and two coats, one blue, the other white -- his other clothing not recollected. -- The above Reward will be given for such information as will enable me to get him again. PHILIP GRAFT. Nov. 15.
Date of Records: October (year not noted but calculated to be 1818); 15 November 1831
Source: "Runaway Ads, Gettysburg, PA Newspapers," compiled by Alisha Sanders. Unpublished research collection. Used by permission. The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, PA), 06 December 1831.
- Slaveholder Name: Hall, Edward
City or Township: Cumberland Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes: Assessed for one female slave in 1799, valued at $100.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not included in source
Sex: Female
Age: Not specified
Date of Birth: Prior to 1799
Status: Not known
Description: "female slave"
Notes: Valued at $100 in 1799
Date of Record: 1799
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Hatton, Leonard
City or Township: Huntington Township
County: Adams (York County at time of ad)
Occupation:
Notes: Hatton died in 1815. His estate inventory included three enslaved persons: Heek/Keck (Hack), male; Patience, female, and Dinah, female. Adams County researchers have identified Patience as Patience Sibb, who is noted elsewhere in this website.
Source: "The Slaves of Adams County," 2003, Adams County History: Vol. 9, Article 7. Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ach/vol9/iss1/7.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not given in ad
Gender: Male
Age: Age not provided in ad. Most likely an adult.
Date of Birth: Not known
Status: Not determined
Description: "Negro Slave"
Notes: Text of sale ad: "TO BE SOLD, A Likely strong NEGRO SLAVE, registered according to Law, by LEONARD HATTON, Huntington Township, York County. He is not sold for any fault, but merely because the owner has no use for him."
Date of Record: 04 May 1791
Source: The Pennsylvania Herald and York General Advertiser, 04 May 1791.
- Slaveholder Name: Heagy, Henry
City or Township: Liberty Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Joseph Butler
Sex: Male
Age: "about 20 years of age"
Date of Birth: Circa 1809
Status: Not determined
Description: "Negro man"
Notes: Butler escaped from Heagy on October 31, 1829. Heagy placed the following ad to recover him. The very low reward offered is more typical of that usually offered for troublesome runaway apprentices rather than enslaved persons. Butler may have been an indentured apprentice.
Six Cents Reward.
RAN away from the subscriber, living in Liberty township, Adams county, on the 31st ult. a Negro man, named JOSEPH BUTLER, about 20 years of age, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high. He had on and took with him, a pair of linsey pantaloons, blue cloth vest, and roundabout, and other clothing. The above Reward will be paid for his apprehension, but no thanks or charges.
HENRY HEAGY. Nov. 17.
Date of Record: 17 November 1829
Source: The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, PA), 02 December 1829.
- Slaveholder Name: Herman, John
City or Township: Berwick Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes: Surname could also be "Harman."
- Enslaved Person's Name: Samuel
Sex: Male
Age: Six months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1801, May 02
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Mulattoe"
Notes:
Date of Record: October 29, 1801
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Jonas
Sex: Male
Age: Six months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1803, May 22
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Mulattoe"
Notes:
Date of Record: November 18, 1803
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Hersey, Jacob
City or Township: Huntingdon Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: "single man"
Notes: Assessed for "One slave of no value" in 1799.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Not specified
Age: Not specified
Date of Birth: Prior to 1799
Status: Not known
Description: "Negro"
Notes: 1799 assessment placed no value on this enslaved person (probably over age 45)
Date of Record: 1799
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Hersh, John
City or Township: Berwick Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Harry
Sex: Male
Age: Four months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1811, June 15
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Light black"
Notes:
Date of Record: November 04, 1811
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Higas, George
City or Township: Huntingdon Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes: Assessed for "One slave of no value" in 1799.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Not specified
Age: Not specified
Date of Birth: Prior to 1799
Status: Not known
Description: "Negro"
Notes: 1799 assessment placed no value on this person (probably over age 45)
Date of Record: 1799
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Hoffman, Henry
City or Township: Straban Township
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Matthew
Sex: Male
Age: "near 15 years of age"
Date of Birth: 1819, estimated from description below
Status: Not stated. Servant or term slave.
Description: "Colored boy"
Notes: Matthew escaped from Hoffman on August 10, 1834. Text of runaway slave ad:
SIX CENTS REWARD. RANAWAY from the Subscriber, in Straban township, Adams county, Pa on Sunday the 10th inst., a colored boy, named MATTHEW, near 15 years of age, stout built, healthy, and not very black. He had on and took with him a variety of good clothing. The above reward, but no thanks will be given for bringing him home; and all persons are hereby warned not to harbor or trust him on my account.
HENRY HOFFMAN. August 21, 1834,
Date of Record: August 1834
Source: "Runaway Ads, Gettysburg, PA Newspapers," compiled by Alisha Sanders. Unpublished research collection. Used by permission.
- Slaveholder Name: Hoke, Conrad, Jr.
City or Township: "near Gettysburg"
County: Adams County
Occupation:
Notes:
Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Male
Age: Not specified, but probably about four-years old based upon lenght of enslavement years remaining.
Date of Birth: Circa 1802, based upon number of enslavement years remaining in term.
Status: Slave for a term of years: 24 years remaining in term
Description: "Male Negro"
Notes: Hoke advertised to sell this person in November 1806. Text of advertisement:
A healthy Male Negro, Who has twenty-four years to serve, will be sold by the subscriber, on reasonable terms for Cash; or on Credit, to a good purchaser.
Conrad Hoke, jun.
near Gettysburg.
November 26, 1806
Date of Record: 26 November 1806
Source: The Sprig of Liberty (Gettysburg, PA), 09 January 1807.
- Slaveholder Name: Hoke, Henry
City or Township: Cumberland Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Tanner
Notes: Assessed for one male slave in 1799, valued at $150.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Name not known
Sex: Male
Age: Not specified
Date of Birth: Prior to 1799
Status: Not known
Description: "male slave"
Notes: Valued at $150 in 1799
Date of Record: 1799
Source: History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania, Part III, History of Adams County, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886.
- Slaveholder Name: Horner, Alexander
City or Township: Cumberland Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Peter
Sex: Male
Age: Four months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1804, October 23
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: February 22, 1805
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Aaron
Sex: Male
Age: Five months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1807, April 26
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: October 13, 1807
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Enslaved Person's Name: Tom
Sex: Male
Age: One month old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1808, September 16
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: October 11, 1808
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Horner, David
City or Township: Mount Pleasant Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Cyrus
Sex: Male
Age: Three months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1802, May 19
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: August 20, 1802
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Horner, Mary
City or Township: Mount Joy Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Widow
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Ivory
Sex: Male
Age: Six months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1805, July 17 or 18
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: January 14, 1806
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
- Slaveholder Name: Horner, Robert
City or Township: Gettysburg Borough
County: Adams County
Occupation: County Jailer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Ralph
Sex: Male
Age: "between 30 and 40 years of age"
Date of Birth: circa 1770 to 1780
Status: Slave for life in Virginia; Escaped and in Pennsylvania
Description: "Black Man"
Notes: Escaped from Virginia in company with a fellow enslaved man, Rubin, on March 10, 1810. Ralpha was jailed in Gettysburg in April 1810 as a suspected runaway slave. Released in May 1810 but returned to jail in June 1810 in response to a runaway ad in the Washington DC National Intelligencer. Escaped from Gettysburg jail on June 30, 1810. See ads from Adams County Jailer Robert Horner, below, and from Virginia slaveholder Mark Woodford, below.
Ten Dollars Reward.
ESCAPED over the jail wall in Gettysburg, Adams county, on Saturday evening the 30th ult. a Black Man named RALPH, between 30 and 40 years of ages, about 5 feet 10 inches high, two of his upper fore teeth out, and a large scar on the outside of one of his legs. The above reward and all reasonable expences will be paid to any person who will deliver him to the jail of Adams county.
ROBERT HORNER, Jailor.
July 3, 1810.
TWO HUNDRED & TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD
THE subscriber will give two hundred dollars reward to any one who will apprehend and commit to jail, and give him notice thereof, RUBIN, a slave, who absconded from the subscriber's farm on Rappahannock river, 12 miles below Fredericksburg, about the 10th of March last. Rubin is about 37 years old, 5 feet 10 inches high, lean in the face, full eyes, his skin rather of a yellowish color, erect in his person, and steps quick -- he is an excellent ploughman and knows no business else; he will therefore probably be found engaged in some business in which horses are used. He went off with RALPH, a black man, between 30 and 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches high, two of his upper fore teeth out, a and a large scar on the outside of one of his legs -- he is a common coarse carpenter. These fellows were seen to cross into Prince George's county, Maryland, about the 26th of March last. They will probably both have a pass very badly executed.
FRANCIS FITZHUGH.
Virginia, June 4 --
I will give a reward of 20 dollars for securing in Jail and giving me of Mr. Francis Fitzhugh notice thereof, of the above described negro Ralph.
MARCK C WOODFORD:
Virginia, Caroline County, June 4 --
50 DOLLARS REWARD,
AND all reasonable charges, will be paid for apprehending, and delivering to me, in Caroline county, State of Virginia, 14 miles below the town of Fredericksburg,
A Negro Man Slave named RALPH,
who ranaway about the 1st of November last, who was apprehended and committed to the jail of Adams county, in the State of Pennsylvania in April last, on suspicion of his being a runaway, and was discharged by the Court of Common Pleas, at Gettysburg, on Tuesday the 29th of May, 1810, no person appearing to claim him. He was afterwards apprehended and committed to said jail as a runaway on an advertisement in the National Intelligencer, describing him -- and on the 30th day of last month made his escape over the jail wall. -- RALPH is of a dark complexion, between 30 and 40 years of age, about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches high, two of his upper fore teeth out, and has a large scar on the outside of his right leg, occasioned by the cut of a scythe. He is an artful cunning fellow, and I expect when accosted will shew a discharge from the Prothonotary of Adams county for John Scott and Robert Wheeler, which last name he passed by when first apprehended, which said discharge is signed by James Duncan, Esquire, Prothonotary, with the County seal affixed thereto, and dated the 1st day of June, 1810. -- Or I will give a reward of 40 dollars for securing him in jail so that I get him when called for, and information given me by letter directed to teh "Post-Office, Villesbro', Caroline County, Va." It is probable he will aim for Philadelphia or Baltimore.-- As to his cloathing it is not remembered -- He is a good sawyer, a rough Carpenter and Shoemaker, but has been accustomed to labour on a farm. -- All masters of vessels are forbid carrying him off, and all persons from employing said slave.
MARK C. WOODFORD.
July 24, 1810.
Dates of Records: 04 June 1810 (Original runaway ad in National Intelligencer); 03 July 1810 (Gettysburg Jailer's ad); 24 July 1810 (Virginia slaveholder's ad)
Sources: The Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, PA), 04 July 1810, 08 August 1810; National Intelligencer (Washington, DC), 04 June 1810.
- Slaveholder Name: Horner, William
City or Township: Mount Joy Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Abraham
Sex: Male
Age: Four months old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1808, April 08
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes: See the advertisement, below, placed by Horner in 1810 in which he offers to sell a two-year-old slave child. Possibly this same person.
Date of Record: August 04, 1808
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
Enslaved Person's Name: Not stated
Sex: Female
Age: Adult of child-bearing age
Date of Birth: Circa 1788
Status: Slave to age 28, presumed
Description: "Negro Wench"
Notes: Offered for sale in May 1810 along with her two-year-old child. Text of advertisement placed by Horner:
FOR SALE,
The time of a likely NEGRO WENCH, who has six years to serve, and has a child of about two years old. They will be sold together or seperate. Inquire of WILLIAM HORNER.
May 22, 1810.
Date of Record: 22 May 1810
Source: Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, PA), 06 June 1810.
- Enslaved Person's Name: Not stated
Sex: Not stated
Age: "About two years old"
Date of Birth: about 1808
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "child"
Notes: This is possibly the child Abraham, who would be of the same age and was registered in August 1808, above.
Date of Record: 22 May 1810
Source: Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, PA), 06 June 1810.
- Slaveholder Name: Houlsworth, Samuel
City or Township: Straban Township
County: Adams County
Occupation: Farmer
Notes:
- Enslaved Person's Name: Bob
Sex: Male
Age: Fourteen days old at Registration.
Date of Birth: 1803, January 14
Status: Slave to age 28
Description: "Black"
Notes:
Date of Record: January 28, 1803
Source: Adams County Record of Children Born to Slaves
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