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WANTS A PLACE,

AN active Boy, about 11 years
old, in a family where he can ac-
quire the art of husbandry, or some trade.

Also, two black BOYS, in fami-
lies where they may be kept from idleness
by any employment.

The above Boys will be bound out, un-
til they arrive to the age of 21 years, by
the Selectmen of Shelburne, to whom
application may be made for further par-
ticulars.

MOSES HAWKS, Select-
SAMUEL BOYD, men.
ADONIJAH ATHERTON,  

Shelburne, January 1, 1795.

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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To be "bound out" meant to be apprenticed. This ad from the Greenfield Gazette appeared at a time when slavery had not been officially abolished in Massachusetts, but it was slowly dying out, as it was considered to be inconsistent with the tenets of the state's constitution. The two African American boys mentioned in the ad were free in a sense, but white authorities bound them out to serve as apprentices to a master for a set term of years.

 

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"Wants A Place" ad in the Greenfield Gazette newspaper

publisher   Greenfield Gazette
creator   Selectmen of Shelburne
date   Jan 1, 1795
location   Greenfield, Massachusetts
height   3.5"
width   3.5"
process/materials   printed paper, ink
accession #   #L12.006


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See Also...

Indenture of Zechariah Gilson of Northfield

"Deerfield History"

Advertisement in "The Boston Weekly Post-Boy" newspaper


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