In this law, passed in its March 1643 session, the General Assembly addressed the
problem of indentured
servants who ran away and hired
themselves out to new, presumably more lenient, masters. The law was revised in the
1658 session. Some spelling has been modernized and contractions expanded.
WHEREAS complaints are at every quarter court
exhibitted against divers persons who entertain and enter into covenants with runaway
servants and freemen who have formerly hired themselves to others to the great
prejudice if not the utter undoeing of divers poor men, thereby also encourageing
servants to runn from their masters and obscure themselves in some remote
plantations, Upon consideration had for the future preventing of the like injurious
and unjust dealings, Be it enacted and confirmed that what person or persons soever
shall entertain any person as hireling, or sharer or upon any other conditions for
one whole
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yeare without certificate from the commander or any one commissioner of the
place, that he or she is free from any ingagement of service, The person so hireing
without such certificate as aforesaid, shall for every night that he or she
entertaineth any servant either as hireling or otherwise, fforfeit to the master or
mistris of the said servant twenty pounds of tobacco, And for evrie freeman which he
or she entertaineth (formerly hired by another) for a year as aforesaid, he or she
shall forfeit to the party who had first hired him twenty pounds of tobacco for every
night deteyned. And for everie freeman which he or she entertaineth (though he hath
not formerly hired himselfe to another) without certificate as aforesaid, And in all
these cases the party hired shall receive such censure and punishment as shall be
thought fitt by the Governor and Counsell: Allways provided that if any such runnaway
servants or hired freemen shall produce a certificate, wherein it appears that they
are freed from their former masters service or from any such ingagement respectively,
if afterwards it shall be proved that the said certificates are counterfeit then the
retayner not to suffer according to the penalty of this act, But such punishment
shall be inflicted upon the forger and procurer thereof as the Governor and Council
shall think fitt.
