"much addicted to lying and stealing": Maryland Runaways, 1795-1799

Mr. Boyle has transcribed about 1,500 advertisements, naming about 3,000 persons in all. He examined 34 newspapers covering the mid-Atlantic region of Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and New York, as well as papers as far away as North Carolina and Georgia. The majority of the persons here are runaway servants, apprentices, and slaves; however, quite a number were horse thieves, debtors, runaway wives, an occasional murderer, and other lowlifes. While the majority of the runaways were from Maryland, the author includes out-of-state fugitives when there is a Maryland connection. The work includes an informative Introduction, extensive bibliography, and a comprehensive name index.