Eighteenth Century New England: Nine Prisoners - Irish, English, Negro and Indian

Eighteenth Century New England: Nine Prisoners - Irish, English, Negro and Indian - Escaped Boston's Prison

On September 26, 1738, Bostonian William Young took out an advertisement in the New England Journal, alerting the readers of an escape from Boston's Bridewell Prison of nine prisoners on the previous night.

According to the descriptions, the prisoners consisted of five Irishmen, an Englishman, a woman, an Indian and a Negro.

"Whoever shall apprehend the said absconded prisoners, and bring them to the said prison, shall have three pounds reward for each or either of them, paid by me," Young declared at the bottom of the ad.

The names and ages of the escapees: Thomas Dwyer, 25; John Maccarthy, 30; Andrew Hair, 28; Alexander Maccarty, 20; ___Hambleton, 30, all described as Irishmen;

Thomas Manning, 40, described as an Englishman;

Elizabeth Decofler, 30, described as a woman;

John Baker, an Indian who has but one arm (no age); and

Joco, 20, a Negro and servant to Captain Signourney.

Detail of 1743 map of Boston by William Price, showing the prison (off Queen St.)

The phrase 'His Majesty's Gaol' refers to the prison in Boston, which was created in 1635 in the early days of the Puritans. The Gaol was the holding place for a variety of prisoners, including pirates and accused witches, criminals including burglars and murders, townspeople in debt, and an assortment of runaway Negro slaves, Indians and indentured servants from Ireland and Scotland.

In the 18th century, there are multiple advertisements of runaway Irish indentured servants, Native Americans and African slaves, not only in New England but in the Eastern Seaboard states such as Pennsylvania and New York. All of the escapees had rewards on their head, and often they escaped in groups.

In 1738-39 Massachusetts passed two laws of interest: an Act More Effectually To Secure The Duty On The Importation Of Negroes and An Act In Explanation Of The Act For Relief Of Poor Prisoners For Debt.

According to the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, "The New England Weekly Journal was founded in 1727 as a literary paper, along the lines of the Spectator in London and New England Courant in Boston...By 1737, The New England Weekly Journal had become less literary and more newsy, with the usual assortment of European news culled from London newspapers, items from other American colonies, and local Boston news."

Read more about the intersection of Blacks and Irish in Boston.

Research + Text, Michael Quinlin

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