2620

Voluntary Servitude. Unusual document reflect

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:45.00 USD Estimated At:90.00 - 125.00 USD
Voluntary Servitude. Unusual document reflect
Voluntary Servitude. Unusual document reflecting another side of freedom in early America: "...Christian Zemerling of his Own free Will hath put himself Servant to Samuel Wallace for the Consideration of Twenty Pounds...paid B. Bohlen for his flight from Amsterdam...." Philadelphia, Sept. 17, 1794, unusual sawtooth edge at top, wafer seal at bottom, 6 1/2 x 8. Pledging his servitude for four years to "his said Master...faithfully shall serve, and that honestly and obediently in all Things, as a good and dutiful Servant ought to do..."; his master shall provide "sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel, Washing and Lodging, and at the Expiration of his Term, he Shall give the said Servant Two Complete Suits of Cloaths, One Whereof to be New, and Thirty Dollars...." Signed by servant Zemerling. Much of the text is partly printed, showing that such arrangements were not at all rare, though documents recording them are seldom seen on the market today. Very fine.