Slaves bound by endless, ever-changing rules

Slaves not only had to navigate through the numerous whims of their owners, they also had to pay attention to laws unique to each city or county designed to reduce escapes.

These laws would be in addition to whatever state laws might be in effect and they were always more restrictive than those state laws.

In April 1843, Charleston, S.C. passed a city ordinance that required slaves who were hired out by their owners to carry with them a badge obtained from the City Treasurer’s Office that gave them permission to be away from their owners.

Failure to have the badge or refusal to show it would send the slave to the Charleston Work House, where the slave would be held and put to work doing whatever the police wished them to do. It is almost certain that slaves in this position were treated even worse than at they would have otherwise been.

It gets worse, however.

Slaves were unlikely to be well versed on the various municipal laws, particularly if they were new to the area. Some slave owners might be diligent in following the laws while others might not want to pay for a badge. They might send the slave out for hire without bothering to get the badge.

If that happened and the slave was arrested, the owner could have paid $2 and immediately got the slave released. Or, if the owner did not want to pay that money, he could merely wait three days.

At that time, it wasn’t the owner who got punished under the Charleston ordinance, but the slave, would receive corporal punishment decided by the Mayor. After that, the slave would be released free of charge back to the owner.

A less fair system could hardly be imagined.

The notice was published in the Charleston Daily Courier and other area newspapers on a regular basis. This one came from the Jan. 25, 1847 edition of that paper.

Now, on to this week’s stories.

SHERIFF JACOB HUGHES of Cape May, N.J. reported the jail escape of a suspected slave named Purple Touser on April 4, 1809.

Touser was described as 5-7, “stout made,” with a scar from his nose down through his upper lip that was caused by “the stroke of an axe. Hughes said the injury made all his teeth show when he spoke or smiled

Hughes called Touser a “noted thief.”

He was offering a $100 reward for the capture of Touser.

The notice appeared in the (Philadelphia, Pa.) United States Gazette on April 24, 1809.

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THE NOV. 2, 1852 EDITION of the New-Orleans Times-Picayune listed notices of three Black men who had managed to escape bondage near the most active slave-trading city in the United States.

A Black man called Hamboy (last name unavailable) escaped from slave owner T. Arnoult, who lived in Jefferson Parish near Carrollton, La.

Hamboy was described as about 5-8, large face, small nose and remarkably small ears. He also had a scar on one hand and wore a light beard. He escaped from Arnoult on Oct. 12, 1852. A $20 reward was offered for his capture

A Black man named Seabourn (last name unavailable), described as 20 years old, about 5-4, “stout made” and was said to be “somewhat of a circus actor.” Seabourn could be spotted because he was frequently seen doing gymnastics, the notice said.