Note: A version of this article by Sumner G. Hunnewell was published online in April 2021. It was updated by the Editors of Family Tree Magazine and subsequently published in the May/June 2026 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Authors of the answers for “Indentured Servants Q&A” are noted.
Not everyone who wished to come to America could afford it. The New World promised land, opportunity, and religious freedom sometimes not found in the Old. As a result, indentured servants were common in American settlements—even in the earliest colonial days. Of the Mayflower’s 102 passengers, 14 were servants and two of them died during the voyage. By working a set period of time, a person expected to better their economic status—assuming they would survive the experience.
Not well-heeled, indentured servants were the working men, women and children that powered Colonial America. Many of their descendants are clueless about servants’ circumstances. Here are some tips to discover if your ancestor was one.
In this article:
- What was an Indentured Servant?
- Becoming an Indentured Servant
- Experiences of Indentured Servants
- Locating Records
- Case Study: Finding an Indentured Servant
- Indentured Servants Q&A
- Apprentices and Indentured Servants in America by David Fryxell
- Research Resources
What was an Indentured Servant?
An indenture is a written contract between two parties, commonly even today. During early European migration to North America, they were used to bind people’s work in exchange for passage across the Atlantic.
An indentured servant’s contract required them to work for a specified timeframe, often seven years. Once their stint was up, they’d receive freedom as well as any other specified items: training in a trade, land, money or even clothing.
The master to whom the work was owed also had obligations. They were required to provide room, board and other necessities for the indentured man or woman.
Indentured servants typically provided hard, raw labor: harvesting crops, mining, and so on. But, in some cases, skilled labor was needed more. These indentured servants were shipped to the New World but had no master, per se. The servants contracts would be sold to colonists for specific tasks.
Indentured servitude slowly fell out of favor as more enslaved people from Africa were brought to British North America.
Becoming an Indentured Servant
Servants who signed themselves up for an indenture usually did so to pay off debt. But others (especially young men) were motivated instead by the prospect of learning a trade. A report from NPR states that some 90% of indentured servants lived in Maryland and Virginia.
On occasion, colonists or Native Americans already in North America indentured themselves. Other times, criminals, prisoners of war, or dissidents were given a choice between prison and indentured servitude. Some Scots on the losing side of the 1650 Battle of Dunbar in Scotland, for example, were sent by Oliver Cromwell to work the iron mines of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
Children may have been indentured upon losing one or both parents. They would be placed in homes to be cared for and learn a vocation.
Experiences of Indentured Servants
Many servants had negative experiences, to say the least. They had little say over their living conditions, and their typical forms of labor were often grueling. Many (especially those in more-remote plantations or settlements) suffered abuse.
One especially cruel master was the infamous Andrew Turnbull, owner of a large plantation in British East Florida. Turnbull recruited more than 1,400 servants, many of them from Majorca, the Italian states, and Turkey (then, the Ottoman Empire). Though contracted for just three years, many servants were forced to overstay their indentures. And as many as half of them died in the venture’s first two years, prompting servants to beseech the governor for assistance in 1777. Their reports included accusations of beatings, rape, and even executions.
Servants had some recourse via the court system. Others took the law into their own hands and attempted to run away. If apprehended, they’d appear in the same courts that they may have once appealed to.
The death of a master or mistress might be a boon to their indentured servants. A servant might be released upon the master’s death. Or their service could be transferred to another person (often a family member). In one New Hampshire instance, the servant received not just freedom but also his master’s tools.
Locating Records
Original contracts spell out the names of the servant and his or her master, the location and length of the indenture, and (in some cases) immigration information. But they can be hard to find, as they’re disbursed among various archives, libraries and private collections.
Some contracts were indexed and have been published in books or on websites. Titles include The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage 1614—1775 and Emigrants in Chains, 1607—1776, both by Peter Wilson Coldham (Genealogical Publishing Co.)
Look to local and state archives for the corresponding place to see if they have indenture records (or personal papers of the masters who employed servants).
What follow are other records that may include details about indentured servants. Note that records or books may use abbreviations: appr. for apprentice or serv. for servant.
Wills and court records
Servants may be mentioned in estate documents for masters who died, or in notes of court proceedings if either the servant or their master broached their agreement. Overseas court records might also contain references to a servant’s criminal history, if sent to America as punishment.
Newspapers
Though they usually didn’t document the terms of indentures or news of their arrivals, newspapers did sometimes carry advertisements for runaway servants. These usually specify the servant’s age, complexion, hair color and stature, among other details. Newspapers may also report on the sale of a contract between masters. Such a reference could explain a servant’s sudden departure from one place.
Case Study: Finding an Indentured Servant Ancestor
Ancestry.com offers some records, including an apprentice index from Virginia (Virginia, Apprentice Index, 1640-1800), which is cross-references original Virginia records.
A search on the last name Jones yields 18 results. One of them is Solomon Jones, whose father was Richard Jones. Solomon was apprenticed on 4 December 1728 as a cooper under John Wakefield. The index cites the original publication: “Princess Anne County Minutes [book] 4, 1728-1737, [page] 7.” Ancestry.com doesn’t have such a book—but the FamilySearch Catalog might.
From the FamilySearch.org’s Catalog, run a search for Princess Anne, Virginia Beach, Virginia. (Princess Anne County merged with Virginia Beach in 1963). Find the place’s landing page, where you’ll see what collections FamilySearch has for it. The Court Records drop-down includes “Court minute books and processioners’ returns, 1709-1861.”
Unfortunately, minute book 4 for the years 1728 to 1737 isn’t listed. But the scanned images for that book are included, and you’ll see them if you browse images. (You can also use the site’s Full-Text Search).
Sure enough, Solomon’s record is on page 7 of that volume (see above). It reads:
Ordered that Solomon Jones an orphan of Richard Jones Decd be bound to John wakefield who is to teach ye Said orphan to read the bible Distinctly to write a good Leadgable hand likewise the trade of a Cooper, that he Carry him to the clarks office & take Indentures to that purpose.
That’s much more detail than appeared in the index—and several leads for further research about your ancestor.
Indentured Servants Q&A
Q: How do you find records on indentured servants? I have no idea what the name of the ship was. All I know is that John and William Nolan went on a ship somewhere in Ireland to sell boiled eggs and stowed away until the ship left port and then a tanner paid for their fare. Any help would be appreciated.
A: An indentured servant was a person headed to colonial America who contracted or was “bound,” before departure, to a property owner in order to work as a servant for a specified time (average seven years), usually in exchange for ship’s passage and for minimal shelter, food and clothing. A “redemptioner” was another type of indentured servant who had not contracted before departure, but whose servant contract was sold by the ship’s captain if he or she could not repay passage within a designated period (such as two weeks) after arrival in colonial America.
There are several published works that list arrivals of colonial indentured servants and redemptioners, such as Peter Wilson Coldham’s The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 and Emigrants in Chains, 1607-1776. Another would be Frances McDonnell’s Emigrants from Ireland to America, 1735-1743.
Indentures were often recorded in official records of towns and county courthouses. There may be a separate volume for indentures, apprentices, and servants, or these records might be included within deed books.
Answer provided by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
Q: My ancestor Patience Breeden was an indentured servant of John Oldham in Virginia. She gave birth to a son, Bryan, about 1701. Court records state that Patience would be indentured an additional year, and Oldham would keep Bryan until he was 21. I suspect that Oldham was Bryan’s father. How can I find out for sure, and learn whatever happened to Patience?
A: An indentured servant entered into a contract for a specific number of years, in exchange for his or her passage to America. This custom persisted into the 19th century, providing newcomers with food, shelter and clothing, in exchange for work and training in new trades. If the immigrant didn’t meet the terms of the agreement, though (often it was more like slave labor with minimal freedom), he risked fines, imprisonment, physical punishment or additional years of indenture. Indenture contracts generally give the name of the servant, his or her parents and the master; the location and length of indenture; and, in some cases, immigration information.
Records of indenture can be hard to locate because they’re held in a variety of places: Some, such as the ones you found, are part of court records; others are in collections of the master’s personal papers. Published indexes of indenture papers, such as these books and those on the Virtual Jamestown website (which covers late 17th- and early 18th-century indenture contracts from English registers in London, Middlesex and Bristol), can help researchers find these records. Genealogical firm Price Genealogy also has an indentured servant database. Additionally, old newspapers may carry wanted notices for runaway servants.
Patience’s court records mention her child because her pregnancy extended her term of indenture. Establishing paternity may be difficult or impossible unless you can find a document, such as an additional indenture contract for Bryan, in which Oldham claims to be his father. Since Patience gave birth out of wedlock, you could look for a bastardy or fornication case against her.
I would start by checking local and state archives, such as the Library of Virginia, for John Oldham’s papers, then searching court records in hope that the documentation exists. It may not, though, so be prepared for disappointment.
Answer provided by Maureen Taylor
Q: How can I learn more about the life of an ancestor who was an indentured servant in Colonial Maryland in 1775?
A: You can start by reading an excellent article, “Indentured Servitude in Eighteenth-Century Maryland” by Margaret Kellow, in the journal Social History, which explores indentured servitude in Colonial Maryland.
You’ll discover that your ancestor, indentured as late as 1775, was relatively unusual. By then, the growth of African slavery had outpaced that of English servants, whose primary work remained agricultural. And, by 1775, 50% of Maryland householders were not landowners; as tenant farmers, they lacked the means to afford servants.
Based on advertisements for runaway servants, most labored in rural areas. One observer described the plight of servants as being “worse than Egyptian bondage.” A good example of a Maryland plantation is the Hampton National Historic Site, which has a page about the life of indentured servants there.
You can read about records for tracing indentured servants and consult a database of names at Price Genealogy. Freed servants in Maryland received 50-acre “freedom dues,” records of which may be found in deeds.
Land patents rewarding those who transported immigrants may also contain information on indentures. You can search “Settlers of Maryland, 1679–1783” at Ancestry.com. The Archives of Maryland has online land records.
Since servants were considered property for the length of their indenture, they may be listed in probate inventories. Browse these at FamilySearch or search (up to 1777) a collection at Ancestry.com. The state archives has its own index to Colonial probate records.
Answer provided by David A. Fryxell, originally published in the March/April 2021 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
Q: My fifth-great-grandfather Nathaniel Tenpenny was convicted of a crime in England in 1764 and sentenced to seven years of indentured servitude in America. He was transported aboard the Tryal the same year. He’s in the 1790 Rowan County, NC, census with his family, but I haven’t been able to find out their names or anything else about him.
A: An indentured servant was “bound” to a property owner in exchange for passage to America. Many people indentured themselves. Your ancestor was part of a popular criminal justice trend in England: Punishment by “transportation,” or exile to work in America (after the Revolutionary War, Australia became the primary destination).
After England passed the Transportation Act in 1718, courts there sent approximately 60,000 convicts—called “the King’s passengers”—to America.
It sounds like you found the information on Nathaniel Tenpenny’s conviction for stealing tools online at The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London, 1674 to 1834. That site has accounts of more than 100,000 trials at London’s central criminal court.
Look for your ancestor’s name in two books by Peter Wilson Coldham: The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 and Emigrants in Chains, 1607-1776. You may learn the port where his ship arrived and other details, giving you a starting point.
There’s a good chance your ancestor served his sentence in Maryland or Virginia. According to a 2004 NPR report, 90 percent of the “King’s passengers” served their sentences in Maryland and Virginia.
Laws governed indentured servitude (servants who tried to run away or became pregnant, for example, might have their contracts extended), so look for contracts and other documents among court records where your ancestor served. If you learn whom he was indentured to, check the local historical society and university archives for collections of personal papers—they may mention Nathaniel.
To narrow Nathaniel’s place of service, research him backward from his most recent known location—North Carolina in the 1790 census. Look for Colonial censuses, land and tax records. Presumably Nathaniel would’ve been released in the early 1770s. Could he have returned to England temporarily? Stayed in America and fought in the Revolutionary War?
Look for his will, too, which would likely give the names of his children and wife.
Answer provided by Allison Dolan
Apprentices and Indentured Servants in America
Among the oldest occupational records you’re likely to find are those for two kinds of employment almost unheard of today: apprenticeships, in which a young person was bound to a master to learn a trade, and indentured servitude, in which a person was committed to working off a debt, such as payment for passage to America. The two often overlap, and in Colonial America the agreement apprenticing a youth was called an indenture. These documents are valuable for genealogy because they had to be signed by the apprentice’s parent or guardian. Most apprentices were teenage boys, and they were obligated to work at their trade until age 21. The term of an apprenticeship can be used to estimate an apprenticed ancestor’s age, by subtracting the term from 21.
Typically, apprenticeship records were made at the local level, but many of these documents have since migrated into state archives and historical societies. If you have English ancestors, you might be able to use apprenticeship records to trace your kin back to the old country; the British National Archives has a helpful guide to these resources.
For early American ancestors, FamilySearch has collections of apprenticeship documents from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Ancestry.com offers a database of more than 8,000 Virginia apprentices from 1623 to 1800. Indenture records also can overlap with passenger records, as the most common type of indenture was payment for passage to America.
State and local archives may hold indenture records, although these can take a bit of digging to find. The Pennsylvania State Archives, for instance, has two boxes labeled “Records of the Proprietary Government, Provincial Council, 1682 1776 — Miscellaneous Papers, 1664-1775,” among which a dedicated researcher could uncover the Oct. 31, 1765, agreement binding one Charles Carroll of Maryland to Richard McCallister.
Written by David Fryxell. A version of this article appeared in the April 2005 issue of Family Tree Magazine.
Research Resources
The National Society Descendants of Colonial Indentured Servants was formed in 2019 to identify indentured (not apprenticed) ancestors. It publishes a yearly newsletter, The Passage. Here are several resources which were used to prove a member’s ancestor was an indentured servant. (You can find a complete resource list here.)
Online resources
National
- British National Archives: Family History Research Guides
- Colonial Williamsburg: Lusty Beggars, Dissolute Women, Sorners, Gypsies, and Vagabonds for Virginia
- History Detectives: Indentured Servants in the U.S.
- Library of Congress: Immigrant Arrivals: A Guide To Published Sources
- Price Genealogy: Immigrant Servants Database
- Virtual Jamestown: England to New World: Registers of Servants Sent to Foreign Plantations, 1654 – 1686 (from Bristol, Middlesex, London)
By State
- Maine/Massachusetts/New Hampshire
- Maryland
- The New Early Settlers of Maryland (use servant as a keyword in the search)
- Hampton: Stories of the Indentured Servants
- Understanding Maryland Records: Indentures Servants
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania (Chester County)
Books
White Servitude in the Colony of Virginia by James Curtis Ballagh
Bonded Passengers to America, 9 volumes, by Peter Wilson Coldham
The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614-1775 by Peter Wilson Coldham
Scots in Georgia and the Deep South, 1735-1845 by David Dobson
Records of Indentured Servants & of Certificates for Land: Northumberland County, Virginia, 1650-1795 by Washington Preston Haynie
Servants and Servitude by Russell M. Lawson
Runaways of Colonial New Jersey: Indentured Servants, Slaves, Deserters, and Prisoners, 1720-1781 by Richard B. Marrin
To Serve Well and Faithfully: Labor and Indentured Servants in Pennsylvania, 1682-1800 by Sharon V. Salinger
Emigrants to America: Indentured Servants Recruited in London, 1718-1733 by John Wareing
Indentured Migration and the Servant Trade from London to America, 1618-1718: ‘There is Great Want of Servants’ by John Wareing
Titles by Joseph Lee Boyle (various)
Related Reads
A version of this article by Sumner G. Hunnewell was published online in April 2021. It was updated by the Editors of Family Tree Magazine and subsequently published in the May/June 2026 issue of Family Tree Magazine. Authors of the answers for “Indentured Servants Q&A” are noted. Last updated: May 2026
FamilyTreeMagazine.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program. It provides a means for this site to earn advertising fees, by advertising and linking to Amazon and affiliated websites.
Author
Sumner G. Hunnewell is the former President General of the National Society Descendants of Colonial Indentured Servants.
