Samuel Downs Runaway Slave Advertisements

Runaway slave advertisements were advertisements printed in newspapers to bring attention to slaves that ran away from their owner. They typically gave a description of the slave, his or her motivation for leaving, where they could have possibly headed to, and how much money their owner is willing to pay for their return. These advertisements can be used to give us a deeper understanding of a slave’s life. For example, we can gather a decent amount information from the slave advertisements of Samuel Downs and Jane who were Samuel Downs was a twenty-five-year-old male slave in Baltimore City. He ran away from his owner Elenora Hamilton in 1841. According to the runaway slave advertisement that his master put out, Samuel Dows was about five feet and four inches in height, had almost new clothes and some money when he ran away. It stated that he had ran away without cause and was likely heading …show more content…
One can also deduce that Samuel Downs was treated semi-decently as a slave because of his nice new clothes and the fact that he had some money on him. The other thing interesting was that his owner was willing to pay fifty dollars and all reasonable expenses to bring him back home. Another runaway slave, Jane a thirty-five-year-old female slave in Baltimore City, ran away in 1840 from her owner, George A. Spreckelsen. The runaway slave ad posted by her master described her as: five foot and eight inches, thin, and has very slow movement. The ad also states that she took with her an abundance of clothing of clothing that she could possibly change into. Her owner wants her back and believes that she is still within the city and is offering twenty-five dollars if taken within the city – fifty dollars if taken within the state – and one hundred dollars if taken outside the

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