On the subject of Indenture, a friend of mine gave this explanation of his memory of the word.... I recall that word being used in relation to people being indentured to another person to serve them in any way the person desired for a certain period of time. Families use to do that with their kids to get money to live on. In a way it was just slavery. This was done in England and also in America in our early years as a country. I believe it was still going on in the early 1900's in New York and other large cities. A lot of it went on in the sailing industry, in the old days. It's just a little before my time... Can anyone verify the above story, which I've shared with you?? Larry Joe Jefferson-In Texas

The word indenture came from a legal custom in England. An agreement was written twice on the same page and the page was torn in half with each party to the agreement taking half. You could always verify that the agreement was the same if the two pieces could be fitted together. The word indenture came because the torn piece of paper looked like dentures (teeth). Indenture was frequently used to bring people to America. The person agreed to work for the person who paid his transportation for a period of time (usually 7 years). Eldon J. Edgin 14908 Woodbriar Drive Dallas, Texas 75248 Phone: (972) 991-4891 FAX: (214) 306-1535 e-mail: eldon-edgin@.att.net ______________________________________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phoneman" <ljeff@home.com> To: <ARMARION-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 4:47 PM Subject: Re: ARMARION-D Digest V01 #120 > On the subject of Indenture, a friend of mine gave this explanation of his > memory of the word.... > > I recall that word being used in relation to people being indentured to > another person to serve them in any way the person desired for a certain > period of time. Families use to do that with their kids to get money to live > on. > In a way it was just slavery. This was done in England and also in > America in our early years as a country. > I believe it was still going on in the early 1900's in New York and other > large cities. A lot of it went on in the sailing industry, in the old days. > > It's just a little before my time... Can anyone verify the above story, > which I've shared with you?? > > Larry Joe Jefferson-In Texas > > > > ============================== > Ancestry.com Genealogical Databases > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/rwlist2.asp > Search over 2500 databases with one easy query! >