There were indentures servants well into the 19th century. Usually, indentured servants were paid in terms of how much education they might receive if they are minors, a suit of clothing, farming tools, that sort of thing. RARELY were they given cash. Land was used as an inducement from William Penn to those who might otherwise not have been able to afford their passage or to purchase land following their indenture. This is primarily a 17th century concept. For example, Thomas Massey who died in 1708 was an indentured servant to James Stanfield. When his term was up, he was given 50 acres of land (and undoubtedly farming implements, a suit of clothes, etc.). I've read of no indentured servants in the 18th century being given land as part of his freedom dues, although there may certainly have been a few instances. The Slave Narratives of which you speak are strictly that: slave narratives. There is no collection of which I am aware of indentured servant narratives. Do NOT use the term "indentured slave" as it is meaningless. Slavery was for live and involuntary. Indentured servitude was for a specific time (anywhere from 4-20 years, depending on the individual's age up to the age of 21), and it was more or less voluntary -- it is doubtful that orphaned children aged 2 years old actually volunteered to be indentured until the age of 21, but this happened frequently. It was one way in which children could be supported by a family structure (if not the child's family), receive some education, and not be drain on the community. This last item is a concept not readily understood today; the idea of "community" is very old, developing at least a thousand years ago, and it carried over into colonial America. A community was made up of the people in a general area who knew one another, bartered and otherwise dealt with one another, and who would be willing to support one another in times of trouble (of course, there are always exceptions to this last one). Strangers, unwed mothers, and illegitimate or orphaned children were considered a drain on the financial resources of the community. This is why almshouses, poorhouses, or workhouses were developed. If you had no visible means of support, if you were a woman who found herself "in the way" (often through no fault of your own; however...), the offspring of such a woman, or a child whose father and/or mother had died (legally, an orphan was a child with only one parent), you might find yourself in the almshouse where suitable work would be found for you,! s! o that you could pay for services rendered to you in the almshouse. There was no such thing as a free lunch in colonial America. Karen Greim Mullian booboopies@aol.com In a message dated Tue, 12 Sep 2000 11:21:07 PM Eastern Daylight Time, REDSKI9136@aol.com writes: << In a message dated 9/12/00 4:03:02 PM Eastern Daylight Time, tiggernut_48@yahoo.com writes: << . I theorize that he and his wife, who worked for some time for a local farmer, may have been indentured servants. Also, would hte gift have been in cash, or in land? The deed says John Smith and his wife Isabella paid $65 in cash. >> Hi Dora, Not all of them were paid in land. Some were given money instead. Then they went and bought the land they could find, and were they wanted it.But yes, usually they recieved one or the other. How long it lasted , I still don't know. I know there are Narratives on Ex-Slaves, which they told a story about their life in slavery. I will search to see if anything like this was done, reguarding the Indentured Slaves.I also know that the Federal Writers Prodject, has many narratives, taken by the slaves. I will check it out. Mary Jane, Bright Star ==== PACHESTE Mailing List ==== Check out other counties in PA! http://libertynet.org/~gencap/pacounties.html >>