Hello Listers, Awhile back someone asked about a Jacob Riffe, I believe who may have been an Indentured servant. I have had such a confusion of mail, again, and apparently misplaced the message, so hopefully this reaches the right person, or anyone else interested in the Riffe family. I am not researching this family, but knew of a book at the RGS library. I finally got hold of it. Turns out that it is a book about Apprentices, instead of indentures. I looked up Jacob Riffe, and did not find him, not too surprising, considering that he was apparently not an apprentice. I am wondering where the line is drawn between an indentured servant and an apprentice...was it just because the indentured was paying off someone, for a bill? Either way, it appears to me, that people served "masters" and did not seem to get much pay. And they both served a period of time. It is interesting that in this book, there are six year old children as apprentices, as well as women, with an undefined area of study. In thinking about this, I suppose I am correct in concluding that the position of an apprentice could be used to fill the gaps when the man of the house died, leaving small children, or women, who were in need of protection. Perhaps someone else knows more about this than I do. I will try to list some names, which you might be interested in, in another message. Joyce in CA. <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/3231/">Our Extended Family </A>