This Indenture made this
20th Day of June in the Year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine, between Isaac
Smith
of
Boston in the
County of Suffolk and
State of the Massachusetts-Bay, Esqr.
on the One Part; and Scipio Dalton a Negro-Man (who now
lives and for some years past has lived with the said
Isaac, in the
Capacity of a Servant in his Family) on the Other Part --
Witnesseth that the said Isaac Smith on Condition of the
true and faithfull Performance of certain Services
hereafter
to be performed for a certain Time, which the said Scipio in
his Part of the Covenant hereinafter contained, hath
promised and engaged to perform; Hath Covenanted and
agreed, and by these Presents doth Covenant and agree with
him the said Scipio in manner and form
following,
that is to say, that he the said Isaac Smith Esquire his
Heirs
or Assigns shall and will on the twentieth Day of June, which
will be in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty
one,
Give and grant unto him the said Scipio
his Freedom,
with full Liberty to depart from his Family and Service if
he shall so incline, and he the said Scipio shall be from thence-
forth considered by him the said Isaac Smith as free
from any
further Obligation to serve him the said Isaac or his Heirs or
Assigns or any Person claiming or to claim under him or them.
And the said Scipio Dalton on his Part, doth by
these Presents Covenant and agree with the aforesaid Isaac
Smith Esquire in manner and form following, that is to say,
That he the said Scipio will well and
truly serve him the said
Isaac Smith, in the doing the usual Business of his
Family
with chearfulness and fidelity without
murmuring, or contradict-
-ing the just and reasonable Orders of him the said
Isaac or his Wife,
for and during and unto the full end and Term of two Years
from the Day of the Date of these Presents; and that during the
whole of said Term of two Years as aforsaid, he the said
Scipio
will behave himself in all respects towards his said Master and Mistress
and the whole Family, as a good and faithfull
Servant ought to do.
Particularly that he will not at any Time when he is sent out on
Errands stay longer than he ought to do -- that he will not at
any time go out on Evenings into Company without Leave from his
Master or his Mistress therefor, and that when he
has obtained such
Leave, he will not stay out so late as to keep up the Family beyond the
usual Hour of Bed-time, but will come home in proper season so as not
in any way to disturb the Family -- that he will get up early in the
Morning and make the Fire -- and that he will behave himself
during the whole of the said Term of two Years abovementioned, with
Sobriety and good Temper, agreeable to the true intent and meaning -- of
And the said Isaac Smith on his Part doth further covenant
and
agree with the said Scipio Dalton as follows, that is to say,
That if
he the said Scipio shall well and truly
perform his Part of the Coven-
-ant and Agreement above contained, that then and in that Case he
the said Isaac Smith will not only give him the said
Scipio good and
sufficient Meat, Drink, Apparel and Washing and Lodging during the
aforesaid Term of two Years, but will also at the end of said Term
give him, together with his Freedom, one Suit of such
Clothes as shall be proper for
working Days, and another Suit of Clothes proper for him to wear on
and suitable for him.
Sabath-Days.
And it is further agreed by and between the said Scipio
Dalton
and Isaac Smith, that if he the said Scipio shall wilfully and
know-
-ingly fail in, and neglect the Performance of his Part of the
Covenant
and agreement herein before contained, and shall persist in the same,
that then and in that Case the Covenant on the Part of the said
Isaac
Smith as herein before contained, shall be void and of none
effect,
otherwise to be in full force and virtue.
In Witness whereof the Parties to these Presents
have hereunto sett their Hands and Seals
interchangeably, the
Day and Year first above written
Signed Sealed and
Delivered in the
Presence of us
Suffolk: ss Decr: 24th 1779.
Then Isaac Smith Esqr. and
Scipio Dalton Subscribers to this
Instrument personally apeared and
acknowledged the same to be their free
Act and Deed --
And whereas by a law of the late
province now
State of Massachusetts=Bay made in the Second
year of the Reign of Queen Ann intitled, "An Act relating
to
Molatto or Negro Slaves" it is enacted, that no
Molatto or Negro
Slave shall be manumitted, discharged or sett free
untill suf=
=ficient untill sufficient Security be
given to the Treasurer of the
Town or Place where such person dwells, in a Valuable Sum, not
less than fifty pounds: to secure and indemnify the Town or
place from all charge for or about such Molatto or
Negro to be
Manumitted and set at liberty, in case he or she by sickness,
lameness
or Otherwise be rendered uncapable to support him
or herself
And as the aforesaid Isaac Smith may hereafter be
oblidged, by
Virtue of the above recited Law, to take upon himself the Care and
charge of the said Scipio Dalton when Sick or otherwise
disabled
after he shall have given him his Freedom, in the Manner here=
=before Expressed. And whereas the said Scipio Dalton, is
ready and willing
as much as in him lies, to guard and secure the said Isaac
Smith from
any such future charge or loss that may arise on Account of his Sickness
and agree with him the Said Isaac Smith in Manner and form
following, that is to say: That if in any future time after
the twentieth day of June one thousand seven hundred and Eighty
one (when he is to have his Freedom) he the said Scipio shall
by force of the aforesaid law, be thrown on the said Isaac or his
Heirs to be supported and taken care of at his or their Expence
that then and in that case He will repay such Expence, if it
shall be in his power either by working for him or them so
long as shall be a just and equitable equivalent and satis=
-faction for such care and Expence or in such other way as he
may be able to repay the same
In Witness whereof the said Scipio Dalton
hath hereunto sett his Hand and Seal this
twentieth Day of
December in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred
and seventy nine.
Signed Sealed and
Delivered in the Pre-
sence of us.
Suffolk. ss. Decr 24th 1779.
Then Scipio Dalton, Subscriber to the
above Instrument, personally appeared
and acknowledged the same to be his free
Act and Deed.
[pencilled in here:] Thos. Dalton