Boston (Mass.) Overseers of the Poor Indentures, 1734-1805 | Boston Public Library Archival and Manuscript Finding Aid Database

Title: Boston (Mass.) Overseers of the Poor Indentures, 1734-1805

Collection Identifier: MS 7248

Extent: 1226.0 Items

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically.

Creators

Boston (Mass.) Overseers of the Poor

Administrative/Biographical History

From 1630-1692, Boston’s poor were the responsibility of the Town Selectmen who believed that the welfare of the individual should come second to the religious and secular needs of the community and conversely, that the community had a responsibility to the welfare of the individual. Thus, poverty was viewed in both financial and moral terms, and the only way to remedy it was through a well-regulated family. Consequently, the children of parents who needed poor relief or who were not being raised according to religious and social standards were removed from the home and bound out to a master who would provide daily maintenance and basic education in exchange for labor. The Boston Overseers of the Poor was established in 1692 by an act that called for children who had no visible means of support to be placed in either a home or in some kind of employment that would benefit both them and the public. In addition, this act stipulated that the female child should be bound out until she was eighteen, or time of marriage, and the male until he was 21. In 1720, it became the responsibility of the master to teach their male apprentices how to read and write and later arithmetic, and their female apprentices how to read. Eventually females were taught arithmetic and how to write. By 1735, there were twelve Overseers in Boston, one for each ward whose responsibility it was to remove children from families that were poor or where parents were considered unsuited to raising children or from the Almshouse, and to bind them out to appropriate masters. There were about 1,100 children bound out by the Overseers between 1734 and 1805.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Almshouses — Records — Massachusetts — Historical
Boston (Mass.). — Overseers of the Poor
Boston (Mass.). — Selectmen
Child Labor — Massachusetts — Boston — History
Children — Massachusetts — Poverty
Indentured Servants
Massachusetts — Social Life and Customs
Poor — Massachusetts — Boston
Public Welfare — Records — Massachusetts — Historical

Administrative Information

Restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Rights:

Items in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. The Boston Public Library does not hold copyright on the material in this collection. Researchers are responsible for identifying and contacting the persons or organizations that hold copyright.

When reproducing material from this collection please include the credit line "Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library/ Rare Books."

Related Materials: MS x Ch. A. 2.36 Memorandum to the General Court by Daniel Gookin concerning Indian children who were put into service to the English. The names and ages of the children, the names of their relations, the places where they belonged, and the names of the persons with whom they were placed are included. Dated 10 August 1675.

Preferred Citation: Boston (Mass.) Overseers of the Poor Indentures, MS 7248. Rare Books and Manuscripts Department, Boston Public Library. Courtesy of the Trustees of the Boston Public Library/Rare Books.

Collection Material Type: Records

Other Note: Conservation generously underwritten by the Associates of the Boston Public Library and the Yale Class of 1955 in honor of David McCullough.

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Scope and Contents: This collection contains 1,212 indentures that document the Overseers of the Poor of the City of Boston efforts to manage the children of the poor by placing them in house-holds where these children would have food, clothing, and shelter and receive a basic education in exchange for their labor. While the majority of the children were bound out to do housework, including knitting and sewing and farmwork, the indentures also document the kinds of trades that were open to young males in the 18^th century such as weaver, shoemaker, and blacksmith. In addition, the towns and families into which the children were put into service as well as the attitudes of child rearing and literacy are also documented. Finally, the indentures serve as a record of the influence of Puritan values on social welfare in Boston.

On-line Images/Records

Detailed Description
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