Indentures, 1718-1727, 1792-1915 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Indentures for apprentices and indentured servants, 1718-1727 and 1792-1902, and foundling records, 1838-1841 and 1902-1915, issued in New York City under the successive authorities of various departments of city government, including the Commissioners of the Alms-House and the Department of Public Charities; later incorporated into the Department of Public Welfare. Indentures include contracts binding small children and young people of both sexes to periods of domestic servitude, agricultural labor, or apprenticeship with practitioners of a wide variety of trades and occupations. Of particular note is the inclusion of indentures and deeds of manumission, 1801-1814, for free and manumitted African American city residents. Foundling records created by the Department of Public Welfare record the circumstances of the child's adandonment, case history, and placement in the care of a family member, private home, or public or private institution. Foundling records, 1838-1841, additionally record the placement of infants in the care of paid nurses with comments noting the child's adoption, return to parental care, or death. Many volumes individually indexed. An abstract of the volume of indentures of apprentices, 1718-1727, originally labelled Liber 29 of conveyances, has been published in the "Collections of the New-York Historical Society," 1909