Anthony Chamness
Indentured Servant
Indentured Servant
Anthony
Chamness is my seventh great-grandfather on my Minnie Pearl Hatfield line (Hatfield-Jay-Hockett-Reynolds).
A history of indentured servitude in the American Colonies given at end of this post.
A history of indentured servitude in the American Colonies given at end of this post.
Our ancestor,
Anthony Chamness, came to America in 1724 as an Indentured Servant. While some family legends can be found online
stating that Anthony was lured, kidnapped, or stowed-away to the American Colonies,
it appears that Anthony instead came as an indentured servant.
Anthony Chamness,
son of John Chamness and Ann Weary, was born on February 17, 1713. Anthony was baptized when he was 18 days old
at St. John’s Church of Wapping.
(Wapping is a district of London situated on the north bank of the River
Thames.)
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| Anthony Chamness Baptism Certificate |
A record of Anthony’s indenture gives the following information. On February 9, 1724 he was indentured to John Cooke of London as a bond servant for 7 years. His home is listed as White Chapel in Middlesex County, which lies just east of Wapping. His destination was Maryland. The indenture lists his age as 15, but according to his birth date he was just turning 11 or 12 -- depending on whether the Julian or Georgian Calendar was used.
Below is a
copy of the Anthony Chamness indenture.
 |
| Indenture for Anthony Chamness 1724 |
Transcription of above indenture:
Since the
indenture presumably began in 1724 when he arrived in America, Anthony would
have completed his 7 years indenture and become a free man in about 1731 when he was about 18 years old. Sometime in the next few years, Anthony met Sarah Cole. They married on Thursday,
November 24, 1735, in
St. Paul's Parish, Baltimore County, Maryland.
Sarah was the
daughter of Joseph and Susanna Cole. Her father, Joseph had died in 1720, leaving
land to Sarah in Baltimore County. One
family legend states that all Anthony and Sarah had to start
out their marriage was a broken wooden bowl in which she could mix her bread,
and a wooden spoon Anthony made. These two articles comprised their kitchen
equipment.
Below is a photo of a broken wooden bowl that may look similar to the one our Sarah Chamness used. The bowl pictured is circa 1710 and is from the National Park Service website of the Saratoga National Historical Park.
Below is a photo of a broken wooden bowl that may look similar to the one our Sarah Chamness used. The bowl pictured is circa 1710 and is from the National Park Service website of the Saratoga National Historical Park.
 |
| Photo of broken wooden bowl circa 1710 - National Park Service |
Early in their marriage, Anthony and Sarah converted to the Society of Friends – more commonly known as Quakers. The Chamness family records can be found in the Monthly Meetings of Gunpowder (Baltimore County), Monocacy (Frederick County, Maryland), Fairfax (Virginia), and Cane Creek (Orange County, North Carolina).
Anthony and Sarah
moved their family to North Carolina when he received a land grant of 490 acres lying on Cane Creek on June
24, 1751.
The area of Cane Creek was originally in Orange County but eventually
became Alamance County.
 |
| Cane Creek Monthly Meeting Record |
Anthony and Sarah
were the parents of the following children: Elizabeth, Susanna, Joseph, Sarah, Mary, Martha, John, Anthony, Rachel, Ann, Lydia, Joshua, Stephanus.
One biographer of Anthony and Sarah stated the following:
"For many years in the early history of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, the name of Anthony Chamness may frequently be found on committees. This shows that he was regarded as a man of integrity and good judgment and worthy to be entrusted with the work of the church. He was industrious and frugal, sociable, and given to much hospitality. He and his sons worked hard, cleared out a large farm, and put it in a good state of cultivation; and Sarah, the good wife and mother, taught her daughters to spin and weave and to many kinds of work now done only in factories."
Anthony's wife, Sarah died in about 1765. Anthony married a widow, Rachel Haworth, in 1766. After Rachel died in 1775, Anthony married Margaret Williams, a widow aged 56.
One biographer of Anthony and Sarah stated the following:
"For many years in the early history of Cane Creek Monthly Meeting, the name of Anthony Chamness may frequently be found on committees. This shows that he was regarded as a man of integrity and good judgment and worthy to be entrusted with the work of the church. He was industrious and frugal, sociable, and given to much hospitality. He and his sons worked hard, cleared out a large farm, and put it in a good state of cultivation; and Sarah, the good wife and mother, taught her daughters to spin and weave and to many kinds of work now done only in factories."
Anthony's wife, Sarah died in about 1765. Anthony married a widow, Rachel Haworth, in 1766. After Rachel died in 1775, Anthony married Margaret Williams, a widow aged 56.
Anthony died on
September 20, 1777.
Anthony and Sarah were buried at the Cane
Creek Monthly Meeting Cemetery, Snow Camp, North
Carolina.
Transcription of will:
Anthony Chamness Will - transcription below
 |
| Anthony Chamness Will |
November 24, 1776
This twenty fourth day of the eleventh month, commonly
called November, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred seventy
and six; Being in health of body and of perfect mind and memory blessed by God,
and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die, I do make and ordain
this my last will and testament, and as touching our worldly estate as it hath
pleased God to bless me with. In this I give devise and dispose of in manner
following:
First, I ordain and constitute my eldest son Joseph Chamness
to be my only and soal executor of this my last will and testament: I allow my
charges and just debts to be first paid out of my estate: Also I give and
devise to my son, John Chamness, all the parcel of land whereon he now lives.
Beginning at Betty Mayners south east corner running thence south to Richard
Kemps corner thence west along Kemps line to the petition fence; thence of
strait course to Betty Mayners line containing less or more to be freely
possessed and enjoyed by him his heirs or asigns forever...
Also, I give to my son Joshua Chamness the remainder part of
my land that I now live on to be freely possessed and enjoyed by him his heirs
or asigns forever. But if my son Joshua should decease without an heir lawfully
begotton of his body then his share of land to be sold and the money to be
equally divided between my sons Joseph and Anthony. I also give to my son
Joshua one feather bed furniture and bedstead the waggon and all the geers and
the three dark creatures with all the plantation tools as two plows and an iron
toothed harrow axes mattocks and hoes and as the working tools belonging to the
plantation with chears table and chest and his and yearling the puter tankard
fire tongs and shovel and the largest pot and hooks and rack.
I also give and devise to my daughters Ann Chamness the
feather bead furniture and bedstead that was called Elizabeths and the cow bell
story and her from this time with three puter basons and four puter plates and
one puter dish. I also give and devise to my daughter Rachel Under three puter
plates and two puter basons...I give to my daughter Susannah Reynolds five
shillings. I also give to my daughter Sarah Vestal five shillings...I also give
to my daughter Mary Davis five shillings...I also give to my daughter Martha
Hussey five shillings. I also give to my son Anthony Chamness my worsted suite
and best hat and tea kettle...I also allow the rest of my cattle to be equally
devided between my two sons Joseph and Joshua...I a-lso allow my sheep to be
equally devided between my son Joshua and his step mother and the gees and the
rest of the fowls with the hogs after they have been killed their winters meat
all to be equally devided...I also allow her to have the half of the grain that
is raised on the plantation until my son Joshua comes to age and after he comes
to age if she pleases to live with him and to do for him and he pleases to let
her then she may have the third of what is raised the flax also to be devided
he is to it and she to make it ready for wearing. I also allow her all the
goods and chattles that she brought here that was her former husbands to be her
own and my children to have no flame there....I also give to my daughter Lydia
Ward the case of drawer the puter quart and fine flacks. I allow Sarah Wheeler
to have the one black cow unmarked or puter dish the coffy pot and cannaster
and a tin spin box and a large puter bason all that was called her
grandmothers.
In witness and testamony I Anthony Chamness do hereunto set
my hand and seal the day and year first above written. Signed and sealed in the
pressence of his
William Marshill
Joseph Cloud
Jacob Marshill
His Mark Anthony X Chamness
Indentured
servitude
in the American Colonies
in the American Colonies
From pbs.org History Detectives
Indentured
servants first arrived in America in the decade following the settlement of Jamestown
by the Virginia Company in 1607. The
idea of indentured servitude was born of a need for cheap labor. The earliest
settlers soon realized that they had lots of land to care for, but no one to
care for it. With passage to the Colonies expensive for all but the wealthy,
the Virginia Company developed the system of indentured servitude to attract
workers. Indentured servants became vital to the colonial economy.
The timing of the
Virginia colony was ideal. The Thirty Year's War had left Europe's economy
depressed, and many skilled and unskilled laborers were without work. A new
life in the New World offered a glimmer of hope; this explains how one-half to two-thirds of the
immigrants who came to the American colonies arrived as indentured servants.
Servants typically
worked four to seven years in exchange for passage, room, board, lodging and
freedom dues. While the life of an indentured servant was harsh and
restrictive, it wasn't slavery. There were laws that protected some of their
rights. But their life was not an easy one, and the punishments meted out to
people who wronged were harsher than those for non-servants. An indentured
servant's contract could be extended as punishment for breaking a law, such as
running away, or in the case of female servants, becoming pregnant.
For those that
survived the work and received their freedom package, many historians argue
that they were better off than those new immigrants who came freely to the
country. Their contract may have included at least 25 acres of land, a year's
worth of corn, arms, a cow and new clothes. Some servants did rise to become
part of the colonial elite, but for the majority of indentured servants that
survived the treacherous journey by sea and the harsh conditions of life in the
New World, satisfaction was a modest life as a freeman in a burgeoning colonial
economy.Related Posts:
