Valentine Hill’s Indentured Scottish Prisoners of War
Valentine Hill: 1611-1660 (Maternal Ninth-Great-Grandfather)
Most immigrants chose to come to America, seeking a better
life. However, some people were forced to immigrate, and faced a miserable life
once they arrived. They were forced to labor with no compensation, with no
right to leave their employer, and no recourse if they were mistreated. Of
course African slaves were the majority of these forced immigrants, but there
were others. Just like the British prison ships that carried human cargo to
Australia to serve as forced labor in the late 1780s, over a century earlier,
ships carried prisoners to the American colonies. Once in America, the
prisoners were forced into indentured service contracts. Essentially, they were
used as slave labor. There was, of course, one major difference from the type
of slavery Africans and indigenous people were subjected to: indentured slavery
had an endpoint. Once their indenture contracts, usually seven years long, were
complete, these people were given their freedom.
My ancestor, Valentine Hill, was a trader in indentured
prisoners in the 1650s. He purchased the contracts of Scottish prisoners of
war, using them as forced labor in his lumber mills. He also brokered the sale
of these prisoners to other property owners in the Durham, New Hampshire area.
So who were these Scottish prisoners of war? An article on
the New England Historical Society website provides an excellent summary. In
1650, Oliver Cromwell’s forces invaded Scotland. Twelve thousand Roundheads
faced off against eleven thousand Scots in the Battle of Dunbar. The Roundheads
won and took thousands of Scots prisoner. Many of these men were forcibly
marched to Durham. Many died of disease and starvation. About 150 of these
prisoners of war were forced onto the British ship Unity, which carried
them to Charlestown, Massachusetts. The shipmaster paid five pounds apiece for
the POWs, and sold them for twenty to thirty pounds apiece.
 |
| Battle of Dunbar |
Most of the men were young and illiterate and spoke only
Gaelic. They were forced to sign indenture contracts that they could neither
read nor understand.
Valentine Hill bought several of these men in 1650, forcing
them to labor in his lumber mills in Durham and on the Lamprey River in New
Hampshire.
In 1651, Cromwell’s army defeated a large Scottish army in
Worcester, England. Once again, thousands of Scots were taken prisoner and were
driven to London under horrible conditions. Some of the survivors of this
forced march were shipped off to the colonies. Two hundred seventy-five POWs were
loaded onto the ship John and Sara, which sailed for Boston. A Charlestown
merchant named John Kemble bought the
prisoners’ contracts, and sold them at a mark-up to individuals and businesses.
Most of the men ended a variety of Massachusetts towns.
 |
| Partial list of John and Sara prisoners |
Kemble partnered with Valentine Hill to sell the remaining
men in Exeter and Durham, New Hampshire, and York, Maine. By this point in his
life, Valentine Hill was struggling financially, selling off much of his land
in the Boston area and consolidating his remaining businesses in the New
Hampshire area. He must have been thrilled to make money from the sale of the
Scots prisoners, while still profiting from the labor of his previously purchased
prisoners.
I wonder how those men fared under Valentine Hill’s control.
Did he provide adequate food and shelter? Did he punish them with whips or beat
them if they didn’t work to his satisfaction? All we know for certain is that
at least seven of his workers survived to complete their contracts, for the New
England Historical Society’s article states that, “Seven of Valentine Hill’s
Scottish POWs…were listed as taxpayers in Dover, N.H., after their slavery
ended.”
I also found another website for the descendants of one of
Hill’s indentured Scotsmen, the Micum Mcintire Clan Association. (see citation
below). The site contained the names of several of the freed indentured
workers, including Robert Junkins, John Carmichael, Henry Brown, Thomas
Doughty, James Orr and Edwin Erwin. The article also states that Hill’s
indentured men mostly worked felling trees for the sawmills, and they may have
also been involved in construction of buildings in Oyster River. The article’s
author, Jonathan Tucker, stated that the men worked four days per week and attended
church one day, and the rest of their time could work on their own account. He discussed
Hill’s purchase of a four-acre plot near his mill in 1652, stating that his
indentured workers were allowed to construct cabins for themselves and garden
on the land. Tucker did not provide references for his assertions, so I can’t look
at his evidence myself. I hope that his information is correct, and that Valentine
Hill was a decent master.
 |
| Oyster River area with Valentine Hill property location noted |
Most of the indentured Scottish POWs never returned to their
homeland. Most, like Valentine Hill’s seven, started new lives in the colonies.
The Historical Society article states that many married Irish girls who had
also been indentured and sent to the colonies to labor.
Valentine Hill lived only three years more after his
indentured workers received their freedom. He died November 3, 1660 or 1661 at
the Oyster River Plantation near Durham, N.H. He was only 50 years old. He died
in debt to several people, including his brother John back in London, and his
brother-in-law Thomas Cobbett in the colonies.
Sources:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37074695/valentine-hill
National Park Service: Saugus Iron Works National Historic
Site: “Scottish Prisoners at the Iron Works. “https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/scottish-prisoners-at-the-iron-works.htm#:~:text=The%20Scots%20were%20soldiers%20who,indentured%20servants%20for%20seven%20years.
“Oyster River—Micum’s Indenture”, by Jonathan Tucker. https://micummcintireclanassociation.org/oyster-river/
No comments:
Post a Comment