Users may access the runaway files in two ways. Files may be browsed or searched.

Browsing

• Browse the entire dataset
• Browse by decade

       The runaway and captive ads have also been tagged according to whether single, group, family, or mixed. Single ads describe one runaway or captive; group ads describe two or more runaways or captives, usually, but not always acting in concert. Family ads describe groups of runaways or captives in which there is a family relationship of some kind: mother- or father-children, husband-wife, brothers, etc. Finally, mixed ads describe groups in which blacks and whites or servants and slaves are associated or have run away together.

Searching the dataset

Searching specific types:
    You can search the entire database of ads, or search separately for runaway slaves, runaway servants, or military deserters.

Constrained search:
      Users may also wish to constrain their searches according to several categories. Constrained searches can be conducted for the entire set of ads or for specific type of runaways:

• all data searches for a word or phrase across the entire database.
• publication data: Users may search for a particular issue of the Gazette, "Rind," or "Purdie & Dixon" for example. Or a particular city of publication. While most editions of the Gazette were published in Williamsburg, there are several ads published in Norfolk, and beginning in the 1780s papers were published in Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and Richmond.
• runaway's home: county or area from which the runaway fled ("Caroline," "Norfolk," etc.).
• runaway's or captive's name: Slaves are usually listed by a single first name, e.g., "Will," "Tom," "Bacchus"; servants and a few slaves are listed by a given as well as a Christian name (search for "Peter Deadfoot" for a particularly interesting runaway slave, or "Richard Kibble" for an interesting servant).
• birth or ethnic origin: Any indication of place of birth or ethnic origin of runaway has been tagged. Try searching "Irish," "Africa," or "Indies."
• clothing: This represents one of the most descriptive of all categories. The ads almost always describe in great detail the clothing the runaway or captive was wearing or took with him (examples are numerous: "oznabrigs," or "osnabrugs," "cotton," "felt hat," "kersey," "duffil," etc.).
• reward: Users may wish to search the reward section for a specific amount, "20 l." for example (£20).
• subscriber's name: This usually corresponds to the owner.
• skill: mention of a skill or trade ("cooper," "carpenter," "waterman"); this category does not include the ability to read and write.
• ship name: The vessels that brought African slaves and European servants into Virginia have been tagged. Try searching "Justitia," for a vessel that brought many servants into the colony.

Supporting Material:
       At the bottom of each ad is a reprint notice that lists if and where the ad was previously published. Lathan Windley compiled many of the ads in his four-volume set published in 1984; volume and page numbers for those are listed. In addition, links to other materials such as court records and plantation letters and diaries that deal with particular runaways will be available in the Supporting Materials pages.

    Please look at the following ads to get some idea of what they tell us.

• In 1770, three newly imported Africans ran away from James Buchanan of Richmond. Read the ad that Buchanan placed. They joined up with three others who came in on the same ship, the Yanimarew. Read the explanation.
• Robert Carter Nicholas was one of Virginia's most prominent men in the years leading up to the Revolution. Grandson of Robert "King" Carter, and nephew to Landon and John Carter, Nicholas was the colony's treasurer, and thus spent much of his time in Williamsburg. But he owned land all over the colony, and in 1767 two of his slaves ran away from distant plantations. Read the ad Nicholas placed. Read the explanation.
• Owners were often grudging in their estimation of slaves' skills. Try searching for the word "pretend" to get an idea of how owners viewed slaves' accomplishments. An exception was Peter Deadfoot. A slave belonging to Samuel Selden, Deadfoot had been hired out to Thomson Mason, brother of George Mason, who placed the ad when Deadfoot ran away in 1768. Note the phrase Mason used to describe Deadfoot, "so ingenious a fellow, that he can turn his hand to anything." Thomson also offers a sliding scale reward, depending on the distance Deadfoot is taken from his home. For an accomplished slave such as Deadfoot, the range of opportunities for escape was fairly wide.
• The meanings of many eighteenth-century words differed from modern usages.Read the ad for runaway Adam from February 1770. Then you might want to view the thinkaloud exercise prepared to accompany the runaways project.
• Many runaways were skilled at various trades and service functions. Read the following ads for Solomon, Damon, and Will. What do they have in common? Read the ad for Bob. Are you surprised by anything in its description?
• Although more male slaves absconded than female, several of the ads placed for female runaways can teach us about the lives of women in slavery. Read the following ads for Amy, Phillis, Moll, and Phebe. What do these runaways have in common? Read the ad for Tabb. Is there anything worth noting?
• Masters sometimes hired their slaves out to work for others. The master kept the money, but hired slaves were ususally subject to less oversight than other slaves and therefore sometimes had greater opportunities to run away. Look at the ad for Peter Deadfoot again. He had been hired out to a different master. For more examples of this practice, read the ads for Ned, Charles, and Hannah. Would you characterize Hannah as a runaway? You can search the word "hire" for more instances of slave hire.