THE TIME OF COLORED PEOPLE
FOR SALE.
I wish to dispose of all my colored people at private sale:--One female slave, aged about sixty one years, strong and active of her age, she is an excellent washer, baker, and cook, and understands the management of a dairy, and soap boiling.
ALSO, a female aged about twenty years, has eight years to serve; she understands all kind of house work, and is stout and healthy.
ALSO, a male aged about twenty four years, has four years to serve, remarkably stout and healthy, and understands all kind of farming whatever.
ALSO, a female aged twenty two years, has six years to serve, stout and healty, understands all kind of house work, a good cook and ironer; in short, she understands every kind of work that belongs to a respectable family.
Archibald M'Allister.
December 9.
ADVERTISEMENT.
RAN AWAY from the subscriber at Fort Hunter, six miles above Harrisburg on the 19th instant, a female slave, named Sall Crage, aged about 60. I hereby forewarn all persons from harboring her, and will pay $ 2 to any person who will deliver her to me at Fort Hunter.
Archibald M'Allister.
December 24, 1828.
The first person described probably refers to Sall Craig (Crage), who ran away ten days after the original ad was placed. What happened to Sall is not known, but some of her family members remained in the area and are buried nearby at the cemetery. Sall was a slave for life, since she was born before March 1780, and had been the property of Archibald McAllister since at least the age of fourteen. The other three people would eventually gain their freedom upon reaching the age of 28.
(Pennsylvania was the first state to institute a law designed to gradually abolish slavery. According to this gradual emancipation law, anyone born into slavery after March 1, 1780 would be considered “free” while serving their master until age 28, when they would then be free to leave. Read more here.)