Historian Freddie Parker noted:

 “Whether together or alone, runaway slaves cost planters dearly in both labor losses and recovering expenses. Masters suffered psychologically as well: slave escapes brought to the fore the fallibility of each mechanism of control.” 

Slave codes demanded that slaveholders provide notices of runaway slaves, even though this did not always happen. Nonetheless, because of the requirement to create notices and the desire to capture runaways, the advertisements listed in newspapers teach us a great deal about enslaved freedom seekers, in particular, and slavery, in general. 

“In most cases, the advertiser described the slave or servants as to appearances and other distinguishing characteristics; and frequently there were hints as to the advertiser’s personal opinion of some troublesome chattel.”

Ads used had one or more components, first, facts about the enslaved person being a runaway, their appearance, and reward; second, some ads provided potential destinations and routes for freedom seekers; third, some declare the danger of enslaved persons and warn against harboring freedom seekers. See runaway notices HERE

Due to the cause of advertisement and slaveholders’ geographical distance from newspapers, there was no need to draft notices, as it was known where an enslaved person hid and anticipated their return, and some were slow to place notices. 

While not all slaveholders used the newspaper to issue notices of runaways because of the cost of advertisement and geographical distance from a newspaper, some were very slow to place notices. Notices in newspapers often depended on a few things.

Parker wrote,

“Generally, owners first relied upon their own devices and the services of the county courts,” and used “advertisement as a last resort.” 

Many enslaved people likely returned after promises were made not to punish or sold. If a sale was unavoidable, an agreement was made to be sold in the same county or neighborhood, or enslaved persons also returned with an agreement to change labor habits. Negotiating returns with slaveholders shows one of the functions of running away. By taking away labor, which the slaveholders needed, enslaved people could protest against the actions or conditions of slaveholders by fleeing. 

However, some slaveholders were adamant about placing ads. Such is the case for Mrs. Dickinson and her family of the Cupla House of Edenton, North Carolina. “Edenton newspapers for the period also reveal that she was not lackadaisical about pursuing runaway slaves either, often advertising rewards for their capture and return.” See an ad placed by Mrs. Dickinson HERE