ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Title
John Hedges Collection
Collection Number
SC 505
OCLC Number
1546888118
Creators
John Hedges (c1785-December 15, 1856)
Nathaniel Hand Jr. (January 26, 1776-March 16, 1861?)
Provenance
Purchase; Certain Books; March 2003.
Extent, Scope, and Content Note
Extent: 1 leaf (sheet)
Date: April 9, 1832
Location: East Hampton, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York
Dimensions: 20 x27 cm.
Context: This document is a legal indenture or bond of indenture from East Hampton,
Suffolk County, Long Island, New York dated April 9, 1832. It records the transfer
of an indentured servant, a boy named Charles L. (c.1824-?), from Nathaniel Hand Jr.
to John Hedges.
Indentured servitude was a system in which a person (often a minor, poor person, or orphan) was bound to serve a master for a set number of years in exchange for something - often passage, food, shelter, or in this case, payment to a prior owner. By 1832, slavery was illegal in New York (abolished in 1827), but forms of involuntary servitude such as indentures for minors still existed legally. The phrase “my servant boy” and the mention of a term until age 21 suggest that Charles L. was a bound apprentice or indentured servant, not legally enslaved, but without full freedom until he came of age. The $100 payment likely represented the transfer of the indenture contract. John Hedges was paying Nathaniel Hand for the remaining term of the boy’s service. The legalistic phrasing (“to have and to hold… executors, administrators, and assigns”) reflects standard property-style legal formulae that were used for both land and personal contracts.
This document shows how language of ownership continued to persist in early 19th-century contracts involving human labor, even after emancipation. It reveals how children, especially poor or orphaned ones, could still be treated as transferable property within the indenture system. Such arrangements often blurred the lines between apprenticeship, servitude, and exploitation. The year 1835 (when the boy would reach 21) suggests Charles L. was around 17 or 18 in 1832, but possibly younger if his indenture began earlier.
John Hedges (c. 1785–1856) was born circa 1785 in East Hampton, New York, into one of the early settler families of eastern Long Island. The Hedges family had deep roots in the East Hampton community dating back to the 17th century, known for their work as farmers, whalers, and tradesmen who helped shape the town’s early development. John married Eliza Hedges (c. 1807-January 3, 1891) and together they had four children -John, Jerusha, Charles, and Harriet. John Hedges passed away in 1856 at the age of 73. His wife, Eliza, survived him by many years and died in 1891. Both were laid to rest in South End Cemetery, East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York, among generations of Hedges family members and other early East Hampton residents.
Nathaniel Hand (January 26, 1776-March 16, 1861?) was a merchant and storekeeper based in Amagansett and East Hampton, Suffolk County, New York. He was married to Elizabeth Hand (April 14, 1781-January 7, 1828 ) and Fanny Hand (c. 1792-June 18, 1865). Hand operated a general store that supplied local residents with dry goods, tea, soap, and other everyday necessities, and also provided materials and provisions for the whaling industry that was active on eastern Long Island in the early nineteenth century. Records indicate that Hand’s business also supplied building materials for community projects, including local schoolhouses. His relative prosperity and standing are reflected in his commissioning of a finely crafted desk and bookcase from Nathaniel Dominy V around 1811, a fact documented in With Hammer in Hand: The Dominy Craftsmen of East Hampton, New York (UW–Madison Libraries). Hand was part of the wider Hand family network, one of the earliest and most prominent families in East Hampton, known for their civic involvement and intermarriage with other established local lineages.
Arrangement and Processing Note
Finding aid by Kristen J. Nyitray and Lynn Toscano in October 2025.
Language
English
Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.
Rights and Permissions
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection
does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole
responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials
to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission
where needed prior to publication.
Citation
John Hedges Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.
Subjects
Legal instruments -- Specimens.
Legal instruments -- New York (State) -- East Hampton.
Indentured servants -- New York (State) -- East Hampton.
East Hampton (N.Y.) -- History.
Transcription
Know all men by these presents that
I Nathaniel Hand of Easthampton for and in consideration
of one hundred dollars to me in hand paid by
John Hedges of Easthampton the receipt thereof I do
hereby acknowledge have bargained, sold and
delivered unto the said John Hedges my servant boy
Charles L? To have and to hold the aforesaid
boy unto the said John Hedges his executors admin
istrators as assigns untill [sic] he shall arrive at
the age of twenty one years which will be in
the year 1835 - and I the said Nathaniel Hand Jr.
myself my executors and administrators will
warrant and defend the same against all
Persons unto the said John Hedges his executors
administrators and assigns by these presents
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and seal. This 9 day of April 1832.
In presence of Thos B. Hand
Nathaniel Hand
_____
Nathaniel Hand to John Hedges
This bond belongs to John Hedges of East Hampton