The Lancaster Virginia Historical Society (LVHS) and Lancaster Community Library (LCL) will co-host a talk, “Indentured Servants in Colonial Lancaster,” by researchers Margaret Forrester and Karen Hart at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 27. This free public program is part of the summer series, “A Special Evening With…” at LCL, 16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock.
“In the Virginia Colony during most of the 17th century, the bound labor system of indentured servitude was the primary means for landowners to meet their needs for workers, particularly in agriculture,” said Hart. “Indentured servants came to account for half of Virginia’s population, arriving mainly from England, Ireland and Scotland. These men, women and children were contracted to work for a certain number of years in exchange for transportation to Virginia, and, once they arrived, food, clothing and shelter.”
By searching in county wills, deeds and order books, Forrester has identified more than 2,000 indentured servants in Lancaster….
