From Servant to Freeholder: Status Mobility and Property Accumulation in Seventeenth-Century Maryland

M j -ILES Gibson, Stephen Sealus, William Scot all arrived in Maryland as indentured servants in the i66os. They completed their terms soon accumulated enough capital to purchase land. Thereafter, their careers diverged sharply. Gibson, aided by two good marriages, gained a place among the local gentry served his county as justice of the peace, burgess, sheriff. At his death in i692, he owned more than two thousand acres of land a personal estate appraised at over six hundred pounds sterling, including nine slaves.' Sealus's career offers a sharp contrast to that of his highly successful contemporary. He lost a costly court case in the mid-i67os apparently was forced to sell his plantation to cover the expenses. He spent the rest of his days working other men's land. By i69i, Sealus was reduced to petitioning the county court for relief. He was both weake lame, he pleaded, and not able to worke whereby to maintaine himselfe nor his wife. His petition was granted, but the Sealus family remained poor. Stephen died in i696, leaving an estate appraised