It was a notable part of the obligation assumed by Brock, reference to which has been deferred until the last, that he bound himself to instruct Bond in the art of writing, and to teach him the science of arithmetic, a clause in the indenture showing the enlightened interest of the court in the welfare of the apprentice as well as their desire to promote the cause of education.[1]
It is not necessary to give in detail the contents of other indentures. Points of variance alone may be touched upon. In articles of agreement between Mrs. Phœbe Heale and John Keene of York, the son of the former was required to remain in the service of Keene until be reached his twenty-first birthday. Not until he was eighteen years of age, however, was he to begin to learn the mysteries of the trade of cooper, which was followed by Keene. Upon the attainment of his sixteenth birthday, the apprentice was to receive from his master a heifer, the increase of which was to be carefully preserved until his term of service was ended, when delivery was to be made.[2]
Thomas Best of Elizabeth City was assigned by his master in 1694 to a blacksmith for a period of seven years, with a view to his instruction as a smith, at the end of which time he could claim a full set of the tools used in that trade, and the amount of grain and quantity of clothing allowed by the custom of the Colony.[3] In 1694,
- ↑ Records of York County, vol. 1684-1687, pp. 60, 61, Va. State Library. In the articles by which Valentine Harvey, who was seven years of age, was bound as an apprentice to Daniel Wyld, the latter agreed to keep Harvey at school three or four years, provided there was a schoolmaster in the parish. See Records of York County, vol. 1664-1672, p. 201, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Records of York County, vol. 1675-1684, p. 84, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Records of Elizabeth City County, vol. 1684-1699, p. 30, Va. State Library. For the terms of another apprenticeship to a blacksmith, see Records of Northampton County, original vol. 1680-1692, p. 28.
