antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Joel S. Berson]

Clearly he ran away from Maryland in 1747 to the less harsh
neighboring province of Pennsylvania, but didn't like it there either
and ran away again ten years later.  (Perhaps this time to avoid
being drafted into service in the French and Indian War, when the
pacifist Quakers sent their slaves as substitutes.)  Both Scipios are
described as short.

Joel

At 4/24/2012 02:05 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Not quite so early, but also of interest:
>
>1757 _Pennsylvania Gazette_ (Phila.) (Nov. 17) 3: Run away from the
>Subscriber, living in Chester Town, Kent County, Maryland, some time in
>July last, a Negroe man, called Scipio, formerly the Property of Mr. Marcus
>Kuhl, of the City of Philadelphia...; he is a little short thick
>Fellow...and plays well upon the Banjoe.
>
>On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 1:06 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC <
>Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> > Subject:      antedating banjo (UNCLASSIFIED)
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > OED has 1764
> >
> > 1749-07-13; _Pennsylvania Gazette_ p 3 col 1 [Newsbank Early American
> > Newspapers]
> >
> > "Runaway, some months ago, from Capt. Thomas Prather, of Prince George's
> > county, Maryland, a Negroe man, named Scipio, is of short stature, plays
> > on the Banjo, and can sing."
> > Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> > Caveats: NONE
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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