Last updated: February 12, 2025
Article
Cato’s Freedom Seeking Ad by Philip Syng - May 5, 1748
The Pennsylvania Gazette no. 1013. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Sunday, May 12, 1748.
Title: Cato’s Freedom Seeking Ad by Philip Syng - May 5, 1748
Date: May 5, 1748
Object Information: Paper document
Repository: Genealogy Bank. Syng, Philip. “Advertisement” [for the Capture of Cato]. The Pennsylvania Gazette no. 1012. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Sunday, May 5, 1748; and Syng, Philip. “Advertisement” [for the Capture of Cato]. The Pennsylvania Gazette no. 1013. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Sunday, May 12, 1748.
Description:
In May 1748, Cato [unidentified last name], a 20-year-old sought his freedom from his enslaver, Philip Syng, a Philadelphia silversmith. Syng, the creator of the inkstand used by signatories of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, placed an advertisement for the recapture of Cato in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Cato was likely a worker in Syng's silversmith business based on the "old leather breeches" worn for their durability that Syng mentioned Cato was wearing when he ran away. It is not known if Cato was captured and returned to Syng, but a later 1769 tax list record for Syng also included two enslaved laborers. Therefore, before and after the creation of the inkstand 1752, Syng utilized enslaved labor in his business.
Date: May 5, 1748
Object Information: Paper document
Repository: Genealogy Bank. Syng, Philip. “Advertisement” [for the Capture of Cato]. The Pennsylvania Gazette no. 1012. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Sunday, May 5, 1748; and Syng, Philip. “Advertisement” [for the Capture of Cato]. The Pennsylvania Gazette no. 1013. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, Sunday, May 12, 1748.
Description:
In May 1748, Cato [unidentified last name], a 20-year-old sought his freedom from his enslaver, Philip Syng, a Philadelphia silversmith. Syng, the creator of the inkstand used by signatories of the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution, placed an advertisement for the recapture of Cato in the Pennsylvania Gazette. Cato was likely a worker in Syng's silversmith business based on the "old leather breeches" worn for their durability that Syng mentioned Cato was wearing when he ran away. It is not known if Cato was captured and returned to Syng, but a later 1769 tax list record for Syng also included two enslaved laborers. Therefore, before and after the creation of the inkstand 1752, Syng utilized enslaved labor in his business.
TRANSCRIPT
Philadelphia, May 5, 1748
RUn away, last Thursday, from Philip Syng, of this city, silversmith, a Negroe man, named Cato, about 20 years old, a short, well-set fellow, and speaks good English: Had on when he went away two jackets, the uppermost a dark blue halfthick, lined with red flannel, the other a light blue homespun flannel, without lining, ozenbrigs shirt, old leather breeches, yarn stockings, old shoes, and an old beaver hat. When he went away he had irons on his legs, and about his neck, but probably has cut them off, as he has done several times before on the like occasion; he generally skulks about this City. Whoever brings him home, shall have Twenty Shillings reward, and reasonable charges, paid by
Philip Syng.
Philadelphia, May 5, 1748
RUn away, last Thursday, from Philip Syng, of this city, silversmith, a Negroe man, named Cato, about 20 years old, a short, well-set fellow, and speaks good English: Had on when he went away two jackets, the uppermost a dark blue halfthick, lined with red flannel, the other a light blue homespun flannel, without lining, ozenbrigs shirt, old leather breeches, yarn stockings, old shoes, and an old beaver hat. When he went away he had irons on his legs, and about his neck, but probably has cut them off, as he has done several times before on the like occasion; he generally skulks about this City. Whoever brings him home, shall have Twenty Shillings reward, and reasonable charges, paid by
Philip Syng.