Vibrant Black communities arise
from the ashes of slavery

Study Areas

Enslavement

20th Century

Gettysburg, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Pass for Edward Butler, a Free Black Man, 1806

Free Black persons living in Pennsylvania in the 1700s and early 1800s faced considerable challenges every day. Fair and independent employment and affordable housing could be difficult to find, particularly in small rural areas. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of daily life, however, could be freedom of movement outside of their home communities. Whites generally viewed unfamiliar Black travelers with suspicion, often suspecting them of being escaped slaves. Such unrecognized travelers were often arrested by the local sheriff and imprisoned in the local jail.

For that reason, whites who sent their enslaved people on errands that required travel out of the area usually wrote a pass, stating their business and authorizing them to be away from home. Local whites could demand to inspect a pass from Blacks they did not recognize, and while a pass did not guarantee that a free person would remain unmolested, it typically was sufficient to keep them out of the local jail, at least as long as they were not also suspected of wrongdoing.

Edward Butler, whose pass is shown below, was a young man, 22 years of age, traveling through Adams County when he was confronted, arrested and jailed in Gettysburg on suspicion of being an escaped slave. Although Butler protested his imprisonment and informed his captors that he was a free man from Greensburg (it is not clear if he was from Greensburg, Westmoreland County, PA, or Greensburg, Washington County, Md), he had no proof. Adams County Jailer John Murphy, as was his duty and habit, advertised Butler's capture in the local newspapers, providing his name (incorrectly identifying him as "Ned"), physical description and clothing, and noting "The owner is desired to come, and take him away before the 2d of July next, otherwise he will be discharged."

No one claimed Butler by the deadline set by Jailer Murphy, so the county made arrangements to discharge him from jail. Fortunately for Butler, that process had changed considerably from decades prior. Since the county incurred considerable expenses in confining prisoners, including food, heat, and the cost of advertisements, unclaimed Blacks were frequently "sold for costs." This often meant a term of servitude to a local purchaser equivalent in value to the accumulated expenses, with terms and permission for the sale approved by the court.

Edward Butler, however, because he claimed to be a free man, was given his opportunity to appear in the Adams County Court of Common Pleas, in the August 1805 session. In those preceedings, four judges heard the case and determined that he was telling the truth. He was "discharged from his Imprisonment by Proclamation" as of August 3, 1805. Butler remained living and working around Gettysburg, and four months later was issued the pass shown below. It gave him the right to "pass & repass about his lawful business -- he behaving himself as becometh," Note that his freedom of movement, even with a pass, was conditionally based upon his good behavior.

The image below is of a copy of the pass, made by Cumberland County Prothonotary James Duncan and filed with the Cumberland County Clerk of Courts Office in Carlisle. This was probably done to provided proof of Butler's status, should his business take him across the Adams County line into neighboring Cumberland County. The actual pass carried by Butler probably included only the handwritten portion of the first page shown below.

State of Pennsylvania
Adams County
This may certify, that the bearer hereof, Edward Butler, a black man, was, about the month of April last past, committed to the Jail of the said County on suspicion of being a Runaway -- that he was discharged from confinement by the Court of Common Pleas of the County aforesaid, that he hath resided in & about Gettysburgh since, as a labourer, & nothing has appeared to the contrary, but that he is a free man. -- He is therefore permitted to pass & repass about his lawful business -- he behaving himself as becometh -- Given under my hand & seal the 21st day of January Anno Domini 1806
Russell (seal)
To whom concerned --

Source
Pass for Edward Butler, Gettysburg, PA, Item 1806.001, Cumberland County Pennsylvania Archives, Clerk of Courts, Slave Matters Miscellaneous, digital image online at https://ccweb.ccpa.net/archives/Inventory?PSID=1165, accessed 17 September 2025.