Life Story: Dennis and Hannah Holland

Dennis (pronounced Denise) Holland arrived in the Maryland colony in the early 1670s as an indentured servant. This meant she signed a contract agreeing to work for a master for a set period of time in exchange for passage to the colonies. In colonial Maryland, men greatly outnumbered women. Sometimes the ratio was as high as six men for every woman. Dennis probably hoped that when her indenture was over, she would marry a farmer. If the farmer was successful, she might even rise up in the social ranks, something that was next to impossible in England. Maryland was her chance for a better life.

Life as an indentured servant in Maryland was hard. Indentured servants were at the mercy of the men and women who owned their labor contracts. Contract holders set work hours, assigned tasks, and determined how much food and rest a servant got. They were allowed to beat their indentured servants as punishment for poor work or a bad attitude. Contract holders could also loan their servants out to other colonists and keep the money for themselves. This was why Dennis, whose contract was owned by Captain William Coleborne, moved to the home of Henry Smith on January 3, 1673.

Henry began pressuring Dennis to have sex with him within days of her arrival. According to court testimony, Henry forced Dennis to have sex with him repeatedly during her time working for him. The sexual assaults eventually resulted in a pregnancy.

Once Dennis realized she was pregnant, Henry pressured her to name William as the child’s father. Dennis refused to accuse William, perhaps fearing the consequences of making a false accusation. Henry told her he would convince one of her fellow indentured servants, Henry Skidmore, to take responsibility for the child and marry her once they were both free from their contracts. Throughout the remainder of her time in his service, Henry Smith continued to force her to have sex whenever he wanted.

Henry Skidmore did not agree to this proposed arrangement. When Dennis was in labor on October 8, 1673, he burst into the room and demanded that Dennis confess who the real father was. This was a common strategy to “prove” paternity as many people falsely believed that women could not lie during childbirth. Dennis broke down in tears and confessed that Henry Smith had raped her and then told her to lie. When asked why she had never told anyone what had happened, Dennis said she “was loath to disgrace him so much.” That day, Dennis gave birth to a girl, who she named Hannah.

Dennis was charged with the crime of bastardy and appeared in court in 1674. She testified that Henry Skidmore was not the father. Dennis was sentenced to twenty days extra work, and the county clerk was put in charge of making sure she served her time. This was a fairly light sentence for the charge of bastardy. Perhaps the court believed that Dennis was a victim of Henry Smith, although he was never charged with a crime. Dennis was still expected to fulfill her contract to William. This meant that she could not support her new baby. To prevent the child from becoming a burden on the community, Hannah was indentured to a wealthy merchant named John Kirke until she reached the age of sixteen. At this point, Dennis disappears from government records.

Hannah first appears in the court records at the age of sixteen. She petitioned the court because her first master, John Kirke, sold her contract to another man who refused to honor the end date of Hannah’s court-ordered indenture. These “freedom suits” were common. All indentured servant contracts had to be filed with the court so masters could not keep servants beyond the contract end date. The court reviewed its records and set Hannah free.

Two years later, Hannah was back in court. She was pregnant and was charged with the crime of bastardy. The father of Hannah’s baby was the son of a court official. The court was much more severe with Hannah than they had been with Dennis. They described her pregnancy as a “dishonor of Almighty God, scandal & evil example to all the good people of this province.” She was sentenced to receive twenty-one lashes at the public whipping post. This public humiliation was intended to discourage other women from engaging in illicit sex that might result in a pregnancy. She also had to pay a large fine or serve as an indentured servant until her fine was paid. Her baby, a boy she named John, was indentured for thirty years, making him the third generation of the Holland family to be caught up in the indenture system of colonial Maryland.

• bastardy: The crime of having a baby without being married.
• indentured servant: A person under contract to work for another person for a definite period of time without pay, usually in exchange for transport to a new place.
• petitioned: Asked.
• testimony: A formal spoken statement given in a court of law.

• APUSH Connections:
  • 2.3 The Regions of British Colonies
  • 2.2 European Colonization
• Include this resource in a lesson about indentured servants in the colonies. This story illustrates how indentured servitude could lead to a cycle of poverty between multiple generations of one family.
• The government records of the Holland family are easily accessible on the Maryland State Archives Website. Teach students how to search the records to find the trial records of Dennis and her descendants to learn what happened to their family next.
• Pair this life story with Life Story: Thomas(ine) Hall and Children at Work to consider the experiences of indentured servants in the English colonies.
• Connect this life story with The Last Will and Testament of Joseph Grover and the Connecticut Witch Trials to consider the legal status and vulnerabilities of women in English colonial society.
• For a larger lesson on the experiences of English women in the Chesapeake colonies, combine this life story with any of the following:
  • Life Story: Elizabeth Key Grinstead
  • Life Story: Lady Frances Berkeley
  • Life Story: Margaret Brent
  • Life Story: Thomas(ine) Hall

WORK, LABOR, AND ECONOMY; DOMESTICITY AND FAMILY