Daily AncestorFugitives from the State
Fugitives from the State was a slave schedule column in 1850 and 1860 for enslaved people who had escaped within the year and not been recovered.
The 1850 instructions told the assistant marshal to enter, opposite the owner's name, the number of slaves who had absconded within the year and not been recovered. In 1860 they were to be described as fully as if still held.
A mark here is a clue that a person on the list escaped in the year before June 1. Pair it with runaway advertisements in newspapers and later free-state records.
As seen in a recordColumn 6 of the 1850 and 1860 slave schedules
Jno. W. Haskins | Fugitives from the State: 1
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Fugitives from the State." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/census-terms/fugitives-from-the-state. Last checked 2026-10-03.