Comparing The Early Colonial Lives Of Edward Inman And Stephen Luffe

During early civilization in America, not every colonist lived the same way. Many migrated over the Atlantic Ocean in search of wealth and religious freedom. Adjusting to a new life thousands of miles away was hard, and many worked countless hours to make ends meet. Here are inventories of two American colonials at the time of their death from around the late 1600s, Edward Inman and Stephen Luffe. Edward Inman died in 1688 in Talbott County in Maryland, while Stephen Luffe died in 1698 in Sumersett County in the same state. Both early colonials did not live similar lives, as one appeared to be a sheriff that maintained a farm, and the other looked to be running a trading post in his county. Edward Inman, of Talbott County, seemed to have

For Edward Inman, the supposed trading post dealer, his bills owed to him was the most valuable thing that he had on him at the time. Without the money that Edward was owed, he would look on paper to be a poor early colonist that barely slid by. Edward Inman also had a contract with Major Sayer for barrels of Indian corn. Contracts like these were typical for people running trading post, because the trading post was the main source of trading for colonists in their respective towns. For Stephen Luffe, his most valuable possession on his inventory is his slave named Ned. Ned is worth 6 pounds, 15 sterling. Slaves were becoming very important to plantation owners because they could work forever and were not prone to the diseases that indentured servants suffered from. Indentured servants were only contracted to work for 7 years and after Bacon’s Rebellion, a slow shift from indentured servants to slaves started to progress. One confusing tidbit on Stephen Luffe’s inventory is he has a possession written down as, “blank”, that is worth 11 pounds. That would end up being the most valuable thing he has, but must be left a mystery at the

Stephen was clearly more wealthy than Edward was, and had many household items that wasn’t shown on Edward’s inventory. Edward had the basics, combs for his hair, an old razor, and old cloth that he probably worth as clothing. These were basic materials just for everyday living that Edward possessed. Stephen Luffe on the other hand had tables and chairs for dining, iron shoes, and even a copper still worm. The table and four chairs that Stephen owned was the only sign of furniture in both inventories, with nothing else including beds mentioned. The copper still could have been used to make drinks including moonshine, although it is not known what he used it for. The only thing that Stephen and Edward both had was a chest to store things in, although Edward’s did not have a key with it, which was ether lost or