' The
justices were to make the most favourable contracts for
them, and when their term of service expired, they were
to be paid either in implements of trade, clothing, or
other gratuity.
In the month of August 1756 one hundred and ten sturdy
Acadian boys and girls made their appearance in New York.
They had travelled all the way from Georgia in the hope
of finding means to return to Acadia. Great was their
disappointment when they were seized by the authorities
and placed out to service. Later some of the parents
straggled in, but they were dispersed immediately in
Orange and Westchester counties, and some on Long Island,
in charge of a constable. The New York Mercury of July
1757 reported that a number of the neutrals had been
captured near Fort Edward while on their way to Crown
Point. Between the arrival of the first detachment in
New York and the month of August 1757 the colony was
compelled to provide for large numbers who came in from
distant places. To prevent any further escape the sheriffs
were commanded to secure all the Acadians, except women
and children, in the county gaol.
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