"very apt to speak one side of the truth"

The majority of the persons in this compilation are runaway servants and slaves, but a number are runaway apprentices, both men and women, military deserts, horse thieves, counterfeiters, and murderers. This work also contains ads for runaways who did not originate in New England, but who had connections there. A number of the runaways were skilled, including butchers, bakers, coopers, carpenters, joiners, farriers, shoemakers, and tailors, reflecting new England's more settled society.

In compiling this work, Mr. Boyle examined 28 newspapers from New England to Maryland, including The Boston News-letter, The Boston Post-Boy, The Boston Gazette, The Connecticut Courant, The Connecticut Gazette, The Massachusetts Spy, The New Hampshire Gazette, The Pennsylvania Gazette, The New York Gazette, and The Maryland Gazette.

Each ad gives a number of details about the runaway and his/her master, including name and aliases of the runaway, physical description, personality quirks if any, location in New England (including the future states of Vermont and Maine), and where to contact the advertiser. In all, this book contains about 1,200 ads and names over 2,000 persons with connections to colonial New England.