Exiles in the Promised Land [Note: possibly this Joseph Wade, who apparently was in Frederick County, Maryland in 1754 when his son Hezekiah was born]
Boasts made by convicts typically recounted feats of daring, courage, and physical prowess. A servant in Baltimore County, Owen Coyl, claimed to have "broke" as many as "seven gaols in Ireland." Transported in 1772, Samuel Carter crowed that he had been banished once before, whereas a Virginia convict often recounted how in England he had "petitioned his Majesty, after receiving sentence of transportation,"to be "hanged" instead. William Burns of Frederick County, Maryland bore a "large Scar on his right Arm, which he often" showed "when in Company."
Other convicts, like Robert Milby who had served in Flanders, recounted old military adventures. Daniel Rawson, according to his master in 1764, bragged "much of having been on board of a Man of War."74 Not only did such feats bolster self-esteem under degrading conditions, but they also enhanced a convict's status in the eyes of compatriots. Thus, the confirmed offender, Charles Aires, a "lusty," "well-set" felon transported at least twice, was called "My Lord" by other transports, and Joseph Wade, who had been transported as many as four times, was a reputed "ringleader" among his friends.75
