Kidnappers devised various schemes for the accomplishment of their purposes, some of them no less humorous than infamous. A man in Philadelphia was found to be engaged in the occupation of courting and marrying mulatto women and then selling them as slaves.[252] Another plan was for one or two confederates to find out the bodily marks of a suitable free colored person after which the other confederate would go before a magistrate and lay claim to the ill-fated negro, describing his marks, call in his accomplice as witness and so get possession of the negroes.[253] Probably the most ingenious of all methods of kidnapping was that brought to light in Charleston, South Carolina, as related by Francis Hall: "The agents were a justice of the peace, a constable and a slave dealer.... A victim having been selected, one of the firm applied to the justice upon a shown charge of assault, or similar offense, for a writ, which was immediately issued and served by the constable, and the negro conveyed to prison.... The constable now appears, exaggerates the dangers of his situation, explains how small is his chance of being liberated even if innocent, by reason of the amount of jail fees and other legal expenses; but he knows a worthy man who is interested in his behalf, and will do what is necessary to procure his freedom upon no harder condition than an agreement to serve him for a certain number of years. It may be supposed the negro is persuaded.... The worthy slave dealer now appears on the stage, the indenture of bondage is ratified in the presence of the worthy magistrate and the constable, who shares the price of blood, and the victim is hurried on shipboard to be seen no more."[254] From the nature of our information concerning kidnapping it is readily seen that we have but little basis for a statistical estimate of the number kidnapped. It must have ranged, however, from a few hundred to two or three thousand annually. It appears quite certain that as many were kidnapped as escaped from bondage, if not more. The "Liberator" alone records nearly a hundred cases of detected kidnapping between 1831 and 1860. But the number detected probably bears but little relation to the number actually kidnapped. As was before shown in the cases mentioned almost whole families were carried off, and that in most cases, when a discovery was made, it was found that the kidnapping gang had been in the business for years. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 220: Hening: Statutes at Large, Vol. VI., p. 357.] [Footnote 221: Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 531.] [Footnote 222: Laws of State of North Carolina. Revised Under Authority of the General Assembly, Vol. I., p. 375.] [Footnote 223: Acts of General Assembly of Alabama, 1840-41, p. 125.] [Footnote 224: Maxcy: Revised Laws of Maryland, Vol. II., p. 356 (1811). Dorsey: General Public Statuary Law, Vol. I., p. 112.]