https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2389520/william_cloward/#
Check this out! The Pennsylvania Gazette dated May 13, 1762, tells of a William Cloward who had escaped his master, having been given the responsiblity of driving a wagon from Lancaster to Philadelphia and never returned. Could this be our William? Could he have headed to Maryland, become a landowner, and raised a family there? In those days indentured servants were sometimes treated poorer than slaves. Indentured servants were under contract to their master for 7 years and at the end of those 7 years, the master would relinquish ownership and give the indentured servant a parcel of land. So...if the indentured servant didn't survive, the master didn't need to give him anything. So this makes William's desire to escape and start a new life pretty plausible.
What do you think? Does anyone out there know otherwise?