from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
TO HARBOR, torts. To receive clandestinely or without lawful authority a
person for the purpose of so concealing him that another having a right to
the lawful custody of such person, shall be deprived of the same; for
example, the harboring of a wife or an apprentice, in order to deprive the
husband or the master of them; or in a less technical sense, it is the
reception of persons improperly. 10 N. H. Rep. 247; 4 Scam. 498.
2. The harboring of such persons will subject the harborer to an,
action for the injury; but in order to put him completely in the wrong, a
demand should be made for their restoration, for in cases where the harborer
has not committed any other wrong than merely receiving the plaintiff's
wife, child, or apprentice, he may be under no obligation to return them
without a demand. 1 Chit. Pr. 564; Dane's Ab. Index, h.t.; 2 N. Car. Law
Repos. 249; 5 How. U. S. Rep. 215, 227.