_FUGITIVES AND THEIR FRIENDS._
Sec. 63. Methods of escape.
Sec. 64. Reasons for escape.
Sec. 65. Conditions of slave life.
Sec. 66. Escapes to the woods.
Sec. 67. Escapes to the North.
Sec. 68. Use of protection papers.
Sec. 69. Fugitives disguised as whites: Craft case.
Sec. 70. Underground Railroad.
Sec. 71. Rise and growth of the system.
Sec. 72. Methods pursued.
Sec. 73. Colored agents of the Underground Railroad.
Sec. 74. Prosecutions of agents.
Sec. 75. Formal organization.
Sec. 76. General effect of escapes.
=Sec. 63. Methods of escape.=--The great increase in the number of fugitives
after 1850 was in part due to the uneasiness felt by Northern people
under a law which made them co-workers with the South in a system of
slave hunting, and in part to the greater ease of communication now
afforded between the two sections. The knowledge that there was in the
North a body of "abolitionists" eager to aid them from bondage to freedom
was also spreading more widely each day among the slaves.
Public interest in the subject was more and more aroused, not only by the
cases of cruelty and injustice which were forcibly brought to the
attention of Northern communities, but also by the romantic and thrilling
episodes of the escapes. To understand the attitude of the North toward
fugitives, it is necessary to examine some of the different methods used
by the fugitives in their flight. Perhaps a better point of view than
that of the outside observer will be gained by placing ourselves in the
position of the slave, and examining his motives for flight, the
difficulties which he encountered at home, the manner in which he
overcame them, and, finally, the various paths of escape then open to
him, and the agencies which befriended him and forwarded him on his way.
[Sidenote: Reasons for Escape.]
=Sec. 64. Reasons for escape.=--First, why did the slave seek to escape?
However unlike the attending circumstances, we find upon investigation
that the negro's desire to run away may be traced to one of but three or
four motives. Among the more intelligent slaves, who could comprehend the
nature and injustice of their position, it often rose solely from the
upspringing in their hearts of that love of freedom natural to all men.
It is probable that in the greater number of cases this was the motive at
the root of the matter. A fugitive, on being questioned at an Underground
Railroad station as to his reasons for escape, replied that he had had a
kind master, plenty to eat and to wear, but that notwithstanding this for
many years he had been dissatisfied. He was thirsting for freedom.[216]
Another said that his owner had always been considerate, and even
indulgent to him. He left for no other reason than simply to gain his
liberty.[217]
A second reason, and that which perhaps most frequently led them to take
the decisive step in this often long premeditated act, was the cruel
treatment received from their masters. An owner upon one of the Southern
plantations said his slaves usually ran away after they had been whipped,
or something had occurred to make them angry.[218]
A third and very effective cause was the fear of being sold South, where
slave life, spent in toil under the merciless masters of the rice swamps
and cotton fields, was seen on its darkest side. Such was the horror with
which the slave regarded this change, that the threat of it was
constantly used by owners as one of the surest means of reducing their
rebellious slaves to submission. In the Virginia Slave Mother's Farewell
to her Daughters who have been sold into Southern bondage, Whittier has
well expressed their feelings.[219]
Many cases of this kind came to light through the examinations at the
Underground Railroad stations. Three brothers once learned that the next
day they were to be sent South with a slave trader then in the vicinity.
Filled with terror at the prospect, they preferred the danger of death in
the swamps to the certainty of life in the unknown country. That night
they made their escape, but it was only after weeks of wandering in
swamps and morasses that they reached a haven.[220]
So long as a black family remained together upon one plantation, their
love for one another operated as the strongest bond to prevent their
departure; but when, as constantly happened, the sale and separation of
the members scattered families far and wide, with no hope of reunion, the
firmest and often the sole tie which bound them to the South was broken.
There was no longer anything to hold them back.[221]
=Sec. 65. Conditions of slave life.=--These are some of the motives which
led the slave to plan an escape. It will now be well to glance at those
surrounding conditions, incident to the time and country, which made
successful flight particularly difficult. First, the slave was a negro;
and in the South, where the presumption was that every black man must be
a slave, the color of his skin gave not only a means of tracing him, but
also made him liable at any moment to questioning and arrest.
In both city and country patrols were appointed, whose duty it was to
keep strict watch over the negroes; and any slave found away from his
plantation, unless in livery or provided with a pass, could be whipped
and sent back to his master.[222] It was also lawful for any white man to
seize and carry a stray slave to the nearest jail.[223] The next morning,
if not claimed, he was advertised in a manner of which the following is
an example:--
"Was taken up and committed to the jail of Halifax Co., on the 26th day
of May, a dark colored boy who says his name is Jordan Artis; said boy
says he was born free, and bound out to Mr. Beale, near Murfreesboro,
Hartford Co., N. C., and is now twenty-one years of age. Owner is
requested to come forward, prove property, pay charges, and take said
boy away within time prescribed by law, otherwise he will be dealt with
as the law directs.
"O. P. SHELL, _Jailer_.
"Halifax Co., N. C., June 8, 1855."[224]
If not claimed within one year, such a prisoner could be sold by the
jailer. Thus Olmsted remarks that "the security of the whites is not so
much dependent upon patrols, as on the constant, habitual, and
instinctive surveillance and authority of all white people over the
blacks."[225]
=Sec. 66. Escapes to the woods.=--If an opportunity for escape should
present itself, the first question for the slave was, "In what direction
shall I turn?" Many slaves knew nothing of the Northern people, or had
heard of Canada only as a cold, barren, uninviting country, where the
negro must perish. To those who had neither the courage nor the knowledge
requisite for a long journey, the woods and swamps near by offered the
only refuge. There they built cabins, or lived in caves, and got food by
hunting and fishing, and by raids upon the neighboring plantations.
In one of the papers of the day an underground den is noticed, the
opening of which, though in sight of two or three houses, and near roads
and fields, where passing was constant, had been so concealed by a pile
of straw, that for many months it had remained unnoticed. When
discovered, on opening a trap-door, steps were seen leading down into a
room about six feet square, comfortably ceiled with boards, and
containing a fire-place. The den was well stocked with food by the
occupants, who had been missing about a year.[226]
In most cases slaves were not so bold, and preferred concealment on an
uninhabited island, or a bit of land surrounded by morasses. We often
find advertisements of the time, mentioning such places as the probable
refuge of runaways. The Savannah Georgian of 1839 offers a reward for two
men who have been out for eighteen months, and are supposed to be
encamped in a swamp near Pine Grove Plantation.
In the Great Dismal Swamp, which extends from near Norfolk, Virginia,
into North Carolina, a large colony of these fugitive negroes was
established, and so long was the custom continued that children were
born, grew up, and lived their whole lives in its dark recesses. Besides
their hunting and fishing, they sometimes obtained food and money, in
return for work, from the poor whites and the negroes who had homes on
the borders of the swamp. It was this practice of remaining out near home
which, under easy masters, brought about the habitual runaways,--men who
were constantly escaping, and after a little time returning, often of
their own accord.[227] One of his masters said of William Browne,
afterward a well known speaker upon slavery, that he hesitated some time
before he invested seven hundred dollars in William, for he was "a noted
runaway."[228] Again, in a Southern paper advertising a sale of slaves,
one description is thus given: "Number 47, Daniel, a runaway, but has not
run away during the last two years, aged 28 years."[229]
[Sidenote: Escapes to the North.]
=Sec. 67. Escapes to the North.=--Of those who, with heroic hearts and firm
courage, determined to reach even Canada, many had seldom left the
plantation on which they were born, and were so completely ignorant of
geography and relative distances, that the best and quickest way
northward could seldom be chosen. They knew nothing of the facilities for
communication possessed by their masters through newspapers and
telegraph, and would often fancy themselves safe when they had travelled
but a short distance from home. In reality, the white people about were
often fully informed against them, and arrests were almost sure to
follow.[230]
The journeys of the fugitives were necessarily long, since unfrequented
ways were generally chosen, and but part of the day could be used. There
is a record of a man who had "taken a whole year in coming from Alabama
to Cincinnati. He had travelled only in the night, hiding in the woods
during the day. He had nothing to eat but what he could get from the
fields, sometimes finding a chicken, green corn, or perhaps a small
pig."[231]
Although the methods pursued were innumerable, and varied from those of
the man whose only guide was the north star, to those of the party aided
onward by the most elaborate arrangements of the Underground Railroad,
the fugitive was obliged to follow one of two great routes, by water or
by land. From the earliest times the ship had been a favorite refuge.
Once on board a craft bound to a Northern port, the fugitive was almost
certain of reaching that destination, and, once arrived, could hope for
protection from the Northern friends of whom vague rumors had penetrated
the South. New laws, therefore, bore more and more heavily upon captains
who should be found guilty of harboring a slave, and many cases were made
public of cruel treatment experienced by slaves at the hands of captains
who sent them directly back. Nevertheless, escapes on shipboard still
occurred frequently through the years of slavery. A method commonly used
by women in getting on board was to disarm suspicion by appearing to be
carrying some freshly laundered clothes to the sailors.
=Sec. 68. Use of protection papers.=--Another method called for less
physical effort on the part of the fugitive, but for greater coolness. It
was simply to procure from some freeman his protection papers, and to
show them whenever necessary to disarm suspicion. As the descriptions
could seldom be made to agree, both giver and receiver were placed in
situations of the greatest risk. It was thus, however, that Frederick
Douglass travelled in the most open manner from Baltimore to New York,
and escaped from a bondage to which he never afterward returned.[232]
[Sidenote: Fugitives disguised as Whites.]
=Sec. 69. Fugitives disguised as whites: Craft case.=--Sometimes the boldest
plans succeeded best if supported by sufficient firmness and presence of
mind. Three negroes possessed of a considerable sum of money once
determined upon a plan, startling in its simplicity and success. They
hired a good travelling coach and horses. They then bribed a white beggar
to dress as a Virginian gentleman, while they mounted the coach as his
driver and footmen; and in this guise they successfully made their way
into Canada.[233]
Another example of unconcealed flight is found in the often told story of
the escape of William and Ellen Craft, in 1848. They lived in Macon,
Georgia, and were generally well treated. But Ellen had been compelled to
go North with her mistress, and leave her little child at home; during
this absence, the child died uncared for. From that time she determined
to escape.[234]
William at last arranged a plan which was successfully carried out. Ellen
was nearly white. She personated a young Southern planter, while William
accompanied her as her servant. She carried her right arm in a sling so
that she might not be expected to write, bandaged her smooth face, and
put on a pair of green goggles. Thus disguised, she succeeded in buying
tickets for herself and servant without discovery. In the train she was
terrified to see a gentleman who had known her from childhood. He even
sat down by her, and spoke, but to her great relief, he saw in her only a
young invalid going North for his health. From Savannah they took a
steamer to Charleston. There they had some difficulty in passing
inspection, but their most dangerous stopping place was Baltimore, where
every white man with a slave was required to prove his right of property
before he could be allowed to go on to Philadelphia. After some
conversation Ellen told the officer that she knew no one in Baltimore,
and had no proofs that William was her slave; but that he was necessary
to her on account of her illness, and she must take him on. The officer
finally relented, as the train was about to start, and Baltimore was
safely passed.
At Philadelphia shelter was found among the Quakers, and thence they
pushed on to Boston. Here they engaged the attention of Theodore Parker,
and he protected them during their stay. William took up his trade of
cabinet-making, while Ellen added to their income by sewing. They lived
thus quietly until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. From
that time, to remain even in Boston was hazardous. Soon after, there
appeared one day in William's shop a man who had worked with him in the
South. He immediately suspected the presence of others, and took refuge
among friends. For two weeks Ellen was with Mr. Parker, who wrote his
sermons during her stay with his sword in a drawer under his inkstand,
and a pistol in his desk.
They were then taken to Mr. Ellis Gray Loring's home. Here William showed
a most honorable spirit. When he found Mr. Loring was not at home he
would not remain, saying, "I am subjecting him to a heavy fine and
imprisonment, and I must go at once to look for some other shelter."
His pursuers, who had come from Georgia, were staying at the United
States Hotel. The knowledge of their object was soon spread abroad, and
they dared not go into the streets for fear of a mob. Handbills, calling
attention to them, were placed everywhere, and cries of "Slave hunters!
there go the slave hunters!" were heard on all sides. At last, they were
absolutely compelled to leave the city. William and Ellen no longer felt
safe, and therefore went to England, where the remainder of their life
was spent in peace.[235]
[Sidenote: The Underground Railroad.]
=Sec. 70. Underground Railroad.=--From the preceding sketch of the
conditions of escape, it is plain that no such numbers as are known to
have fled could possibly have escaped from their masters' power had they
depended solely upon their own exertions. From the beginning of the
antislavery agitation, about 1830, and especially near 1850, a mysterious
organization made it a business to receive, forward, conceal, and protect
fugitives. To that organization the name of "Underground Railroad" was
given, and the many methods used by those connected with it can best be
given under a more elaborate description of the system.
=Sec. 71. Rise and growth of the system.=--The first efforts toward any
systematic organization for the aid and protection of fugitive slaves are
found among the Quakers in Pennsylvania. The great number of cases of
kidnapping which occurred in this State after the passage of the law of
1793, by their injustice roused people to action in behalf of the free
blacks; and, their sympathies once enlisted for the colored race, it was
but a step to the aid of the fugitive negroes.[236] From this time, as
the number of runaways increased, new agencies were constantly being
established, until from the slave States to Canada a perfect chain of
stations was arranged, not more than one day's journey apart.[237] The
system is said to have extended from Kentucky and Virginia across Ohio,
and from Maryland, through Pennsylvania and New York, to New England and
Canada.[238]
As negroes began to disappear, and their masters found themselves unable
to trace them farther than certain towns in Pennsylvania, they said, in
bewilderment, "There must be an Underground Railroad somewhere," and this
expression, suiting the popular fancy, became the general name by which
the whole system was known.[239]
[Sidenote: Operations "Underground."]
=Sec. 72. Methods pursued.=--Although often varied by circumstances, the
general method of work was always the same. In the South, money was
usually the motive, and for its sake the managers of the Railroad could
usually get some one to aid a slave in escaping and crossing the line. In
the North it was an unselfish, and sometimes dangerous, work of charity.
Fugitives arrived at the first station, ignorant, half-clothed, and
hungry. There they were fed, and, in order to elude the advertisements
sent through the States, disguises were provided. For women, the large
veiled bonnet and plain attire of the Quakeress proved one of the best
costumes. The men received a slip of paper, with a word or two which
would be recognized at the next place, and, unless special caution was
needed, were sent forward on foot. Women and children were often taken in
close carriages, sometimes constructed for this special purpose.[240]
Stations, that is, the houses of persons known to be interested, were
reached between sunset and ten o'clock in the evening. A tap at the door
would rouse some member of the family, and the fugitive would be taken to
the barn, or some place of concealment.[241] Often, too, these houses
were not merely places for a night's tarrying, but homes where the ill
and fatigued might remain and be cared for until strong enough for the
onward journey.[242]
To conduct people over this long line, and to baffle all plans of their
pursuers, required quick wit, as well as great courage and coolness.[243]
So successful were the conductors in this respect, however, that a
discouraged slave hunter, after a fruitless search, once said it was "as
easy to find a needle in a haymow as a negro among Quakers."[244]
When fugitives were concealed, and persons desiring to search the house
appeared, it was the custom to receive the searchers courteously. One of
the family immediately engaged them in conversation, and offered them
refreshments. The hunt was thus delayed as long as possible, so that the
fugitive might be helped away. In one case, while the slave's master was
thus entertained upon the front piazza, the mistress of the house quietly
conveyed the hunted negro out at the back door, and placed him under an
inverted hogshead standing by. Then, with the most unconcerned manner,
she allowed the man to search until he was satisfied that there could be
no fugitive in that house.[245]
=Sec. 73. Colored agents of the Underground Railroad.=--An example of the
most courageous and successful action may be found in the life of Harriet
Tubman,[246] who when a young girl made her escape from slavery alone and
unassisted. After several years of work in the North, she determined to
go back for her family. This trip was safely accomplished, and followed
by others, until during her life she had made nineteen journeys, never
losing a person. The Rev. James Freeman Clarke gives the following
account of her methods:--
"She said she first obtained enough money, then went to Maryland, where
she privately collected a party of slaves and got them ready to start.
She satisfied herself that they had enough courage and firmness to run
the risks. For if once a negro entered her party, there was no falling
back. Fully determined herself, she would allow no one to return.
"She next made arrangements so that they should set out Saturday night,
as there would be no opportunity on Sunday for advertising them, so
that they had that day's start on their way North. Then she had places
prepared where she could be sure that they could be protected and taken
care of, if she had the money to pay for that protection. When she was
at the North, she tried to raise funds until she got a certain amount,
and then went South to carry out this plan. She always paid some
colored man to follow after the person who put up the posters
advertising the runaway, and pull them down as fast as they were put
up."[247]
When she feared the party were closely pursued, she would take them for a
time on a train southward bound, as no one seeing a company of negroes
going in this direction would for an instant suppose them to be
fugitives. As their leader out of bondage, her people gave her the name
of "Moses," and thus she is generally known.
=Sec. 74. Prosecutions of agents.=--Such acts as those daily performed by
the conductors on the Underground Railroad could not be carried on under
the existing laws without leading to prosecutions. Large rewards were
many times offered for Harriet's capture, but she eluded all efforts to
stop her work. At one time the Maryland legislature offered a reward to
any person who should secure Thomas Garrett in any public jail in the
State. He was a Delaware Quaker, who, it is said, helped twenty-nine
hundred slaves in escaping. The Governor was required to employ the best
legal skill to prosecute him on the charge of aiding runaways.[248] He
was afterward tried and fined a sum which consumed his entire property.
As this was paid, the officer who received it said that he hoped the
remembrance of this punishment would prevent any further trouble. Mr.
Garrett, undaunted, replied that they had taken all that he possessed,
but added, "If thee knows any poor fugitive who wants a breakfast, send
him to me."[249] In fact, he seemed absolutely fearless. Angry
slaveholders often called upon him, and demanded their property. He never
denied knowledge of their slaves, or of having helped them on their way,
but, in the most quiet manner, positively refused to give information
concerning them.[250]
=Sec. 75. Formal organization.=--In 1838 the first formal organization of
the Underground Railroad was made, with Robert Purvis as President. It
was said that two marketwomen in Baltimore were their best helpers. They
had come into possession of a number of passports, or "freedoms," which
were used by slaves for part of the distance, and then were returned to
serve the same purpose again.[251]
In all transactions connected with this organization the greatest secrecy
was necessarily observed, seldom more than two or three persons at a
station being allowed any knowledge of it. In the Liberator of 1843, a
notice is found cautioning people against exposing in any way the methods
used by fugitives in escaping, as it only helped the pursuers in the next
case. The fugitives themselves were usually careful in this respect.
Frederick Douglass absolutely refused until after the abolition of
slavery to reveal the method of his escape.[252]
Mrs. G. S. Hillard, of Boston, was in the habit of putting fugitives in
an upper room of her house. A colored man was placed there, and when Mrs.
Hillard went up to see him, she found he had carefully pulled down all
the shades at the windows. She told him that there was no danger of his
being seen from the street. "Perhaps not, Missis," he replied, "but I do
not want to spoil the place." He was afraid lest some one might see a
colored face there, and so excite suspicions injurious to the next
man.[253]
=Sec. 76. General effect of escapes.=--Although many fugitives were aided
previous to 1850, it was after the new law went into effect that the
great efforts of the Abolitionists were centred on this form of
assistance. Of such importance did it become, that at the beginning of
the Civil War one of the chief complaints of the Southern States was the
injury received through the aid given their escaping slaves by the
North.[254]
It was, however, really the "safety valve to the institution of slavery.
As soon as leaders arose among the slaves who refused to endure the yoke,
they would go North. Had they remained, there must have been enacted at
the South the direful scenes of San Domingo."[255]
[Footnote 216: Still, Underground Railroad, 410.]
[Footnote 217: Ibid., 444.]
[Footnote 218: F. L. Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 49.]
[Footnote 219:
"Gone, gone,--sold and gone
To the rice swamp dank and lone,--
Where the slave-whip ceaseless swings,
Where the noisome insect stings,
Where the fever demon strews
Poison with the falling dews,
Where the sickly sunbeams glare
Through the hot and misty air,--
Gone, gone,--sold and gone
To the rice swamp dank and lone
From Virginia's hills and waters,--
Woe is me, my stolen daughters!
"There no mother's eye is near them,
There no mother's ear can hear them;
Never, when the torturing lash
Seams their back with many a gash,
Shall a mother's kindness bless them,
Or a mother's arms caress them....
"Oh, when weary, sad, and slow
From the fields at night they go,
Faint with toil, and racked with pain,
To their cheerless homes again,--
There no brother's voice shall greet them
There no father's welcome meet them."]
[Footnote 220: Still, Underground Railroad, 443.]
[Footnote 221: Ibid., 448.]
[Footnote 222: Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, 293.]
[Footnote 223: Still, Underground Railroad, 27.]
[Footnote 224: F. L. Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom, 157.]
[Footnote 225: F. L. Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 444.]
[Footnote 226: W. I. Bowditch, Slavery and the Constitution; Macon (Ga.)
Telegram, Nov. 27, 1838.]
[Footnote 227: Ball, Mammoth Pictorial Tour of United States, 54; F. L.
Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 155.]
[Footnote 228: W. I. Bowditch, Slavery and the Constitution; Macon (Ga.)
Telegram, Nov. 27, 1838.]
[Footnote 229: Liberator, April 12, 1839.]
[Footnote 230: Wm. Parker, Freedman's Story, in Atlantic Monthly,
February and March, 1866; Letter from Gerrit Smith, in Liberator, Dec.
28, 1838.]
[Footnote 231: J. F. Clarke, Antislavery Days, 93.]
[Footnote 232: Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 196.]
[Footnote 233: Appendix D, No. 41; Antislavery Almanac, 74.]
[Footnote 234: J. F. Clarke, Antislavery Days, 83.]
[Footnote 235: Appendix D, No. 41.]
[Footnote 236: Smedley, The Underground Railroad, 26.]
[Footnote 237: Lalor's Cyclopaedia, I. 5; Williams, History of the Negro
Race in America, II. 58, 59.]
[Footnote 238: Clarke, Antislavery Days, 81.]
[Footnote 239: Smedley, The Underground Railroad, 35.]
[Footnote 240: Ibid., 64, 138.]
[Footnote 241: Ibid., 568-570.]
[Footnote 242: Ibid., 172.]
[Footnote 243: Ibid., 34.]
[Footnote 244: Ibid., 146.]
[Footnote 245: Smedley, Underground Railroad, 58.]
[Footnote 246: Harriet, the Moses of her People.]
[Footnote 247: Clarke, Antislavery Days, 81.]
[Footnote 248: Liberator, March 2, 1860.]
[Footnote 249: Pamphlet proposing a Defensive League of Freedom, 6.]
[Footnote 250: Smedley, Underground Railroad, 241.]
[Footnote 251: Ibid., 355.]
[Footnote 252: Douglass, My Bondage and Freedom, 323.]
[Footnote 253: J. F. Clarke, Antislavery Days, 83.]
[Footnote 254: Lalor's Cyclopaedia, I. 5; Congressional Globe, 36 Cong. 1
Sess., Appendix, 250.]
[Footnote 255: Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, II. 58,
59.]