Although the name of Henry Box Brown has been echoed over the land for a
number of years, and the simple facts connected with his marvelous
escape from slavery in a box published widely through the medium of
anti-slavery papers, nevertheless it is not unreasonable to suppose that
very little is generally known in relation to this case.
Briefly, the facts are these, which doubtless have never before been
fully published--
Brown was a man of invention as well as a hero. In point of interest,
however, his case is no more remarkable than many others. Indeed,
neither before nor after escaping did he suffer one-half what many
others have experienced.
He was decidedly an unhappy piece of property in the city of Richmond,
Va. In the condition of a slave he felt that it would be impossible for
him to remain. Full well did he know, however, that it was no holiday
task to escape the vigilance of Virginia slave-hunters, or the wrath of
an enraged master for committing the unpardonable sin of attempting to
escape to a land of liberty. So Brown counted well the cost before
venturing upon this hazardous undertaking. Ordinary modes of travel he
concluded might prove disastrous to his hopes; he, therefore, hit upon a
new invention altogether, which was to have himself boxed up and
forwarded to Philadelphia direct by express. The size of the box and how
it was to be made to fit him most comfortably, was of his own ordering.
Two feet eight inches deep, two feet wide, and three feet long were the
exact dimensions of the box, lined with baize. His resources with regard
to food and water consisted of the following: One bladder of water and a
few small biscuits. His mechanical implement to meet the death-struggle
for fresh air, all told, was one large gimlet. Satisfied that it would
be far better to peril his life for freedom in this way than to remain
under the galling yoke of Slavery, he entered his box, which was safely
nailed up and hooped with five hickory hoops, and was then addressed by
his next friend, James A. Smith, a shoe dealer, to Wm. H. Johnson, Arch
street, Philadelphia, marked, "This side up with care." In this
condition he was sent to Adams' Express office in a dray, and thence by
overland express to Philadelphia. It was twenty-six hours from the time
he left Richmond until his arrival in the City of Brotherly Love. The
notice, "This side up, &c.," did not avail with the different
expressmen, who hesitated not to handle the box in the usual rough
manner common to this class of men. For a while they actually had the
box upside down, and had him on his head for miles. A few days before he
was expected, certain intimation was conveyed to a member of the
Vigilance Committee that a box might be expected by the three o'clock
morning train from the South, which might contain a man. One of the most
serious walks he ever took--and they had not been a few--to meet and
accompany passengers, he took at half past two o'clock that morning to
the depot. Not once, but for more than a score of times, he fancied the
slave would be dead. He anxiously looked while the freight was being
unloaded from the cars, to see if he could recognize a box that might
contain a man; one alone had that appearance, and he confessed it really
seemed as if there was the scent of death about it. But on inquiry, he
soon learned that it was not the one he was looking after, and he was
free to say he experienced a marked sense of relief. That same
afternoon, however, he received from Richmond a telegram, which read
thus, "Your case of goods is shipped and will arrive to-morrow morning."
At this exciting juncture of affairs, Mr. McKim, who had been
engineering this important undertaking, deemed it expedient to change
the programme slightly in one particular at least to insure greater
safety. Instead of having a member of the Committee go again to the
depot for the box, which might excite suspicion, it was decided that it
would be safest to have the express bring it direct to the Anti-Slavery
Office.
But all apprehension of danger did not now disappear, for there was no
room to suppose that Adams' Express office had any sympathy with the
Abolitionist or the fugitive, consequently for Mr. McKim to appear
personally at the express office to give directions with reference to
the coming of a box from Richmond which would be directed to Arch
street, and yet not intended for that street, but for the Anti-Slavery
office at 107 North Fifth street, it needed of course no great
discernment to foresee that a step of this kind was wholly impracticable
and that a more indirect and covert method would have to be adopted. In
this dreadful crisis Mr. McKim, with his usual good judgment and
remarkably quick, strategical mind, especially in matters pertaining to
the U.G.R.R., hit upon the following plan, namely, to go to his friend,
E.M. Davis,[A] who was then extensively engaged in mercantile business,
and relate the circumstances. Having daily intercourse with said Adams'
Express office, and being well acquainted with the firm and some of the
drivers, Mr. Davis could, as Mr. McKim thought, talk about "boxes,
freight, etc.," from any part of the country without risk. Mr. Davis
heard Mr. McKim's plan and instantly approved of it, and was heartily at
his service.
[Footnote A: E.M. Davis was a member of the Executive Committee of the
Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and a long-tried Abolitionist,
son-in-law of James and Lucretia Mott.]
[Illustration: RESURRECTION OF HENRY BOX BROWN.]
"Dan, an Irishman, one of Adams' Express drivers, is just the fellow to
go to the depot after the box," said Davis. "He drinks a little too much
whiskey sometimes, but he will do anything I ask him to do, promptly and
obligingly. I'll trust Dan, for I believe he is the very man." The
difficulty which Mr. McKim had been so anxious to overcome was thus
pretty well settled. It was agreed that Dan should go after the box next
morning before daylight and bring it to the Anti-Slavery office direct,
and to make it all the more agreeable for Dan to get up out of his warm
bed and go on this errand before day, it was decided that he should have
a five dollar gold piece for himself. Thus these preliminaries having
been satisfactorily arranged, it only remained for Mr. Davis to see Dan
and give him instructions accordingly, etc.
Next morning, according to arrangement, the box was at the Anti-Slavery
office in due time. The witnesses present to behold the resurrection
were J.M. McKim, Professor C.D. Cleveland, Lewis Thompson, and the
writer.
Mr. McKim was deeply interested; but having been long identified with
the Anti-Slavery cause as one of its oldest and ablest advocates in the
darkest days of slavery and mobs, and always found by the side of the
fugitive to counsel and succor, he was on this occasion perfectly
composed.
Professor Cleveland, however, was greatly moved. His zeal and
earnestness in the cause of freedom, especially in rendering aid to
passengers, knew no limit. Ordinarily he could not too often visit these
travelers, shake them too warmly by the hand, or impart to them too
freely of his substance to aid them on their journey. But now his
emotion was overpowering.
Mr. Thompson, of the firm of Merrihew & Thompson--about the only
printers in the city who for many years dared to print such incendiary
documents as anti-slavery papers and pamphlets--one of the truest
friends of the slave, was composed and prepared to witness the scene.
All was quiet. The door had been safely locked. The proceedings
commenced. Mr. McKim rapped quietly on the lid of the box and called
out, "All right!" Instantly came the answer from within, "All right,
sir!"
The witnesses will never forget that moment. Saw and hatchet quickly had
the five hickory hoops cut and the lid off, and the marvellous
resurrection of Brown ensued. Rising up in his box, he reached out his
hand, saying, "How do you do, gentlemen?" The little assemblage hardly
knew what to think or do at the moment. He was about as wet as if he had
come up out of the Delaware. Very soon he remarked that, before leaving
Richmond he had selected for his arrival-hymn (if he lived) the Psalm
beginning with these words: "_I waited patiently for the Lord, and He
heard my prayer_." And most touchingly did he sing the psalm, much to
his own relief, as well as to the delight of his small audience.
He was then christened Henry Box Brown, and soon afterwards was sent to
the hospitable residence of James Mott and E.M. Davis, on Ninth street,
where, it is needless to say, he met a most cordial reception from Mrs.
Lucretia Mott and her household. Clothing and creature comforts were
furnished in abundance, and delight and joy filled all hearts in that
stronghold of philanthropy.
As he had been so long doubled up in the box he needed to promenade
considerably in the fresh air, so James Mott put one of his broad-brim
hats on his head and tendered him the hospitalities of his yard as well
as his house, and while Brown promenaded the yard flushed with victory,
great was the joy of his friends.
After his visit at Mr. Mott's, he spent two days with the writer, and
then took his departure for Boston, evidently feeling quite conscious of
the wonderful feat he had performed, and at the same time it may be
safely said that those who witnessed this strange resurrection were not
only elated at his success, but were made to sympathize more deeply than
ever before with the slave. Also the noble-hearted Smith who boxed him
up was made to rejoice over Brown's victory, and was thereby encouraged
to render similar service to two other young bondmen, who appealed to
him for deliverance. But, unfortunately, in this attempt the undertaking
proved a failure. Two boxes containing the young men alluded to above,
after having been duly expressed and some distance on the road, were,
through the agency of the telegraph, betrayed, and the heroic young
fugitives were captured in their boxes and dragged back to hopeless
bondage. Consequently, through this deplorable failure, Samuel A. Smith
was arrested, imprisoned, and was called upon to suffer severely, as may
be seen from the subjoined correspondence, taken from the New York
Tribune soon after his release from the penitentiary.
THE DELIVERER OF BOX BROWN--MEETING OF THE COLORED CITIZENS OF
PHILADELPHIA.
[Correspondence of the N.Y. Tribune.]
PHILADELPHIA, Saturday, July 5, 1856.
Samuel A. Smith, who boxed up Henry Box Brown in Richmond, Va.,
and forwarded him by overland express to Philadelphia, and who
was arrested and convicted, eight years ago, for boxing up two
other slaves, also directed to Philadelphia, having served out
his imprisonment in the Penitentiary, was released on the 18th
ultimo, and arrived in this city on the 21st.
Though he lost all his property; though he was refused witnesses
on his trial (no officer could be found, who would serve a
summons on a witness); though for five long months, in hot
weather, he was kept heavily chained in a cell four by eight
feet in dimensions; though he received five dreadful stabs,
aimed at his heart, by a bribed assassin, nevertheless he still
rejoices in the motives which prompted him to "undo the heavy
burdens, and let the oppressed go free." Having resided nearly
all his life in the South, where he had traveled and seen much
of the "peculiar institution," and had witnessed the most horrid
enormities inflicted upon the slave, whose cries were ever
ringing in his ears, and for whom he had the warmest sympathy,
Mr. Smith could not refrain from believing that the black man,
as well as the white, had God-given rights. Consequently, he was
not accustomed to shed tears when a poor creature escaped ftom
his "kind master;" nor was he willing to turn a deaf ear to his
appeals and groans, when he knew he was thirsting for freedom.
From 1828 up to the day he was incarcerated, many had sought his
aid and counsel, nor had they sought in vain. In various places
he operated with success. In Richmond, however, it seemed
expedient to invent a new plan for certain emergencies, hence
the Box and Express plan was devised, at the instance of a few
heroic slaves, who had manifested their willingness to die in a
box, on the road to liberty, rather than continue longer under
the yoke. But these heroes fell into the power of their enemies.
Mr. Smith had not been long in the Penitentiary before he had
fully gained the esteem and confidence of the Superintendent and
other officers. Finding him to be humane and
generous-hearted--showing kindness toward all, especially in
buying bread, &c., for the starving prisoners, and by a timely
note of warning, which had saved the life of one of the keepers,
for whose destruction a bold plot had been arranged--the
officers felt disposed to show him such favors as the law would
allow. But their good intentions were soon frustrated. The
Inquisition (commonly called the Legislature), being in session
in Richmond, hearing that the Superintendent had been speaking
well of Smith, and circulating a petition for his pardon,
indignantly demanded to know if the rumor was well founded. Two
weeks were spent by the Inquisition, and many witnesses were
placed upon oath, to solemnly testify in the matter. One of the
keepers swore that his life had been saved by Smith. Col.
Morgan, the Superintendent, frequently testified in writing and
verbally to Smith's good deportment; acknowledging that he had
circulated petitions, &c.; and took the position, that he
sincerely believed, that it would be to the interest of the
institution to pardon him; calling the attention of the
Inquisition, at the same time, to the fact, that not
unfrequently pardons had been granted to criminals, under
sentence of death, for the most cold-blooded murder, to say
nothing of other gross crimes. The effort for pardon was soon
abandoned, for the following reason given by the Governor: "I
can't, and I won't pardon him!"
In view of the unparalleled injustice which Mr. S. had suffered,
as well as on account of the aid he had rendered to the slaves,
on his arrival in this city the colored citizens of Philadelphia
felt that he was entitled to sympathy and aid, and straightway
invited him to remain a few days, until arrangements could be
made for a mass meeting to receive him. Accordingly, on last
Monday evening, a mass meeting convened in the Israel church,
and the Rev. Wm. T. Catto was called to the chair, and Wm. Still
was appointed secretary. The chairman briefly stated the object
of the meeting. Having lived in the South, he claimed to know
something of the workings of the oppressive system of slavery
generally, and declared that, notwithstanding the many exposures
of the evil which came under his own observation, the most vivid
descriptions fell far short of the realities his own eyes had
witnessed. He then introduced Mr. Smith, who arose and in a
plain manner briefly told his story, assuring the audience that
he had always hated slavery, and had taken great pleasure in
helping many out of it, and though he had suffered much
physically and pecuniarily for the cause' sake, yet he murmured
not, but rejoiced in what he had done. After taking his seat,
addresses were made by the Rev. S. Smith, Messrs. Kinnard,
Brunner, Bradway, and others. The following preamble and
resolutions were adopted--
WHEREAS, We, the colored citizens of Philadelphia, have
among us Samuel A. Smith, who was incarcerated over
seven years in the Richmond Penitentiary, for doing an
act that was honorable to his feelings and his sense of
justice and humanity, therefore,
_Resolved_, That we welcome him to this city as a martyr
to the cause of Freedom.
_Resolved_, That we heartily tender him our gratitude
for the good he has done to our suffering race.
_Resolved_, That we sympathize with him in his losses
and sufferings in the cause of the poor, down-trodden
slave.