Send your Letters in the name of John Anderson.
MILES WHITE. This passenger owed service to Albert Kern, of Elizabeth
City, N.C. At least Kern, through the oppressive laws of that State,
claimed Miles as his personal property. Miles, however, thought
differently, but he was not at liberty to argue the case with Kern; for
on the "side of the oppressor there was strength." So he resolved, that
he would adopt the Underground Rail Road plan. As he was only about
twenty-one years of age, he found it much easier to close his affairs
with North Carolina, than it would have been had he been encumbered with
a family. In fact, the only serious difficulty he had to surmount was to
find a captain with whom he could secure a safe passage North. To his
gratification it was not long before his efforts in this direction were
crowned with success. A vessel was being loaded with shingles, the
captain of which was kind enough to allow Miles to occupy a very secure
hiding-place thereon. In course of time, having suffered to the extent
usual when so closely conveyed, he arrived in Philadelphia, and being
aided, was duly forwarded by the Committee.
JOHN HALL, _alias_ JOHN SIMPSON. John fled from South Carolina. In this
hot-bed of Slavery he labored and suffered up to the age of thirty-two.
For a length of time before he escaped, his burdens were intolerable;
but he could see no way to rid himself of them, except by flight. Nor
was he by any means certain that an effort in this direction would prove
successful. In planning the route which he should take to travel North
he decided, that if success was for him, his best chance would be to
wend his way through North Carolina and Virginia. Not that he hoped to
find friends or helpers in these States. He had heard enough of the
cruelties of Slavery in these regions to convince him, that if he should
be caught, there would be no sympathy or mercy shown. Nevertheless the
irons were piercing him so severely, that he felt constrained to try his
luck, let the consequences be what they might, and so he set out for
freedom or death. Mountains of difficulties, and months of suffering and
privations by land and water, in the woods, and swamps of North Carolina
and Virginia, were before him, as his experience in traveling proved.
But the hope of final victory and his daily sufferings before he
started, kept him from faltering, even when starvation and death seemed
to be staring him in the face. For several months he was living in dens
and caves of the earth.
Ultimately, however, the morning of his ardent hopes dawned. How he
succeeded in finding a captain who was kind enough to afford him a
secret hiding-place on his boat, was not noted on the records. Indeed
the incidents of his story were but briefly written out. Similar cases
of thrilling interest seemed almost incredible, and the Committee were
constrained to doubt the story altogether until other testimony could be
obtained to verify the statement. In this instance, before the Committee
were fully satisfied, they felt it necessary to make inquiry of
trustworthy Charlestonians to ascertain if John were really from
Charleston, and if he were actually owned by the man that he represented
as having owned him, Dr. Philip Mazyck, by name; and furthermore, to
learn if the master was really of the brutal character given him. The
testimony of thoroughly reliable persons, who were acquainted with
master and slave, so far as this man's bondage in Charleston was
concerned, fully corroborated his statement, and the Committee could not
but credit his story; indeed they were convinced, that he had been one
of the greatest of sufferers and the chief of heroes. Nevertheless his
story was not written out, and can only be hinted at. Perhaps more time
was consumed in its investigation and in listening to a recital of his
sufferings than could well be spared; perhaps it was thought, as was
often the case, unless full justice could be given him, the story would
be spoiled; or perhaps the appalling nature of his sufferings rendered
the pen powerless, and made the heart too sick for the task. Whether it
was so or not in this case, it was not unfrequently so in other
instances, as is well remembered. It will be necessary, in the
subsequent pages of this work, to omit the narratives of a great many
who, unfortunately, were but briefly noted on the books at the time of
their arrival. In the eyes of some, this may prove disappointing,
especially in instances where these pages are turned to with the hope of
gaining a clue to certain lost ones. As all, however, cannot be
mentioned, and as the general reader will look for incidents and facts
which will most fittingly bring out the chief characteristics in the
career and escape of bondmen, the reasonableness of this course must be
obvious to all.
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