P.S.--I do not know if I shall go this Fall, or in the Spring.
It will depend upon the letter I receive from California, but
whichever it may be, I shall be happy to hear from you very
soon.
Isaiah, who was a fellow-servant with Rebecca, and was included in the
reward offered by Hall for Rebecca, etc., was a young man about
twenty-three years of age, a mulatto, intelligent and of prepossessing
manners. A purely ardent thirst for liberty prompted him to flee;
although he declared that he had been treated very badly, and had even
suffered severely from being shamefully "beaten." He had, however, been
permitted to hire his time by the year, for which one hundred and twenty
dollars were regularly demanded by his owner. Young as he was, he was a
married man, with a wife and two children, to whom he was devoted. He
had besides two brothers and two sisters for whom he felt a warm degree
of brotherly affection; yet when the hour arrived for him to accept a
chance for freedom at the apparent sacrifice of these dearest ties of
kindred, he was found heroic enough for this painful ordeal, and to give
up all for freedom.
Caroline Taylor, and her two little children, were also from Norfolk,
and came by boat. Upon the whole, they were not less interesting than
Rebecca Jones and her three little girls. Although Caroline was not in
her person half so stately, nor gave such promise of heroism as
Rebecca--for Caroline was rather small of stature--yet she was more
refined, and quite as intelligent as Rebecca, and represented
considerably more of the Anglo-Saxon blood. She was a mulatto, and her
children were almost fair enough to pass for white--probably they were
quadroons, hardly any one would have suspected that they had only one
quarter of colored blood in their veins. For ten years Caroline had been
in the habit of hiring her time at the rate of seventy-five dollars per
year, with the exception of the last year, when her hire was raised to
eighty-four dollars. So anxious was she to have her older girl (eleven
years old) at home with her, that she also hired her time by the year,
for which she was compelled to pay twenty-four dollars. As her younger
child was not sufficiently grown to hire out for pay, she was permitted
to have it at home with her on the conditions that she would feed,
clothe and take good care of it, permitting no expense whatever to fall
upon the master.
Judging from the appearance and manners of the children, their mother
had, doubtless, been most faithful to them, for more handsome,
well-behaved, intelligent and pleasing children could not easily be
selected from either race or any station of life. The younger, Mary by
name, nine years of age, attracted very great attention, by the deep
interest she manifested in a poor fugitive (whom she had never seen
before), at the Philadelphia station, confined to the bed and suffering
excruciating pain from wounds he had received whilst escaping. Hours and
hours together, during the two or three days of their sojourn, she spent
of her own accord, by his bed-side, manifesting almost womanly sympathy
in the most devoted and tender manner. She thus, doubtless,
unconsciously imparted to the sufferer a great deal of comfort. Very
many affecting incidents had come under the observation of the acting
Committee, under various circumstances, but never before had they
witnessed a sight more interesting, a scene more touching.
Caroline and her children were owned by Peter March, Esq., late of
Norfolk, but at that time, he was living in New York, and was carrying
on the iron business. He came into possession of them through his wife,
who was the daughter of Caroline's former master, and almost the only
heir left, in consequence of the terrible fever of the previous summer.
Caroline was living under the daily fear of being sold; this, together
with the task of supporting herself and two children, made her burden
very grievous. Not a great while before her escape, her New York master
had been on to Norfolk, expressly with a view of selling her, and asked
two thousand dollars for her. This, however, he failed to get, and was
still awaiting an offer.
These ill omens aroused Caroline to think more seriously over the
condition of herself and children than she had ever done before, and in
this state of mind she came to the conclusion, that she would strive to
save herself and children by flight on the Underground Rail Road. She
knew full well, that it was no faint-hearted struggle that was required
of her, so she had nerved herself with the old martyr spirit to risk her
all on her faith in God and Freedom, and was ready to take the
consequences if she fell back into the hands of the enemy. This noble
decision was the crowning act in the undertakings of thousands similarly
situated. Through this faith she gained the liberty of herself and her
children. Quite a number of the friends of the slave saw these
interesting fugitives, and wept, and rejoiced with them.
Col. A. Cammings, in those days Publisher of the "Evening Bulletin," for
the first time, witnessed an Underground Rail Road arrival. Some time
previous, in conversation with Mr. J.M. McKim, the Colonel had expressed
views not altogether favorable to the Underground Rail Road; indeed he
was rather inclined to apologize for slavery, if not to defend the
Fugitive Slave Law. While endeavoring somewhat tenaciously to maintain
his ground, Mr. McKim opposed to him not only the now well established
Anti-Slavery doctrines, but also offered as testimony Underground Rail
Road facts--the results of personal knowledge from daily proofs of the
heroic struggles, marvellous faith, and intense earnestness of the
fugitives.
In all probability the Colonel did not feel prepared to deny wholly Mr.
McKim's statement, yet, he desired to see "some" for himself. "Well,"
said Mr. McK., "you shall see some." So when this arrival came to hand,
true to his promise, Mr. McK. called on the Colonel and invited him to
accompany him to the Underground Rail Road station. He assured the
Colonel that he did not want any money from him, but simply wanted to
convince him of his error in the recent argument that they had held on
the subject. Accordingly the Colonel accompanied him, and found that
twenty-two passengers had been on hand within the past twenty-four
hours, and at least sixteen or seventeen were then in his presence. It
is needless to say, that such a sight admitted of no contradiction--no
argument--no doubt. The facts were too self-evident. The Colonel could
say but little, so complete was his amazement; but he voluntarily
attested the thoroughness of his conversion by pulling out of his pocket
and handing to Mr. McK. a twenty dollar gold piece to aid the passengers
on to freedom.
In these hours of rest and joyful anticipation the necessities of both
large and small were administered to according to their needs, before
forwarding them still further. The time and attention required for so
many left but little opportunity, however, for the Secretary to write
their narratives. He had only evening leisure for the work. Ten or
twelve of that party had to be sent off without having their stories
recorded. Daniel Robertson was one of this number; his name is simply
entered on the roll, and, but for letters received from him, after he
passed on North, no further knowledge would have been obtained. In
Petersburg, whence he escaped, he left his wife, for whose deliverance
he felt bound to do everything that lay in his power, as the subjoined
letters will attest:
HAVANA, August 11, 1856, Schuylkill Co., N.Y.
MR. WM. STILL--Dear Sir:--I came from Virginia in March, and was
at your office the last of March. My object in writing you, is
to inquire what I can do, or what can be done to help my wife to
escape from the same bondage that I was in. You will know by
your books that I was from Petersburg, Va., and that is where my
wife now is. I have received two or three letters from a lady in
that place, and the last one says, that my wife's mistress is
dead, and that she expects to be sold. I am very anxious to do
what I can for her before it is too late, and beg of you to
devise some means to get her away. Capt. the man that brought me
away, knows the colored agent at Petersburg, and knows he will
do all he can to forward my wife. The Capt. promised, that when
I could raise one hundred dollars for him that he would deliver
her in Philadelphia. Tell him that I can now raise the money,
and will forward it to you at any day that he thinks that he can
bring her. Please see the Captain and find when he will
undertake it, and then let me know when to forward the money to
you. I am at work for the Hon. Charles Cook, and can send the
money any day. My wife's name is Harriet Robertson, and the
agent at Petersburg knows her.
Please direct your answer, with all necessary directions, to N.
Coryell, of this village, and he will see that all is right.
Very respectfully,