CHARLES HALL, JAMES JOHNSON, CHARLES CARTER, GEORGE, AND JOHN LOGAN,
JAMES HENRY WATSON, ZEBULON GREEN, LEWIS, AND PETER BURRELL, WILLIAM
WILLIAMS, AND HIS WIFE--HARRIET TUBMAN, WITH FOUR PASSENGERS.
Charles Hall. This individual was from Maryland, Baltimore Co., where
"black men had no rights which white men were bound to respect,"
according to the decision of the late Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Charles was owned by Atwood A. Blunt, a farmer, much of whose time was
devoted to card playing, rum-drinking and fox-hunting, so Charles
stated. Charles gave him the credit of being as mild a specimen of a
slaveholder as that region of country could claim when in a sober mood,
but when drunk every thing went wrong with him, nothing could satisfy
him.
Charles testified, however, that the despotism of his mistress was much
worse than that of his master, for she was all the time hard on the
slaves. Latterly he had heard much talk about selling, and, believing
that matters would soon have to come to that, he concluded to seek a
place where colored men had rights, in Canada.
James Johnson. James fled from Deer Creek, Harford Co., Md., where he
was owned by William Rautty. "Jim's" hour had come. Within one day of
the time fixed for his sale, he was handcuffed, and it was evidently
supposed that he was secure. Trembling at his impending doom he resolved
to escape if possible. He could not rid himself of the handcuffs. Could
he have done so, he was persuaded that he might manage to make his way
along safely. He resolved to make an effort with the handcuffs on.
With resolution his freedom was secured. What Master Rautty said when he
found his property gone with the handcuffs, we know not.
The next day after Jim arrived, Charles Carter, George and John Logan
came to hand.
Charles had been under the yoke in the city of Richmond, held to service
by Daniel Delaplain, a flour inspector. Charles was hired out by the
flour inspector for as much as he could command for him, for being a
devoted lover of money, ordinary wages hardly ever satisfied him. In
other respects Charles spoke of his master rather favorably in
comparison with slaveholders generally.
A thirty years' apprenticeship as a slave had not, however, won him over
to the love of the system; he had long since been convinced that it was
nonsense to suppose that such a thing as happiness could be found even
under the best of masters. He claimed to have a wife and four little
children living in Alexandria Va.; the name of the wife was Lucinda. In
the estimation of slave-holders, the fact of Charles having a family
might have offered no cause for unhappiness, but Charles felt
differently in relation to the matter. Again, for reasons best known to
the owner, he talked of selling Charles. On this point Charles also felt
quite nervous, so he began to think that he had better make an attempt
to get beyond the reach of buyers and sellers. He knew that many others
similarly situated had got out of bondage simply by hard struggling, and
he felt that he could do likewise. When he had thus determined the
object was half accomplished. True, every step that he should take was
liable to bring trouble upon himself, yet with the hope of freedom
buoying him up he resolved to run the risk. Charles was about thirty
years of age, likely-looking, well made, intelligent, and a mulatto.
George was twenty-three years of age, quite dark, medium size, and bore
the marks of a man of considerable pluck. He was the slave of Mrs. Jane
Coultson. No special complaint of her is recorded on the book. She might
have been a very good mistress, but George was not a very happy and
contented piece of property, as was proved by his course in escaping.
The cold North had many more charms for him than the sunny South.
John has been already described in the person of his brother George. He
was not, however, the property of Mrs. Coultson, but was owned by Miss
Cox, near Little Georgetown, Berkeley Co., Va. These three individuals
were held as slaves by that class of slave-holders, known in the South
as the most kind-hearted and indulgent, yet they seemed just as much
delighted with the prospects of freedom as any other passengers.
The next day following the arrival of the party just noticed James Henry
Watson reached the Committee. He was in good condition, the spring
weather having been favorable, and the journey made without any serious
difficulty.
He was from Snowhill, Worcester county, Md., and had escaped from James
Purnell, a farmer of whom he did not speak very favorably. Yet James
admitted that his master was not as hard on his slaves as some others.
For the benefit of James' kinsfolk, who may still perchance be making
searches for him, not having yet learned whither he went or what became
of him, we copy the following paragraph as entered on our book April
11th, 1856:
James Henry is twenty years of age, dark, well-made, modest, and seems
fearful of apprehension; was moved to escape in order to obtain his
freedom. He had heard of others who had run away and thus secured their
freedom; he thought he could do the same. He left his father, mother,
three brothers and five sisters owned by Purnell. His father's name was
Ephraim, his mother's name Mahala. The names of his sisters and brothers
were as follows: Hetty, Betsy, Dinah, Catharine and Harriet; Homer,
William and James.
Zebulon Green was the next traveler. He arrived from Duck Creek, Md.
John Appleton, a farmer, was chargeable with having deprived Zeb of his
rights. But, as Zeb was only about eighteen years of age when he made
his exit, Mr. Appleton did not get much the start of him. In answer to
the question as to the cause of his escape, he replied "bad usage." He
was smart, and quite dark. In traveling, he changed his name to Samuel
Hill. The Committee endeavored to impress him thoroughly, with the idea
that he could do much good in the world for himself and fellow-men, by
using his best endeavors to acquire education, etc., and forwarded him
on to Canada.
Lewis Burrell and his brother Peter arrived safely from Alexandria,
Virginia, April 21, 1856. Lewis had been owned by Edward M. Clark, Peter
by Benjamin Johnson Hall. These passengers seemed to be well posted in
regard to Slavery, and understood full well their responsibilities in
fleeing from "kind-hearted" masters. All they feared was that they might
not reach Canada safely, although they were pretty hopeful and quite
resolute. Lewis left a wife, Winna Ann, and two children, Joseph and
Mary, who were owned by Pembroke Thomas, at Culpepper, Va., nearly a
hundred miles distant from him. Once or twice in the year, was the
privilege allowed him to visit his wife and little ones at this long
distance. This separation constituted his daily grief and was the cause
of his escape. Lewis and Peter left their father and mother in bondage,
also one brother (Reuben), and three sisters, two of whom had been sold
far South.
After a sojourn in freedom of nearly three years, Lewis wrote on behalf
of his wife as follows:
TORONTO, C.W., Feb. 2, 1859.