$300 REWARD.--Ran away from Kalorama, near Washington City,
D.C., on Saturday night, the 22d of August, 1857, negro man,
George Johnson, aged about 25 years. Height about six feet; of
dark copper color; bushy hair; erect in stature and polite in
his address.
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I will give the above reward if taken in a free State; $100 if
taken within the District of Columbia, or $200 if taken in
Maryland. In either case he must be secured so that I get him.
MISS ELEANOR J. CONWAY, Baltimore, Md.,
or OLIVER DUFOUR, Washington City, D.C.
sl-eod 2w.
"Polite in his address" as George was, he left his mistress, Eleanor J.
Conway, without bidding her good-bye, or asking for a pass. But he did
not leave his young mistress in this way without good reasons for so
doing.
In his interview with the Committee about five days after his departure
from his old home, he stated his grievances as follows: "I was born the
slave of a Mr. Conway, of Washington, D.C." Under this personage George
admitted that he had experienced slavery in rather a mild form until
death took the old man off, which event occurred when George was quite
young. He afterwards served the widow Conway until her death, and lastly
he fell into the hands of Miss Eleanor J. Conway, who resided in
Baltimore, and derived her support from the labor of slaves whom she
kept hired out as was George. Of the dead, George did not utter very
hard things, but he spoke of his young mistress as having a "very mean
principle." Said George, "She has sold one of my brothers and one of my
cousins since last April, and she was very much opposed to freedom."
Judging from the company that she kept she might before a great while
change her relations in life. George thought, however agreeable to her,
it might not be to him. So he made up his mind that his chances for
freedom would not be likely to grow any better by remaining. In the
neighborhood from which he fled he left his father, mother and two
sisters, each having different owners. Two brothers had been sold South.
Whether they ever heard what had become of the runaway George is not
known.
Thomas, the companion of George, was of a truly remarkable structure;
physically and mentally he belonged to the highest order of the bond
class. His place of chains was in the city of Washington, and the name
of the man for whom he had been compelled to do unrequited labor was
William Rowe, a bricklayer, and a "pretty clever fellow,--always used me
well," said Thomas. "Why did you leave then?" asked a member of the
Committee. He replied, "I made a proposition to my master to buy myself
for eight hundred dollars, but he refused, and wanted a thousand. Then I
made up my mind that I would make less do." Thomas had been hired out at
the National Hotel for thirty dollars a month.
Adam was well described in the following advertisement taken from the
_Baltimore Sun_:
$300 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, near Beltsville,
Prince George's county, Md., on Saturday night, the 22d of
August, 1857, Negro Man, Adam Smith, aged about 30. Height 5
feet 4 or 5 inches; black bushy hair, and well dressed. He has a
mother living at Mr. Hamilton's, on Capitol Hill, Washington,
D.C.
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I will give the above reward if taken in a free State; $50 if
taken in the District of Columbia or counties of Montgomery and
Prince George's, or $100 if taken elsewhere and secured so that
I get him.