John fled from under the yoke of Dr. Joshua R. Nelson. Until within two
years of "Jack's" flight, the doctor "had been a very fine man," with
whom Jack found no fault. But suddenly his mode of treatment changed; he
became very severe. Nothing that Jack could do, met the approval of the
doctor. Jack was constantly looked upon with suspicion.
The very day that Jack fled, four men approached him (the doctor one of
them), with line in hand; that sign was well understood, and Jack
resolved that they should not get within tying distance of him. "I
dodged them," said Jack. Never afterwards was Jack seen in that part of
the country, at least as long as a fetter remained.
The day that he "dodged" he also took the Underground Rail Road, and
although ignorant of letters, he battled his way out of Maryland, and
succeeded in reaching Pennsylvania and the Committee. He was obliged to
leave four children behind--John, Abraham, Jane and Ellen.
Jack's wife had been freed and had come to Philadelphia two years in
advance of him. His master evidently supposed that Jack would be mean
enough to wish to see his wife, even in a free State, and that no slave,
with such an unnatural desire, could be tolerated or trusted, that the
sooner such "articles" were turned into cash the better. This in
substance, was the way Jack accounted for the sudden change which had
come over his master. In defense of his course, Jack referred to the
treatment which he had received while in servitude under his old master,
in something like the following words: "I served under my young master's
father, thirty-five years, and from him received kind treatment. I was
his head man on the place, and had everything to look after."
* * * * *