N.B. We hope all will be in Chester county to-morrow.
These slaves from Maryland, were the last that Harriet Tubman piloted
out of the prison-house of bondage, and these "came through great
tribulation."
Stephen, the husband, had been a slave of John Kaiger, who would not
allow him to live with his wife (if there was such a thing as a slave's
owning a wife.) She lived eight miles distant, hired her time,
maintained herself, and took care of her children (until they became of
service to their owner), and paid ten dollars a year for her hire. She
was owned by Algier Pearcy. Both mother and father desired to deliver
their children from his grasp. They had too much intelligence to bear
the heavy burdens thus imposed without feeling the pressure a grievous
one.
Harriet Tubman being well acquainted in their neighborhood, and knowing
of their situation, and having confidence that they would prove true, as
passengers on the Underground Rail Road, engaged to pilot them within
reach of Wilmington, at least to Thomas Garrett's. Thus the father and
mother, with their children and a young man named John, found aid and
comfort on their way, with Harriet for their "Moses." A poor woman
escaping from Baltimore in a delicate state, happened to meet Harriet's
party at the station, and was forwarded on with them. They were cheered
with clothing, food, and material aid, and sped on to Canada. Notes
taken at that time were very brief; it was evidently deemed prudent in
those days, not to keep as full reports as had been the wont of the
secretary, prior to 1859. The capture of John Brown's papers and
letters, with names and plans in full, admonished us that such papers
and correspondence as had been preserved concerning the Underground Rail
Road, might perchance be captured by a pro-slavery mob. For a year or
more after the Harper's Ferry battle, as many will remember, the mob
spirit of the times was very violent in all the principal northern
cities, as well as southern ("to save the Union.") Even in Boston,
Abolition meetings were fiercely assailed by the mob. During this
period, the writer omitted some of the most important particulars in the
escapes and narratives of fugitives. Books and papers were sent away for
a long time, and during this time the records were kept simply on loose
slips of paper.
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