Manuel was an active, intelligent slave in North Carolina. His master,
Mr. Joseph Spear, a tar manufacturer, employed him to transport tar, and
other produce of the place, down Tar river to Tarborough. After
laboring several years for another's benefit, Manuel began to feel
anxious to derive some advantage from his own earnings. He had children,
and it troubled him to think that they must live and die in slavery. He
was acquainted with a colored man in the neighborhood, named Samuel
Curtis, who had a certificate of freedom drawn up by the clerk of the
county, and duly authenticated, with the county seal attached to it.
Manuel thought he could easily pass for Samuel Curtis, and make his way
to Philadelphia, if he could only obtain possession of this valuable
paper. He accordingly made him a confidant of his plans, and he bought
the certificate for two dollars.
The next time Manuel was sent to Tarborough, he delivered the cargo as
usual, then left the boat and started for the North. He arrived safely
in Philadelphia, where he assumed the name of Samuel Curtis, and earned
a living by sweeping chimneys. In a short time, he had several boys in
his employ, and laid by money. When he had been going on thus for about
two years, he was suddenly met in the street by one of the neighbors of
his old master, who immediately arrested him as a fugitive from slavery.
He was taken before Robert Wharton, then mayor. The stranger declared
that the colored man he had seized was a slave, belonging to one of his
near neighbors in North Carolina. Samuel denied that he was a slave,
and showed his certificate of freedom. The stranger admitted that the
document was authentic, but he insisted that the real name of the person
who had possession of the paper was Manuel. He said he knew him
perfectly well, and also knew Samuel Curtis, who was a free colored man
in his neighborhood. The mayor decided that he could not receive parole
evidence in contradiction to a public record; and Samuel Curtis was set
at liberty.
To the honor of this worthy magistrate be it recorded that during forty
years whilst he was alderman in Philadelphia, and twenty years that he
was mayor, he never once surrendered a fugitive slave to his claimant,
though frequently called upon to do so. He used to tell Friend Hopper
that he could not conscientiously do it; that he would rather resign his
office. He often remarked that the Declaration, "All men are created
equal; they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights; among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;"
appeared to him based on a sacred principle, paramount to all law.
When Samuel Curtis was discharged, he deemed it expedient to go to
Boston; thinking he might be safer there than in Philadelphia. But he
had not been there many days, before he met the same man who had
previously arrested him; and he by no means felt sure that the mayor of
that city would prove as friendly to the colored people as was Robert
Wharton. To add to his troubles, some villain broke open his trunk while
he was absent from his lodgings, and stole a hundred and fifty dollars
of his hard earnings. The poor fugitive began to think there was no safe
resting-place for him on the face of the earth. He returned to
Philadelphia disconsolate and anxious. He was extremely diligent and
frugal, and every year he contrived to save some money, which he put out
at interest in safe hands. At last, he was able to purchase a small lot
in Powell-street, on which he built a good three-story brick house,
where he lived with his apprentices, and let some of the rooms at a good
profit.
In 1807, he called upon Friend Hopper and told him that his eagerness to
make money had chiefly arisen from a strong desire to redeem his
children from bondage. But being a slave himself, he said it was
impossible for him to go in search of them, unless his own manumission
could be obtained. It happened that a friend of Isaac T. Hopper was
going to North Carolina. He agreed to see the master and ascertain what
could be done. Mr. Spear never expected to hear from his slave again,
and the proposition to buy him after so many years had elapsed, seemed
like finding a sum of money. He readily agreed to make out a bill of
sale for one hundred dollars, which was immediately paid.
The first use Samuel Curtis made of the freedom he had purchased was to
set off for the South in search of his children. To protect himself as
much as possible from the perils of such an undertaking, he obtained a
certificate of good character, signed by the mayor of Philadelphia, and
several of the most respectable citizens. They also gave him "a pass"
stating the object of his journey, and commending him to the protecting
kindness of those among whom he might find it necessary to travel. With
these he carefully packed his deed of manumission, and set forth on his
errand of paternal love. When he went to take leave of Friend Hopper, he
was much agitated. He clasped his hand fervently, and the tears flowed
fast down his weather-beaten cheeks. "I know I am going into the midst
of danger," said he. "Perhaps I may be seized and sold into slavery. But
I am willing to hazard everything, even my own liberty, if I can only
secure the freedom of my children. I have been a slave myself, and I
know what slaves suffer. Farewell! Farewell, my good friend. May God
bless you, and may he restore to me my children. Then I shall be a happy
man."
He started on his journey, and went directly to his former master to
obtain information. He did not at first recognize his old servant. But
when he became convinced that the person before him was the identical
Manuel, who had formerly been his slave, he seemed pleased to see him,
entertained him kindly, and inquired how he had managed to get money
enough to buy his children.
The real Samuel Curtis, who sold him the certificate of freedom, was
dead; and since he could no longer be endangered by a statement of
particulars, the spurious Samuel related the whole story of his escape,
and of his subsequent struggles; concluding the whole by expressing an
earnest wish to find his children.
Mr. Spear had sold them, some years before, to a man in South Carolina;
and thither the father went in search of them. On arriving at the
designated place, he found they had been sold into Georgia. He went to
Georgia, and was told they had been sold to a man in Tennessee. He
followed them into Tennessee, but there he lost all track of them. After
the most patient and diligent search, he was compelled to return home
without further tidings of them.
As soon as he arrived in Philadelphia, he went to Isaac T. Hopper to
tell how the cherished plan of his life had been frustrated. He seemed
greatly dejected, and wept bitterly. "I have deprived myself of almost
every comfort," said he; "that I might save money to buy my poor
children. But now they are not to be found, and my money gives me no
satisfaction. The only consolation I have is the hope that they are all
dead."
The bereaved old man never afterward seemed to take comfort in anything.
He sunk, into a settled melancholy, and did not long survive his
disappointment.