Mrs. Wash lost her health, and, on the advice of a physician, went to
Pensacola, Florida, accompanied by my mother. There she died, and her
body was brought back to St. Louis and there interred. After Mrs.
Wash's death, the troubles of my parents and their children may be
said to have really commenced.
Though in direct opposition to the will of Major Berry, my father's
quondam master and friend, Judge Wash tore my father from his wife and
children and sold him "way down South!"
Slavery! cursed slavery! what crimes has it invoked! and, oh! what
retribution has a righteous God visited upon these traders in human
flesh! The rivers of tears shed by us helpless ones, in captivity,
were turned to lakes of blood! How often have we cried in our anguish,
"Oh! Lord, how long, how long?" But the handwriting was on the wall,
and tardy justice came at last and avenged the woes of an oppressed
race! Chickamauga, Shiloh, Atlanta and Gettysburgh, spoke in thunder
tones! John Brown's body had indeed marched on, and we, the ransomed
ones, glorify God and dedicate ourselves to His service, and
acknowledge His greatness and goodness in rescuing us from such
bondage as parts husband from wife, the mother from her children, aye,
even the babe from her breast!
Major Berry's daughter Mary, shortly after, married H. S. Cox, of
Philadelphia, and they went to that city to pass their honeymoon,
taking my sister Nancy with them as waiting-maid. When my father was
sold South, my mother registered a solemn vow that her children should
not continue in slavery all their lives, and she never spared an
opportunity to impress it upon us, that we must get our freedom
whenever the chance offered. So here was an unlooked-for avenue of
escape which presented much that was favorable in carrying out her
desire to see Nancy a free woman.
Having been brought up in a free State, mother had learned much to her
advantage, which would have been impossible in a slave State, and
which she now proposed to turn to account for the benefit of her
daughter. So mother instructed my sister not to return with Mr. and
Mrs. Cox, but to run away, as soon as chance offered, to Canada, where
a friend of our mother's lived who was also a runaway slave, living in
freedom and happiness in Toronto.
As the happy couple wandered from city to city, in search of pleasure,
my sister was constantly turning over in her mind various plans of
escape. Fortune finally favored Nancy, for on their homeward trip
they stopped at Niagara Falls for a few days. In her own words I will
describe her escape:
"In the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Cox went for a drive, telling
me that I could have the day to do as I pleased. The shores
of Canada had been tantalizing my longing gaze for some
days, and I was bound to reach there long before my mistress
returned. So I locked up Mrs. Cox's trunk and put the key
under the pillow, where I was sure she would find it, and I
made a strike for freedom! A servant in the hotel gave me
all necessary information and even assisted me in getting
away. Some kind of a festival was going on, and a large
crowd was marching from the rink to the river, headed by a
band of music. In such a motley throng I was unnoticed, but
was trembling with fear of being detected. It seemed an age
before the ferry boat arrived, which at last appeared,
enveloped in a gigantic wreath of black smoke. Hastily I
embarked, and as the boat stole away into the misty twilight
and among crushing fields of ice, though the air was chill
and gloomy, I felt the warmth of freedom as I neared the
Canada shore. I landed, without question, and found my
mother's friend with but little difficulty, who assisted me
to get work and support myself. Not long afterwards, I
married a prosperous farmer, who provided me with a happy
home, where I brought my children into the world without the
sin of slavery to strive against."
On the return of Mrs. Cox to St. Louis she sent for my mother and told
her that Nancy had run away. Mother was very thankful, and in her
heart arose a prayer of thanksgiving, but outwardly she pretended to
be vexed and angry. Oh! the impenetrable mask of these poor black
creatures! how much of joy, of sorrow, of misery and anguish have they
hidden from their tormentors!
I was a small girl at that time, but remember how wildly mother
showed her joy at Nancy's escape when we were alone together. She
would dance, clap her hands, and, waving them above her head, would
indulge in one of those weird negro melodies, which so charm and
fascinate the listener.
Mrs. Cox commenced housekeeping on a grand and extended scale, having
a large acquaintance, she entertained lavishly. My mother cared for
the laundry, and I, who was living with a Mrs. Underhill, from New
York, and was having rather good times, was compelled to go live with
Mrs. Cox to mind the baby. My pathway was thorny enough, and though
there may be no roses without thorns, I had thorns in plenty with no
roses.
I was beginning to plan for freedom, and was forever on the alert for
a chance to escape and join my sister. I was then twelve years old,
and often talked the matter over with mother and canvassed the
probabilities of both of us getting away. No schemes were too wild
for us to consider! Mother was especially restless, because she was a
free woman up to the time of her being kidnapped, so the injustice and
weight of slavery bore more heavily upon her than upon me. She did not
dare to talk it over with anyone for fear that they would sell her
further down the river, so I was her only confidant. Mother was always
planning and getting ready to go, and while the fire was burning
brightly, it but needed a little more provocation to add to the
flames.