The Underground Railroad
there could be no other fate for the old man but to suffer and die with
creepers in his legs."
It was sickening to hear him narrate instances of similar suffering in
the case of old slaves. Abram left two sisters and one brother in
bondage.
* * * * *
ARRIVAL FROM WASHINGTON, D.C.
GEORGE JOHNSON, THOMAS AND ADAM SMITH.
$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.
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.
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.
ISAAC SCAGGS.
a27-6t*
With his fellow-passengers, George and Thomas, he greatly enjoyed the
hospitalities of the Underground Rail Road in the city of Brotherly
Love, and had a very high idea of Canada, as he anticipated becoming a
British subject at an early day. The story which Adam related concerning
his master and his reasons for escaping ran thus:
"My master was a very easy man, but would work you hard and never allow
you any chance night or day; he was a farmer, about fifty, stout, full
face, a real country ruffian; member of no church, a great drinker and
gambler; will sell a slave as quick as any other slave-holder. He had a
great deal of cash, but did not rank high in society. His wife was very
severe; hated a colored man to have any comfort in the world. They had
eight adult and nine young slaves."
Adam left because he "didn't like the treatment." Twice he had been
placed on the auction-block. He was a married man and left a wife and
one child.
* * * * *
FOUR ABLE-BODIED "ARTICLES" IN ONE ARRIVAL, 1857.
EDWARD, AND JOSEPH HAINES, THOMAS HARRIS, AND JAMES SHELDON.
"This certainly is a likely-looking party," are the first words which
greet the eye, on turning to the record, under which their brief
narratives were entered at the Philadelphia station, September 7th,
1857.
Edward was about forty-four years of age, of unmixed blood, and in point
of natural ability he would rank among the most intelligent of the
oppressed class. Without owing thanks to any body he could read and
write pretty well, having learned by his own exertions.
Tabby and Eliza Fortlock, sisters, and single women, had been deriving
years of leisure, comfort, and money from the sweat of Edward's brow.
The maiden ladies owned about eighteen head of this kind of property,
far more than they understood how to treat justly or civilly. They bore
the name of being very hard to satisfy. They were proverbially "stingy."
They were members of the Christ Episcopal Church.
Edward, however, remembered very sensibly that his own brother had been
sold South by these ladies; and not only he, but others also, had been
sent to the auction-block, and there made merchandise of. Edward,
therefore, had no faith in these lambs of the flock, and left them
because he thought there was reason in all things. "Yearly my task had
been increased and made heavier and heavier, until I was pressed beyond
what I could bear." Under this pressure no hope, present, or future,
could be discerned, except by escaping on the Underground Rail Road.
Joseph was also one of the chattels belonging to the Misses Portlock. A
more active and wide-awake young man of twenty years of age, could not
easily be found among the enslaved; he seemed to comprehend Slavery in
all its bearings. From a small boy he had been hired out, making money
for the "pious ladies" who owned him. His experience under these
protectors had been similar to that of Edward given above. Joseph was of
a light brown color, (some of his friends may be able to decide by this
simple fact whether he is a relative, etc.).
Tom, a full-faced, good-natured-looking young man, was also of this
party. He was about twenty-seven years of age, and was said to be the
slave of John Hatten, Esq., Cashier of the Virginia Bank of Portsmouth.
Tom admitted that he was treated very well by Mr. Hatten and his family,
except that he was not allowed his freedom; besides he felt a little
tired of having to pay twelve dollars a month for his hire, as he hired
his time of his master. Of course he was not insensible to the fact also
that he was liable to be sold any day.
In pondering over these slight drawbacks, Tom concluded that Slavery was
no place for a man who valued his freedom, it mattered not how kind
masters or mistresses might be. Under these considerations he made up
his mind that he would have to let the cashier look out for himself, and
he would do the same. In this state of mind he joined the party for
Canada.
James was another associate passenger, and the best-looking "article" in
the party; few slaves showed a greater degree of intelligence and
shrewdness. He had acquired the art of reading and writing very well,
and was also a very ready talker. He was owned by Mrs. Maria Hansford of
New York. When he was quite small he remembered seeing his mistress, but
not since. He was raised with her sister, who resided in Norfolk, the
place of James' servitude.
James confessed that he had been treated very kindly, and had been
taught to read by members of the family. This was an exceptional case,
worthy of especial note.
Notwithstanding all the kindness that James had received, he hated
Slavery, and took a deep interest in the Underground Rail Road, and used
his intelligence and shrewdness to good purpose in acting as an
Underground Rail Road agent for a time. James was a young man, about
twenty-five years of age, well made, and of a yellow complexion.
Although none of this party experienced brutal treatment personally,
they had seen the "elephant" quite to their satisfaction in Norfolk and
vicinity.
* * * * *
ARRIVAL FROM ARLINGTON, MD. 1857.
JOHN ALEXANDER BUTLER, WILLIAM HENRY HIPKINS, JOHN HENRY MOORE AND
GEORGE HILL.
This party made, at first sight, a favorable impression; they
represented the bone and sinew of the slave class of Arlington, and upon
investigation the Committee felt assured that they would carry with them
to Canada industry and determination such as would tell well for the
race.
John Alexander Butler was about twenty-nine years of age, well made,
dark color, and intelligent. He assured the Committee that he had been
hampered by Slavery from his birth, and that in consequence thereof he
had suffered serious hardships. He said that a man by the name of Wm.
Ford, belonging to the Methodist Church at Arlington, had defrauded him
of his just rights, and had compelled him to work on his farm for
nothing; also had deprived him of an education, and had kept him in
poverty and ignorance all his life.
In going over the manner in which he had been treated, he added that not
only was his master a hard man, but that his wife and children partook
of the same evil spirit; "they were all hard." True, they had but three
slaves to oppress, but these they spared not.
John was a married man, and spoke affectionately of his wife and
children, whom he had to leave behind at Cross-Roads.
William Henry, who was heart and soul in earnest with regard to reaching
Canada, and was one of this party, was twenty-three years of age, and
was a stout, yellow man with a remarkably large head, and looked as if
he was capable of enjoying Canada and caring for himself.
In speaking of the fettered condition from which he had escaped, the
name of Ephraim Swart, "a gambler and spree'r" was mentioned as the
individual who had wronged him of his liberty most grievously.
Against Swart he expressed himself with much manly feeling, and judging
from his manner he appeared to be a dangerous customer for master Swart
to encounter north of Mason and Dixon's line.
William complained that Swart "would come home late at night drunk, and
if he did not find us awake he would not attempt to wake us, but would
begin cutting and slashing with a cowhide. He treated his wife very bad
too; sometimes when she would stand up for the servants he would knock
her down. Many times at midnight she would have to leave the house and
go to her mother's for safety; she was a very nice woman, but he was the
very old Satan himself."
While William Henry was debarred from learning letters under his brutal
overseer, he nevertheless learned how to plan ways and means by which to
escape his bondage. He left his old mother and two brothers wholly