The Underground Railroad
incidents of slave life, as he had been conversant with it under the
Johnsons in Maryland.
As the other two companions of John Wesley were advertised in the
_Baltimore Sun_, we avail ourselves of the light thus publicly afforded:
$2000 REWARD.--Ran away from the subscriber, living on the York
Turnpike, eight miles from Baltimore city, on Sunday, April
11th, my negro man, JACOB, aged 20 years: 5 feet 10 inches high;
chestnut color; spare made; good features. I will give $50
reward if taken in Baltimore city or county, and $200 if taken
out of the State and secured in jail so that I get him again.
WM. J.B. PARLETT.
a13-3t*||
"Jacob," answering to the description in Mr. Wm. J.B. Parlett's
advertisement, gave his views of the man who had enslaved him. His
statement is here transferred from the record book: "My master," said
Jacob, "was a farmer, a very rough man, hard to satisfy. I never knew of
but one man who could ever please him. He worked me very hard; he wanted
to be beating me all the time." This was a luxury which Jacob had no
appetite for, consequently he could not resist signifying his
unwillingness to yield, although resistance had to be made at some
personal risk, as his master had "no more regard for a colored man than
he had for a stone under his feet." With him the following expression
was common: "The niggers are not worth a d----n." Nor was his wife any
better, in Jacob's opinion. "She was a cross woman, and as much of a
boss as he was." "She would take a club and with both hands would whack
away as long as you would stand it." "She was a large, homely woman;
they were common white people, with no reputation in the community."
Substantially this was Jacob's unvarnished description of his master and
mistress.
As to his age, and also the name of his master, Jacob's statement varied
somewhat from the advertisement. For instance, Jacob Taylor was noticed
on the record book as being twenty-three years of age, and the name of
his master was entered as "William Pollit;" but as Jacob had never been
allowed to learn to read, he might have failed in giving a correct
pronunciation of the name.
When asked what first prompted him to seek his freedom, he replied, "Oh
my senses! I always had it in my mind to leave, but I was 'jubus',
(dubious?) of starting. I didn't know the way to come. I was afraid of
being overtaken on the way." He fled from near Baltimore, where he left
brothers and other relatives in chains.
$20 REWARD.--Ran way at the same time and in company with the
above negro man, a bright mulatto boy named THOMAS SKINNER,
about 18 years old, 5 feet 8 inches high and tolerable stout
made; he only has a term of years to serve. I will pay $20
reward if delivered to me or lodged in jail so I can get him
again.
GEO. H. CARMAN,
Towsontown, Baltimore county, Md.
a13-3t*||.
About the same time that this advertisement came to hand a certain young
aspirant for Canada was entered on the Underground Rail Road Book thus:
"THOMAS EDWARD SKINNER, a bright mulatto, age eighteen years, well
formed, good-looking, and wide awake; says, that he fled from one G.H.
Carman, Esq., head Clerk of the County Court." He bore voluntary
testimony to Carman in the following words: "He was a very good man; he
fed and clothed well and gave some money too occasionally." Yet Thomas
had no idea of remaining in Slavery under any circumstances. He hated
everything like Slavery, and as young as he was, he had already made
five attempts to escape. On this occasion, with older and wiser heads,
he succeeded.
* * * * *
ARRIVAL FROM NEW MARKET, 1858.
ELIJAH SHAW.
This "article" reported himself as having been deprived of his liberty
by Dr. Ephraim Bell, of Baltimore County, Maryland. He had no fault to
find with the doctor, however; on the contrary, he spoke of him as a
"very clever and nice man, as much so as anybody need to live with;" but
of his wife he could not speak so favorably; indeed, he described her as
a most tyrannical woman. Said Elijah, "she would make a practice of
rapping the broomstick around the heads of either men, women, or
children when she got raised, which was pretty often. But she never
rapped me, for I wouldn't stand it; I shouldn't fared any better than
the rest if I hadn't been resolute. I declared over and over again to
her that I would scald her with the tea kettle if she ever took the
broomstick to me, and I meant it. She took good care to keep the
broomstick from about my head. She was as mischievous and stingy as she
could live; wouldn't give enough to eat or wear." These facts and many
more were elicited from Elijah, when in a calm state of mind and when
feeling much elated with the idea that his efforts in casting off the
yoke were met with favor by the Committee, and that the accommodations
and privileges on the road were so much greater than he had ever dreamed
of. Such luck on the road was indeed a matter of wonder and delight to
passengers generally. They were delighted to find that the Committee
received them and forwarded them on "without money and without price."
Elijah was capable of realizing the worth of such friendship. He was a
young man twenty-three years of age, spare made, yellow complexion, of
quick motion and decidedly collected in his bearing. In short, he was a
man well adapted to make a good British subject.
ARRIVAL FROM VIRGINIA, 1858.
MARY FRANCES MELVIN, ELIZA HENDERSON, AND NANCY GRANTHAM.
Mary Frances hailed from Norfolk; she had been in servitude under Mrs.
Chapman, a widow lady, against whom she had no complaint to make;
indeed, she testified that her mistress was very kind, although fully
allied to slavery. She said that she left, not on account of bad
treatment, but simply because she wanted her freedom. Her calling as a
slave had been that of a dress-maker and house servant. Mary Frances was
about twenty-three years of age, of mixed blood, refined in her manners
and somewhat cultivated.
Eliza Henderson, who happened at the station at the same time that
Frances was on hand, escaped from Richmond. She was twenty-eight years
of age, medium size, quite dark color, and of pleasant countenance.
Eliza alleged that one William Waverton had been wronging her by keeping
her down-trodden and withholding her hire. Also, that this same Waverton
had, on a late occasion, brought his heavy fist violently against her
"jaws," which visitation, however "kindly" intended by her chivalrous
master, produced such an unfavorable impression on the mind of Eliza
that she at once determined not to yield submission to him a day longer
than she could find an Underground Rail Road conductor who would take
her North.
The blow that she had thus received made her almost frantic; she had
however thought seriously on the question of her rights before this
outrage.
In Waverton's household Eliza had become a fixture as it were,
especially with regard to his children; she had won their affections
completely, and she was under the impression that in some instances
their influence had saved her from severe punishment; and for them she
manifested kindly feelings. In speaking of her mistress she said that
she was "only tolerable."
It would be useless to attempt a description of the great satisfaction
and delight evinced by Eliza on reaching the Committee in Philadelphia.
Nancy Grantham also fled from near Richmond, and was fortunate in that
she escaped from the prison-house at the age of nineteen. She possessed
a countenance peculiarly mild, and was good-looking and interesting, and
although evidently a slave her father belonged strictly to the white
man's party, for she was fully half white. She was moved to escape
simply to shun her master's evil designs; his brutal purposes were only
frustrated by the utmost resolution. This chivalric gentleman was a
husband, the father of nine children, and the owner of three hundred
slaves. He belonged to a family bearing the name of Christian, and was
said to be an M.D. "He was an old man, but very cruel to all his
slaves." It was said that Nancy's sister was the object of his lust, but
she resisted, and the result was that she was sold to New Orleans. The
auction-block was not the only punishment she was called upon to endure
for her fidelity to her womanhood, for resistance to her master, but
before being sold she was cruelly scourged.
Nancy's sorrows first commenced in Alabama. Five years previous to her
escape she was brought from a cotton plantation in Alabama, where she
had been accustomed to toil in the cotton-field. In comparing and
contrasting the usages of slave-holders in the two States in which she
had served, she said she had "seen more flogging under old Christian"
than she had been accustomed to see in Alabama; yet she concluded, that
she could hardly tell which State was the worst; her cup had been full
and very bitter in both States.
Nancy said, "the very day before I escaped, I was required to go to his
(her master's) bed-chamber to keep the flies off of him as he lay sick,
or pretended to be so. Notwithstanding, in talking with me, he said that
he was coming to my pallet that night, and with an oath he declared if I
made a noise he would cut my throat. I told him I would not be there.
Accordingly he did go to my room, but I had gone for shelter to another
room. At this his wrath waxed terrible. Next morning I was called to
account for getting out of his way, and I was beaten awfully." This
outrage moved Nancy to a death-struggle for her freedom, and she
succeeded by dressing herself in male attire.
After her harrowing story was told with so much earnestness and
intelligence, she was asked as to the treatment she had received at the
hand of Mrs. Christian (her mistress). In relation to her, Nancy said,
"Mrs. Christian was afraid of him (master); if it hadn't been for that I
think she would have been clever; but I was often threatened by her, and
once she undertook to beat me, but I could not stand it. I had to
resist, and she got the worst of it that time."
All that may now be added, is, that the number of young slave girls
shamefully exposed to the base lusts of their masters, as Nancy
was--truly was legion. Nancy was but one of the number who resisted
influences apparently overpowering. All honor is due her name and
memory!
She was brought away secreted on a boat, but the record is silent as to
which one of the two or three Underground Rail Road captains (who at
that time occasionally brought passengers), helped her to escape. It was
hard to be definite concerning minor matters while absorbed in the
painful reflections that her tale of suffering had naturally awakened.
If one had arisen from the dead the horrors of Slavery could scarcely
have been more vividly pictured! But in the multitude of travelers
coming under the notice of the Committee, Nancy's story was soon
forgotten, and new and marvellous narratives were told of others who had
shared the same bitter cup, who had escaped from the same hell of
Slavery, who had panted for the same freedom and won the same prize.
ARRIVAL FROM RICHMOND, 1858.
ORLANDO J. HUNT.
When Orlando escaped from Richmond the Underground Rail Road business
was not very brisk. A disaster on the road, resulting in the capture of
one or two captains, tended to damp the ardor of some who wanted to
come, as well as that of sympathizers. The road was not idle, however.
Orlando's coming was hailed with great satisfaction. He was twenty-nine
years of age, full black, possessed considerable intelligence, and was