The Underground Railroad
hands of slave-holders, but I would give them something that
might be of as much value. I then pointed out a way by which
their sons might reach the city.
In about three weeks, one of the young men came to my office.
Give me, said I, some particulars of your escape. "I am," said
he, "a builder, and planned and erected the hotel at Wilmington,
and some other houses. I used to hire my time of my master, and
was accustomed to ride about the country attending to my
business. I borrowed a pass from a man about my size and
complexion. I then went to the rail road office, and asked for a
ticket for Fredericksburg. From there I came on directly to
Washington. I had not been questioned before; but here, I was
taken up and carried before a magistrate. He examined me by the
description in my pass; complexion, height, etc., then read
'_and a scar under his left knee_.' When I heard that, my heart
sank within me; for I had no scar there that I knew. 'Pull up
the boy's trowsers,' said the justice to the constable. He did
so. and said 'here's a scar!' 'All right,' said the justice, 'no
mistake, let him go.' Glad was I. I got a ticket for Baltimore,
and there for another town, and finally reached here."
You asked me to give an account of the sums that I have expended
for the Underground Rail Road, etc. I must be excused from doing
this, as if I could now ascertain, I should not think it worth
while to mention. I must now conclude my narrative, by giving,
with some additions, an account of an interesting escape from
Slavery, which was written by my wife, more than fifteen years
ago, for Frederic Douglass' paper.
[On page 177 the narrative of "The Fleeing Girl of Fifteen" is
so fully written out, that it precludes the necessity of
reproducing a large portion of this story.]
In the evening a friend arrived, bringing with him a bright,
handsome _boy_, whom he called Joe. Most heartily was "Joe"
welcomed, and deep was the thrill which we felt, as we looked
upon him and thought of the perils he had escaped. The next day
was Thanksgiving-day, and my house was thronged with guests. In
an upper room, with a comfortable fire, and the door locked, sat
"Joe," still in boy's clothes, to be able to escape at the first
intimation of danger, but with a smile and look of touching
gratitude, whenever any one of the family who was in the secret,
left the festive group to look in upon the interesting stranger.
Not one of us can ever forget the deep abhorrence of Slavery,
and thanksgiving to Almighty God, that we felt that day as we
moved among the guests, who were wholly ignorant of the occupant
of that upper room. Some curiosity was indeed excited among the
little grandchildren, who saw slices of turkey and plum pudding
sent up stairs. It was "Joe's" first Thanksgiving dinner in a
free State.
As she brought nothing away with her, it was necessary, the next
day, to procure a complete wardrobe for a girl, which was
carefully packed for her to take with her.
The second day after "Joe's" arrival, the Rev. Mr. Freeman,
pastor of a colored church in Brooklyn, agreed to accompany her
to her uncle Brown's in Canada West, and we saw them depart,
knowing the danger that would beset both on the way. The
following is part of a letter from Mr. F., giving an account of
their journey. After stating that they left New York, in the
cars at five o'clock, P.M., and through the providence of God,
went on their way safely and speedily, with none to molest or to
make them afraid, he says:
"On reaching Rochester, I began to ask myself 'how shall
we get over Niagara Falls?' I was not sure that the cars
ran across the Suspension Bridge; besides, I felt that
we were in more danger here, than we had been at any
other place. Knowing that there was a large reward
offered for Joe's apprehension, I feared there might be
some lurking spy ready to pounce upon us. But when we
arrived at the Bridge, the conductor said: 'Sit still;
this car goes across.' You may judge of my joy and
relief of mind, when I looked out and was sure that we
were over! Thank God, I exclaimed, we are safe in
Canada!
Having now a few minutes before the cars would start
again, I sat down and hastily wrote a few lines, to
inform friends at home of our safe arrival. As soon as
possible, I ran to the post-office with my letter, paid
the postage, and while I was waiting for my change, the
car bell rang. I quickly returned, and in a few minutes,
we were on our way to Chatham (200 miles West). That
place we reached between seven and eight o'clock,
Saturday evening. When we got out, we met a gentleman
who asked me if I wanted a boarding-house. I said yes;
and he invited me to go with him. I asked him if there
was any way for us to get to Dresden that night. He
answered, 'No, it is a dark night, and a muddy road, and
no conveyance can be got tonight.' I soon found that we
must stay in Chatham until Monday morning.
On our way to the boarding-house, the gentleman said to
me: 'Is this your son with you?' I answered, no; and
then I asked him, if he knew a man living in D., by the
name of Bradley. He replied that he was very well
acquainted with him, and then inquired if that young man
was Mr. Bradley's brother. I said, no--not exactly a
brother. He must have thought it strange that I did not
give him a more definite answer to his question.
When we reached the house, we found several boarders in
the sitting-room and a few neighbors. I had already told
him my name, but with regard to Joe, I had not yet had a
chance to explain. I, of course, was introduced to those
who were in the room, but Joe--well, Joe took a seat,
and did not seem to be troubled about an introduction.
As the landlord was going out of the room, I asked
permission to speak with him alone. He took me into
another room, and I said to him: 'That young man, as you
call him, is a young woman, and has come dressed in this
manner, all the way from Washington City. She would be
very glad now to be able to change her clothes.'
He was greatly surprised, and would hardly believe that
it was so; but said, 'I will call my wife.' She came,
and I guess all the women in the house came with her.
They soon disappeared, and Joe with them, who, after
being absent a while, returned, and was introduced as
Miss Ann Maria Weems. The whole company were on their
feet, shook hands, laughed, and rejoiced, declaring that
this beat all they had ever seen before. Chatham
contains, I was told, more than three thousand
fugitives. The weather there, is not colder than in New
York.
The next morning was the Sabbath, but this I must pass
and hasten to D., the residence of Mr. Bradley. We
started early Monday morning. As a part of the road was
very bad, we did not reach there till a late hour. As we
were passing along, and getting near to the place, we
met two colored men who were talking together--one on
horseback, and the other on foot. I inquired of them, if
they could tell me how far it was to Mr. Bradley's. The
man on horseback said it was about a mile further, and
then proceeded to give directions. After he had done
this, he said: 'I reckon I am the one that you want to
find, my name is Bradley.' Well, I replied, probably you
are the man. Just then Ann Maria turned her head around.
As soon as he saw her face, he exclaimed: 'My Lord!
Maria, is that you? Is that you? My child, is it you? We
never expected to see you again! We had given you up; O,
what will your aunt say? It will kill her! She will die!
It will kill her.'
I told him, that as I was obliged to leave again soon, I
must proceed. 'Well,' said he, 'you go on; I am just
going over to M., and will be back in a few minutes.' We
started for his house, and he towards M., but we had
only gone a short distance, when he overtook us,
exclaiming: 'I can't go to M.,' and began talking to Ann
Maria, asking her all about her friends and relatives,
whom they had left behind, and about his old master, and
his wife's master, from whom they had run away four
years before. As we approached the house, he said: 'I
will go and open the gate, and have a good fire to warm
you.' When he came up to the gate, he met his wife, who
was returning from a store or neighbor's house, and he
said to her, 'That's Ann Maria coming yonder.' She
stopped until we came to the gate; the tears were
rolling from her eyes, and she exclaimed: 'Ann Maria, is
it you?' The girl leaped from the wagon, and they fell
on each other's necks, weeping and rejoicing. Such a
scene I never before witnessed. She, who had been given
up as lost, was now found! She, who but a short time
before, had been, as they supposed, a slave for life,
was now free.
We soon entered the house, and after the first gush of
feeling had somewhat subsided, they both began a general
inquiry about the friends they had left behind. Every
now and then, the aunt would break out: 'My child, you
are here! Thank God, you are free! We were talking about
you today, and saying, we shall never see you again; and
now here you are with us.' I remained about an hour and
a half with them, took dinner, and then started for
home, rejoicing that I had been to a land where colored
men are free.
This Mr. Bradley, who ran away with himself and wife
about four years ago from the land of whips and chains,
is the owner of two farms, and is said to be worth three
thousand dollars. Can slaves take care of themselves?"
You may well suppose that the receipt of this letter gave us
great pleasure, and called forth heartfelt thanksgiving to Him,
who had watched over this undertaking, and protected all
concerned in it. A bright and promising girl had been rescued
from the untold miseries of a slave woman's life, and found a
good home, where she would have an opportunity to acquire an
education and be trained for a useful and happy life. Mr.
Bradley intended to send for her parents, and hoped to prevail
on them to come and live with him.
Truly yours,
LEWIS TAPPAN
ELIJAH F. PENNYPACKER,
Whose name belongs to the history of the Underground Rail Road, owed his
peculiarly fine nature to a mother of large physical proportions, and
correspondingly liberal mental and spiritual endowments. She was a
natural sovereign in the sphere in which she moved, and impressed her
son with the qualities which made his Anti-slavery life nothing but an
expression of the rules of conduct which governed him in all other
particulars. Believing in his inmost soul in principles of rectitude,
all men believed in him, his "yea," or "nay," passing current wherever
he went. Tall, dignified, and commanding, he had that in his face which