The Underground Railroad
gone on to Boston, and is desirous of my coming on to him; and
as I have many acquaintances there, I should like to know from
you whether it would be advisable or not. Give, if you please,
my best love to your family and accept the same for yourself,
and also to Mr. James Ormsted and family. Tell James Ormsted I
would be glad if he would send me a pair of thick, heavy boots,
for it rains and hails as often out here in the summer, as it
does there in the winter. Tell him to send No. 9, and anything
he thinks will do me good in this cold country. Please to give
to Mr. James Ormsted to give to Mr. Robert Seldon, and tell him
to give it to my father. Mr. and Mrs. Truehart send their love
to you and your family. If the gentleman, Mr. R.S., is not
running on the boat now, you can give directions to Ludwill
Cobb, in care of Mr. R. Seldon, Richmond, Va. Tell Mr. Ormsted
not to forget my boots and send them by express. No more at
present, but remain yours very truly,
Please write soon.
LEWIS COBB.
* * * * *
PASSENGERS FROM NORTH CAROLINA.
[BY SCHOONER.]
MAJOR LATHAM, WILLIAM WILSON, HENRY GORHAM, WILEY MADDISON, AND ANDREW
SHEPHERD.
The above named passengers were delivered into the hands of Thomas
Garrett by the Captain who brought them, and were aided and forwarded to
the Committee in Philadelphia, as indicated by the subjoined letter:
WILMINGTON, 11th mo., 6th, 1856.
RESPECTED FRIEND:--WILLIAM STILL:--Thine of yesterday, came to
hand this morning, advising me to forward those four men to
thee, which I propose to send from here in the steam boat, at
two o'clock, P.M. to day to thy care; one of them thinks he has
a brother and cousin in New Bedford, and is anxious to get to
them, the others thee can do what thee thinks best with, after
consulting with them, we have rigged them up pretty comfortably
with clothes, and I have paid for their passage to Philadelphia,
and also for the passage of their pilot there and back; he
proposed to ask thee for three dollars, for the three days time
he lost with them, but that we will raise here for him, as one
of them expects to have some money brought from Carolina soon,
that belongs to him, and wants thee when they are fixed, to let
me know so that I may forward it to them. I will give each of
them a card of our firm. Hoping they may get along safe, I
remain as ever, thy sincere friend,
THOS. GARRETT.
The passengers by this arrival were above the ordinary plantation or
farm hand slave, as will appear from a glance at their condition under
the yoke.
Major Latham was forty-four years of age, mulatto, very resolute, with
good natural abilities, and a decided hater of slavery. John Latham was
the man whom he addressed as "master," which was a very bitter pill for
him to swallow. He had been married twice, and at the time of his escape
he was the husband of two wives. The first one, with their three
children, in consequence of changes incident to slave life, was sold a
long distance from her old home and husband, thereby ending the
privilege of living together; he could think of them, but that was all;
he was compelled to give them up altogether. After a time he took to
himself another wife, with whom he lived several years. Three more
children owned him as father--the result of this marriage. During his
entire manhood Major had been brutally treated by his master, which
caused him a great deal of anguish and trouble of mind.
Only a few weeks before he escaped, his master, in one of his fits of
passion, flogged him most cruelly. From that time the resolution was
permanently grounded in his mind to find the way to freedom, if
possible, before many more weeks had passed. Day and night he studied,
worked and planned, with freedom uppermost in his mind. The hour of hope
arrived and with it Captain F.
William, a fellow-passenger with Major, was forty-two years of age, just
in the prime of life, and represented the mechanics in chains, being a
blacksmith by trade. Dr. Thomas Warren, who followed farming in the
neighborhood of Eatontown, was the owner of William. In speaking of his
slave life William said: "I was sold four times; twice I was separated
from my wives. I was separated from one of my wives when living in
Portsmouth, Virginia," etc.
In his simple manner of describing the trials he had been called upon to
endure, it was not to be wondered at that he was willing to forsake all
and run fearful risks in order to rid himself not only of the "load on
his back," but the load on his heart. By the very positive character of
William's testimony against slavery, the Committee felt more than ever
justified in encouraging the Underground Rail Road.
Henry Gorham was thirty-four years of age, a "prime," heavy, dark,
smart, "article," and a good carpenter. He admitted that he had never
felt the lash on his back, but, nevertheless, he had felt deeply on the
subject of slavery. For years the chief concern with him was as to how
he could safely reach a free State. Slavery he hated with a perfect
hatred. To die in the woods, live in a cave, or sacrifice himself in
some way, he was bound to do, rather than remain a slave. The more he
reflected over his condition the more determined he grew to seek his
freedom. Accordingly he left and went to the woods; there he prepared
himself a cave and resolved to live and die in it rather than return to
bondage. Before he found his way out of the prison-house eleven months
elapsed. His strong impulse for freedom, and intense aversion to
slavery, sustained him until he found an opportunity to escape by the
Underground Rail Road.
One of the tried Agents of the Underground Rail Road was alone cognizant
of his dwelling in the cave, and regarding him as a tolerably safe
passenger (having been so long secreted), secured him a passage on the
schooner, and thus he was fortunately relieved from his eleven months'
residence in his den. No rhetoric or fine scholarship was needed in his
case to make his story interesting. None but hearts of stone could have
listened without emotion.
Andrew, another fellow-passenger, was twenty-six years of age, and a
decidedly inviting-looking specimen of the peculiar institution. He
filled the situation of an engineer. He, with his wife and one child,
belonged to a small orphan girl, who lived at South End, Camden county,
N.C. His wife and child had to be left behind. While it seemed very hard
for a husband thus to leave his wife, every one that did so weakened
slavery and encouraged and strengthened anti-slavery.
Numbered with these four North Carolina passengers is found the name of
Wiley Maddison, a young man nineteen years of age, who escaped from
Petersburg on the cars as a white man. He was of promising appearance,
and found no difficulty whatever on the road. With the rest, however, he
concluded himself hardly safe this side of Canada, and it afforded the
Committee special pleasure to help them all.
THOMAS CLINTON, SAUNEY PRY AND BENJAMIN DUCKET.
PASSED OVER THE U.G.R.R., IN THE FALL OF 1856.
Thomas escaped from Baltimore. He described the man from whom he fled as
a "rum drinker" of some note, by the name of Benjamin Walmsly, and he
testified that under him he was neither "half fed nor clothed," in
consequence of which he was dissatisfied, and fled to better his
condition. Luckily Thomas succeeded in making his escape when about
twenty-one years of age. His appearance and smartness indicated
resolution and gave promise of future success. He was well made and of a
chestnut color.
Sauney Pry came from Loudon Co., Va. He had been one of the "well-cared
for," on the farm of Nathan Clapton, who owned some sixty or seventy
slaves. Upon inquiry as to the treatment and character of his master,
Sauney unhesitatingly described him as a "very mean, swearing,
blustering man, as hard as any that could be started." It was on this
account that he was prompted to turn his face against Virginia and to
venture on the Underground Rail Road. Sauney was twenty-seven years of
age, chestnut color, medium size, and in intellect was at least up to
the average.
Benjamin Ducket came from Bell Mountain, Prince George's Co., Maryland.
He stated to the Committee that he escaped from one Sicke Perry, a
farmer. Of his particular master he spoke thus: "He was one of the
baddest men about Prince George; he would both fight and kill up."
These characteristics of the master developed in Ben very strong desires
to get beyond his reach. In fact, his master's conduct was the sole
cause of his seeking the Underground Rail Road. At the time that he came
to Philadelphia, he was recorded as twenty-three years of age, chestnut
color, medium size, and wide awake. He left his father, mother, two
brothers, and three sisters, owned by Marcus Devoe.
About the same time that the passengers just described received succor,
Elizabeth Lambert, with three children, reached the Committee. The names
of the children were, Mary, Horace, and William Henry, quite
marketable-looking articles.
They fled from Middletown, Delaware, where they had been owned by Andrew
Peterson. The poor mother's excuse for leaving her "comfortable home,
free board, and kind-hearted master and mistress," was simply because
she was tired of such "kindness," and was, therefore, willing to suffer
in order to get away from it.
Hill Jones, a lad of eighteen, accompanied Elizabeth with her children
from Middletown. He had seen enough of Slavery to satisfy him that he
could never relish it. His owner was known by the name of John Cochran,
and followed farming. He was of a chestnut color, and well-grown.
ARRIVALS IN APRIL, 1856.
CHARLES HALL, JAMES JOHNSON, CHARLES CARTER, GEORGE, AND JOHN LOGAN,
JAMES HENRY WATSON, ZEBULON GREEN, LEWIS, AND PETER BURRELL, WILLIAM
WILLIAMS, AND HIS WIFE--HARRIET TUBMAN, WITH FOUR PASSENGERS.
Charles Hall. This individual was from Maryland, Baltimore Co., where
"black men had no rights which white men were bound to respect,"
according to the decision of the late Chief Justice Taney of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Charles was owned by Atwood A. Blunt, a farmer, much of whose time was
devoted to card playing, rum-drinking and fox-hunting, so Charles
stated. Charles gave him the credit of being as mild a specimen of a
slaveholder as that region of country could claim when in a sober mood,
but when drunk every thing went wrong with him, nothing could satisfy
him.
Charles testified, however, that the despotism of his mistress was much
worse than that of his master, for she was all the time hard on the
slaves. Latterly he had heard much talk about selling, and, believing
that matters would soon have to come to that, he concluded to seek a
place where colored men had rights, in Canada.
James Johnson. James fled from Deer Creek, Harford Co., Md., where he
was owned by William Rautty. "Jim's" hour had come. Within one day of
the time fixed for his sale, he was handcuffed, and it was evidently
supposed that he was secure. Trembling at his impending doom he resolved
to escape if possible. He could not rid himself of the handcuffs. Could
he have done so, he was persuaded that he might manage to make his way
along safely. He resolved to make an effort with the handcuffs on.
With resolution his freedom was secured. What Master Rautty said when he
found his property gone with the handcuffs, we know not.
The next day after Jim arrived, Charles Carter, George and John Logan
came to hand.