Fugitive Slaves Part 11

=-- 69. Fugitives disguised as whites: Craft case.=--Sometimes the boldest plans succeeded best if supported by sufficient firmness and presence of mind. Three negroes possessed of a considerable sum of money once determined upon a plan, startling in its simplicity and success. They hired a good travelling coach and horses. They then bribed a white beggar to dress as a Virginian gentleman, while they mounted the coach as his driver and footmen; and in this guise they successfully made their way into Canada.[233]

Another example of unconcealed flight is found in the often told story of the escape of William and Ellen Craft, in 1848. They lived in Macon, Georgia, and were generally well treated. But Ellen had been compelled to go North with her mistress, and leave her little child at home; during this absence, the child died uncared for. From that time she determined to escape.[234]

William at last arranged a plan which was successfully carried out. Ellen was nearly white. She personated a young Southern planter, while William accompanied her as her servant. She carried her right arm in a sling so that she might not be expected to write, bandaged her smooth face, and put on a pair of green goggles. Thus disguised, she succeeded in buying tickets for herself and servant without discovery. In the train she was terrified to see a gentleman who had known her from childhood. He even sat down by her, and spoke, but to her great relief, he saw in her only a young invalid going North for his health. From Savannah they took a steamer to Charleston. There they had some difficulty in pa.s.sing inspection, but their most dangerous stopping place was Baltimore, where every white man with a slave was required to prove his right of property before he could be allowed to go on to Philadelphia. After some conversation Ellen told the officer that she knew no one in Baltimore, and had no proofs that William was her slave; but that he was necessary to her on account of her illness, and she must take him on. The officer finally relented, as the train was about to start, and Baltimore was safely pa.s.sed.

At Philadelphia shelter was found among the Quakers, and thence they pushed on to Boston. Here they engaged the attention of Theodore Parker, and he protected them during their stay. William took up his trade of cabinet-making, while Ellen added to their income by sewing. They lived thus quietly until the pa.s.sage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. From that time, to remain even in Boston was hazardous. Soon after, there appeared one day in William's shop a man who had worked with him in the South. He immediately suspected the presence of others, and took refuge among friends. For two weeks Ellen was with Mr. Parker, who wrote his sermons during her stay with his sword in a drawer under his inkstand, and a pistol in his desk.

They were then taken to Mr. Ellis Gray Loring's home. Here William showed a most honorable spirit. When he found Mr. Loring was not at home he would not remain, saying, "I am subjecting him to a heavy fine and imprisonment, and I must go at once to look for some other shelter."

His pursuers, who had come from Georgia, were staying at the United States Hotel. The knowledge of their object was soon spread abroad, and they dared not go into the streets for fear of a mob. Handbills, calling attention to them, were placed everywhere, and cries of "Slave hunters!

there go the slave hunters!" were heard on all sides. At last, they were absolutely compelled to leave the city. William and Ellen no longer felt safe, and therefore went to England, where the remainder of their life was spent in peace.[235]

[Sidenote: The Underground Railroad.]

=-- 70. Underground Railroad.=--From the preceding sketch of the conditions of escape, it is plain that no such numbers as are known to have fled could possibly have escaped from their masters' power had they depended solely upon their own exertions. From the beginning of the antislavery agitation, about 1830, and especially near 1850, a mysterious organization made it a business to receive, forward, conceal, and protect fugitives. To that organization the name of "Underground Railroad" was given, and the many methods used by those connected with it can best be given under a more elaborate description of the system.

=-- 71. Rise and growth of the system.=--The first efforts toward any systematic organization for the aid and protection of fugitive slaves are found among the Quakers in Pennsylvania. The great number of cases of kidnapping which occurred in this State after the pa.s.sage of the law of 1793, by their injustice roused people to action in behalf of the free blacks; and, their sympathies once enlisted for the colored race, it was but a step to the aid of the fugitive negroes.[236] From this time, as the number of runaways increased, new agencies were constantly being established, until from the slave States to Canada a perfect chain of stations was arranged, not more than one day's journey apart.[237] The system is said to have extended from Kentucky and Virginia across Ohio, and from Maryland, through Pennsylvania and New York, to New England and Canada.[238]

As negroes began to disappear, and their masters found themselves unable to trace them farther than certain towns in Pennsylvania, they said, in bewilderment, "There must be an Underground Railroad somewhere," and this expression, suiting the popular fancy, became the general name by which the whole system was known.[239]

[Sidenote: Operations "Underground."]

=-- 72. Methods pursued.=--Although often varied by circ.u.mstances, the general method of work was always the same. In the South, money was usually the motive, and for its sake the managers of the Railroad could usually get some one to aid a slave in escaping and crossing the line. In the North it was an unselfish, and sometimes dangerous, work of charity.

Fugitives arrived at the first station, ignorant, half-clothed, and hungry. There they were fed, and, in order to elude the advertis.e.m.e.nts sent through the States, disguises were provided. For women, the large veiled bonnet and plain attire of the Quakeress proved one of the best costumes. The men received a slip of paper, with a word or two which would be recognized at the next place, and, unless special caution was needed, were sent forward on foot. Women and children were often taken in close carriages, sometimes constructed for this special purpose.[240]

Stations, that is, the houses of persons known to be interested, were reached between sunset and ten o'clock in the evening. A tap at the door would rouse some member of the family, and the fugitive would be taken to the barn, or some place of concealment.[241] Often, too, these houses were not merely places for a night's tarrying, but homes where the ill and fatigued might remain and be cared for until strong enough for the onward journey.[242]

To conduct people over this long line, and to baffle all plans of their pursuers, required quick wit, as well as great courage and coolness.[243]

So successful were the conductors in this respect, however, that a discouraged slave hunter, after a fruitless search, once said it was "as easy to find a needle in a haymow as a negro among Quakers."[244]

When fugitives were concealed, and persons desiring to search the house appeared, it was the custom to receive the searchers courteously. One of the family immediately engaged them in conversation, and offered them refreshments. The hunt was thus delayed as long as possible, so that the fugitive might be helped away. In one case, while the slave's master was thus entertained upon the front piazza, the mistress of the house quietly conveyed the hunted negro out at the back door, and placed him under an inverted hogshead standing by. Then, with the most unconcerned manner, she allowed the man to search until he was satisfied that there could be no fugitive in that house.[245]

=-- 73. Colored agents of the Underground Railroad.=--An example of the most courageous and successful action may be found in the life of Harriet Tubman,[246] who when a young girl made her escape from slavery alone and una.s.sisted. After several years of work in the North, she determined to go back for her family. This trip was safely accomplished, and followed by others, until during her life she had made nineteen journeys, never losing a person. The Rev. James Freeman Clarke gives the following account of her methods:--

"She said she first obtained enough money, then went to Maryland, where she privately collected a party of slaves and got them ready to start.

She satisfied herself that they had enough courage and firmness to run the risks. For if once a negro entered her party, there was no falling back. Fully determined herself, she would allow no one to return.

"She next made arrangements so that they should set out Sat.u.r.day night, as there would be no opportunity on Sunday for advertising them, so that they had that day's start on their way North. Then she had places prepared where she could be sure that they could be protected and taken care of, if she had the money to pay for that protection. When she was at the North, she tried to raise funds until she got a certain amount, and then went South to carry out this plan. She always paid some colored man to follow after the person who put up the posters advertising the runaway, and pull them down as fast as they were put up."[247]

When she feared the party were closely pursued, she would take them for a time on a train southward bound, as no one seeing a company of negroes going in this direction would for an instant suppose them to be fugitives. As their leader out of bondage, her people gave her the name of "Moses," and thus she is generally known.

=-- 74. Prosecutions of agents.=--Such acts as those daily performed by the conductors on the Underground Railroad could not be carried on under the existing laws without leading to prosecutions. Large rewards were many times offered for Harriet's capture, but she eluded all efforts to stop her work. At one time the Maryland legislature offered a reward to any person who should secure Thomas Garrett in any public jail in the State. He was a Delaware Quaker, who, it is said, helped twenty-nine hundred slaves in escaping. The Governor was required to employ the best legal skill to prosecute him on the charge of aiding runaways.[248] He was afterward tried and fined a sum which consumed his entire property.

As this was paid, the officer who received it said that he hoped the remembrance of this punishment would prevent any further trouble. Mr.

Garrett, undaunted, replied that they had taken all that he possessed, but added, "If thee knows any poor fugitive who wants a breakfast, send him to me."[249] In fact, he seemed absolutely fearless. Angry slaveholders often called upon him, and demanded their property. He never denied knowledge of their slaves, or of having helped them on their way, but, in the most quiet manner, positively refused to give information concerning them.[250]

=-- 75. Formal organization.=--In 1838 the first formal organization of the Underground Railroad was made, with Robert Purvis as President. It was said that two marketwomen in Baltimore were their best helpers. They had come into possession of a number of pa.s.sports, or "freedoms," which were used by slaves for part of the distance, and then were returned to serve the same purpose again.[251]

In all transactions connected with this organization the greatest secrecy was necessarily observed, seldom more than two or three persons at a station being allowed any knowledge of it. In the Liberator of 1843, a notice is found cautioning people against exposing in any way the methods used by fugitives in escaping, as it only helped the pursuers in the next case. The fugitives themselves were usually careful in this respect.

Frederick Dougla.s.s absolutely refused until after the abolition of slavery to reveal the method of his escape.[252]

Mrs. G. S. Hillard, of Boston, was in the habit of putting fugitives in an upper room of her house. A colored man was placed there, and when Mrs.

Hillard went up to see him, she found he had carefully pulled down all the shades at the windows. She told him that there was no danger of his being seen from the street. "Perhaps not, Missis," he replied, "but I do not want to spoil the place." He was afraid lest some one might see a colored face there, and so excite suspicions injurious to the next man.[253]

=-- 76. General effect of escapes.=--Although many fugitives were aided previous to 1850, it was after the new law went into effect that the great efforts of the Abolitionists were centred on this form of a.s.sistance. Of such importance did it become, that at the beginning of the Civil War one of the chief complaints of the Southern States was the injury received through the aid given their escaping slaves by the North.[254]

It was, however, really the "safety valve to the inst.i.tution of slavery.

As soon as leaders arose among the slaves who refused to endure the yoke, they would go North. Had they remained, there must have been enacted at the South the direful scenes of San Domingo."[255]

[Footnote 216: Still, Underground Railroad, 410.]

[Footnote 217: Ibid., 444.]

[Footnote 218: F. L. Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 49.]

[Footnote 219:

"Gone, gone,--sold and gone To the rice swamp dank and lone,-- Where the slave-whip ceaseless swings, Where the noisome insect stings, Where the fever demon strews Poison with the falling dews, Where the sickly sunbeams glare Through the hot and misty air,-- Gone, gone,--sold and gone To the rice swamp dank and lone From Virginia's hills and waters,-- Woe is me, my stolen daughters!

"There no mother's eye is near them, There no mother's ear can hear them; Never, when the torturing lash Seams their back with many a gash, Shall a mother's kindness bless them, Or a mother's arms caress them....

"Oh, when weary, sad, and slow From the fields at night they go, Faint with toil, and racked with pain, To their cheerless homes again,-- There no brother's voice shall greet them There no father's welcome meet them."]

[Footnote 220: Still, Underground Railroad, 443.]

[Footnote 221: Ibid., 448.]

[Footnote 222: Williams, History of the Negro Race in America, 293.]

[Footnote 223: Still, Underground Railroad, 27.]

[Footnote 224: F. L. Olmsted, The Cotton Kingdom, 157.]

[Footnote 225: F. L. Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 444.]

[Footnote 226: W. I. Bowditch, Slavery and the Const.i.tution; Macon (Ga.) Telegram, Nov. 27, 1838.]

[Footnote 227: Ball, Mammoth Pictorial Tour of United States, 54; F. L.

Olmsted, Journey in the Back Country, 155.]