# data[].attributes.body
https://www.mdhistory.org/resources/baltimore-inner-harbor-from-federal-hill/

# data[].attributes.body
Record of escape from Sloop Jolly Miller and intent to board an outbound ship from Baltimore

https://www.mdhistory.org/resources/50-reward-for-jack/

# data[].attributes.headline
Captain Alfred Fountain et al: Philadelphia, PA, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Captain Alfred Fountain et al: Philadelphia, PA, USA

# data[].attributes.body
"The wind of heaven favoring the good cause, he arrived safely in due time, and delivered his precious freight in the vicinity of Philadelphia within the reach of the Vigilance Committee" -Still, 168

# data[].attributes.body
John Hillis

# data[].attributes.body
John Hillis

# data[].attributes.body
Capt. Alfred Fountain et al: "And the Captain steered direct for the City of Brotherly Love" -Still, pg. 167

Passenger list according to William Still: Alan Tatum, Daniel Carr, Michael Vaughn, Thomas Nixon, Frederick Nixon, Peter Petty, Nathanael Gardener, John Brown, Thomas Freeman, James Foster, Godfrey Scott, Willis Wilson, Nancy Little, John Smith, Francis Haines, David Johnson, Phillis Gault, Alice Jones, Ned Wilson, and Sarah C. Wilson (and one other unnamed passenger who died of sickness soon into the voyage).

# data[].attributes.headline
Captain Alfred Fountain and the 21 Slave Passengers, Norfolk, VA, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Captain Alfred Fountain and the 21 Slave Passengers, Norfolk, VA, USA

# data[].attributes.body
1855: "The way is now clear to present Captain F. with his Schooner lying at the wharf in Norfolk, loading with wheat, and at the same time with twenty-one fugitives secreted therein" -Still, 166

While at the wharf, William Lamb (the Mayor of Norfolk) and several police officers searched the schooner with spears and axes, yet found no slaves and left.

-https://encyclopediavirginia.org/10015hpr-3618f3840779628/

https://www.visitnorfolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/VISIT-21993-WaterwaysFreedomREPRINT-2.pdf

# data[].attributes.headline
William Peel Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

# data[].attributes.subject
William Peel Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

# data[].attributes.body
Appears on Canadian 1871 Census as a 37 year old man from the United States (now married with kids).

https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396273_00078

# data[].attributes.body
Settled in Elmira and married her fiance Henry Adams.

William Still, The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narrative, Letters …. [Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872], 281-284; Reward ad, Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1857.

http://mdiggins.com/blog-freedom-seekers-and-freedom-stealers-along-the-mason-dixon-line/escaping-out-of-baltimore-on-the-ericsson-line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As with the series based on my report to the National Park on escapes on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, I may make some minor revisions in wording in this series on escapes through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

William Still records two escape incidents on steamboats that operated out of Baltimore and belonged to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company, also known as the Ericsson Line. The escape details in both narratives are reminiscent of Henry "Box" Brown's escape from Richmond to Philadelphia in a freight box in 1849. In the summer of 1857, a free black woman from Philadelphia boarded an Ericsson steamboat in Baltimore. She brought a sea chest with her, her future daughter-in-law, Lear Green cramped inside. Green had a small quantity of food and a bottle of water, and a pillow and quilt for some comfort. The chest was secured with rope and stowed with other freight. Her future mother-in-law snuck into the compartment and lifted the lid once or twice to check on Green's well-being and to give her a breath of fresh air. Escaping from James Noble, a Baltimore butter dealer, Green endured eighteen hours in the chest before the ship arrived in Philadelphia. Now free, she settled in Elmira, New York and married her fiancé, Henry Adams.[1]

William Peel, alias William Peel Jones also escaped from Baltimore in a confined space on the Ericsson Line. He grew concerned that Robert H. Carr, a grocer and merchant, would sell him as he had done with other slaves. A friend boxed him up, adding straw for padding, and had him shipped as freight to Philadelphia in April, 1859. The friend then traveled on a train to arrive in Philadelphia in time to receive the shipment. Jones experienced a painful cramp, faintness, and a "cold chill," during the voyage. The friend met the ship at the dock to show the papers for receipt and request delivery. But the arrival was on a Sunday and the ship's officer informed him that deliveries were not made on Sundays. Sensing the man's anxiety, the officer relented a little and let him look for the box. Jones's friend found the box and the officer released it to him. But an hour and a half was lost during a search for an available driver with a vehicle large enough to carry the crate. After seventeen difficult hours, Jones emerged from the box. He headed to Canada, but stopped for a while in Albany to work in a store.[2]

Still's identification of the Ericsson Line and the hours of confinement are clear indicators that Green and Jones passed through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the way to Philadelphia. In 1844 the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company was incorporated "to operate steamboats to Philadelphia through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal."[3] The company was the first to provide "continuous waterway service between Philadelphia and Baltimore" for the purpose of carrying freight and a few passengers between the two cities.[4] The company designed their ships to fit through the narrow locks to take advantage of the time and cost savings of using the canal between the two major ports. To fit through the twenty-six foot wide canal locks, the company kept the width of their ships within twenty-four feet, an appropriate design for travel through the canal and sheltered bays, but too unstable for the Atlantic Ocean. These narrow ships lacked the bulky side-wheeler design. Instead, they used screw propellers developed by John Ericsson, accounting for the alternate company name, Ericsson Line.[5]

The time taken for the two escapes also reveals the canal route. A steamer out of Baltimore, going through the canal, and arriving in Philadelphia would have traveled 98 nautical miles.[6] In the open bay, steamers in the 1850s could cover an average ten to twelve miles in one hour, slower if fully loaded with freight. Stops at ports along the route added to the time, plus delays in traversing the canal could add as much as three and one-half hours. Green was confined in the chest for eighteen hours. Subtract the hour and a half delay before his friend could free him from the box in Philadelphia, and Jones trip took about fifteen and a half hours. Using the longer eighteen hours for Lear Green, that steamer traveled about five to six nautical miles for each hour, a realistic figure for a 1850s freight steamer making stops along the way. Decades later, in 1882, the company maintained a schedule similar to the travel time for Jones. The Ericsson steamboats left Baltimore at three in the afternoon that year, made stops along the way, and arrived in Philadelphia fifteen hours later.[7] On the other hand, if the steamboats out of Baltimore rounded Cape Charles to enter the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay to reach Philadelphia, the vessel would travel 392 nautical miles. For an eighteen hour non-stop trip by a fully laden 1850s bay steamer, that would require sustaining a physically impossible speed of nearly twenty-two nautical miles an hour. If the ship traveled at the average speed of twelve miles per hour, without stops, the trip would have taken more than thirty-two hours. The Ericsson Line designed its ships to take advantage of the faster, less expensive route to Philadelphia through the canal. If the company then decided to run those ships around Cape Charles instead, without stops along the way to make the trip more profitable, that decision would have been incomprehensible. Those planning the escapes from Baltimore intentionally chose the Ericsson Line, knowing its direct route and shorter time schedule. Spending fifteen to eighteen hours in a confined space was challenging enough; thirty-two hours would have unnecessarily increased the discomfort and the hazard.

[1] William Still, The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narrative, Letters .... [Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872], 281-284; Reward ad, Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1857.

[2] William Still, The Underground Railroad, 46-47.

[3] Robert H. Burgess and H. Graham Wood, Steamboats out of Baltimore [Cambridge, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1968], 33.

[4] Ralph D. Gray, The National Waterway: A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 1769 - 1965. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1967, 106

[5] Gray, 106; Holly, David C. Chesapeake Steamboats: Vanished Fleet [Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1994].

[6] US Department of Commerce, Distances between United States Ports, 12th Edition, 2012, http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/distances-ports/distances.pdf.

[7] The Maryland Directory, 1882, [Baltimore: J. Frank Lewis & Co., 1882]. The cover of the directory showed a schedule and ports of call between Baltimore and Philadelphia for the Ericsson Line. The steamboats took fifteen hours between the cities and 16 stops along the way. This closely matches the transport time for Jones and Green decades earlier.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Escaping Out of Baltimore on the Ericsson Line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As with the series based on my report to the National Park on escapes on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, I may make some minor revisions in wording in this series on escapes through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

# data[].attributes.headline
Lear Green (1857) and William Peel Jones (1859) Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Lear Green (1857) and William Peel Jones (1859) Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, USA

# data[].attributes.body
If the journey did take 17 hours (as reported by William Still), he could not have sailed around Delmarva. It must have been through the canal:
"The Ericsson steamboats left Baltimore at three in the afternoon that year, made stops along the way, and arrived in Philadelphia fifteen hours later. On the other hand, if the steamboats out of Baltimore rounded Cape Charles to enter the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay to reach Philadelphia, the vessel would travel 392 nautical miles. For an eighteen hour non-stop trip by a fully laden 1850s bay steamer, that would require sustaining a physically impossible speed of nearly twenty-two nautical miles an hour. If the ship traveled at the average speed of twelve miles per hour, without stops, the trip would have taken more than thirty-two hours."

-http://mdiggins.com/blog-freedom-seekers-and-freedom-stealers-along-the-mason-dixon-line/escaping-out-of-baltimore-on-the-ericsson-line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Stealing Freedom along the Mason-Dixon Line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As with the series based on my report to the National Park on escapes on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, I may make some minor revisions in wording in this series on escapes through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

William Still records two escape incidents on steamboats that operated out of Baltimore and belonged to the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company, also known as the Ericsson Line. The escape details in both narratives are reminiscent of Henry "Box" Brown's escape from Richmond to Philadelphia in a freight box in 1849. In the summer of 1857, a free black woman from Philadelphia boarded an Ericsson steamboat in Baltimore. She brought a sea chest with her, her future daughter-in-law, Lear Green cramped inside. Green had a small quantity of food and a bottle of water, and a pillow and quilt for some comfort. The chest was secured with rope and stowed with other freight. Her future mother-in-law snuck into the compartment and lifted the lid once or twice to check on Green's well-being and to give her a breath of fresh air. Escaping from James Noble, a Baltimore butter dealer, Green endured eighteen hours in the chest before the ship arrived in Philadelphia. Now free, she settled in Elmira, New York and married her fiancé, Henry Adams.[1]

William Peel, alias William Peel Jones also escaped from Baltimore in a confined space on the Ericsson Line. He grew concerned that Robert H. Carr, a grocer and merchant, would sell him as he had done with other slaves. A friend boxed him up, adding straw for padding, and had him shipped as freight to Philadelphia in April, 1859. The friend then traveled on a train to arrive in Philadelphia in time to receive the shipment. Jones experienced a painful cramp, faintness, and a "cold chill," during the voyage. The friend met the ship at the dock to show the papers for receipt and request delivery. But the arrival was on a Sunday and the ship's officer informed him that deliveries were not made on Sundays. Sensing the man's anxiety, the officer relented a little and let him look for the box. Jones's friend found the box and the officer released it to him. But an hour and a half was lost during a search for an available driver with a vehicle large enough to carry the crate. After seventeen difficult hours, Jones emerged from the box. He headed to Canada, but stopped for a while in Albany to work in a store.[2]

Still's identification of the Ericsson Line and the hours of confinement are clear indicators that Green and Jones passed through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal on the way to Philadelphia. In 1844 the Baltimore and Philadelphia Steamboat Company was incorporated "to operate steamboats to Philadelphia through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal."[3] The company was the first to provide "continuous waterway service between Philadelphia and Baltimore" for the purpose of carrying freight and a few passengers between the two cities.[4] The company designed their ships to fit through the narrow locks to take advantage of the time and cost savings of using the canal between the two major ports. To fit through the twenty-six foot wide canal locks, the company kept the width of their ships within twenty-four feet, an appropriate design for travel through the canal and sheltered bays, but too unstable for the Atlantic Ocean. These narrow ships lacked the bulky side-wheeler design. Instead, they used screw propellers developed by John Ericsson, accounting for the alternate company name, Ericsson Line.[5]

The time taken for the two escapes also reveals the canal route. A steamer out of Baltimore, going through the canal, and arriving in Philadelphia would have traveled 98 nautical miles.[6] In the open bay, steamers in the 1850s could cover an average ten to twelve miles in one hour, slower if fully loaded with freight. Stops at ports along the route added to the time, plus delays in traversing the canal could add as much as three and one-half hours. Green was confined in the chest for eighteen hours. Subtract the hour and a half delay before his friend could free him from the box in Philadelphia, and Jones trip took about fifteen and a half hours. Using the longer eighteen hours for Lear Green, that steamer traveled about five to six nautical miles for each hour, a realistic figure for a 1850s freight steamer making stops along the way. Decades later, in 1882, the company maintained a schedule similar to the travel time for Jones. The Ericsson steamboats left Baltimore at three in the afternoon that year, made stops along the way, and arrived in Philadelphia fifteen hours later.[7] On the other hand, if the steamboats out of Baltimore rounded Cape Charles to enter the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay to reach Philadelphia, the vessel would travel 392 nautical miles. For an eighteen hour non-stop trip by a fully laden 1850s bay steamer, that would require sustaining a physically impossible speed of nearly twenty-two nautical miles an hour. If the ship traveled at the average speed of twelve miles per hour, without stops, the trip would have taken more than thirty-two hours. The Ericsson Line designed its ships to take advantage of the faster, less expensive route to Philadelphia through the canal. If the company then decided to run those ships around Cape Charles instead, without stops along the way to make the trip more profitable, that decision would have been incomprehensible. Those planning the escapes from Baltimore intentionally chose the Ericsson Line, knowing its direct route and shorter time schedule. Spending fifteen to eighteen hours in a confined space was challenging enough; thirty-two hours would have unnecessarily increased the discomfort and the hazard.

[1] William Still, The Underground Railroad: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narrative, Letters .... [Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872], 281-284; Reward ad, Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1857.

[2] William Still, The Underground Railroad, 46-47.

[3] Robert H. Burgess and H. Graham Wood, Steamboats out of Baltimore [Cambridge, MD: Tidewater Publishers, 1968], 33.

[4] Ralph D. Gray, The National Waterway: A History of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, 1769 - 1965. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1967, 106

[5] Gray, 106; Holly, David C. Chesapeake Steamboats: Vanished Fleet [Centreville, Maryland: Tidewater Publishers, 1994].

[6] US Department of Commerce, Distances between United States Ports, 12th Edition, 2012, http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/nsd/distances-ports/distances.pdf.

[7] The Maryland Directory, 1882, [Baltimore: J. Frank Lewis & Co., 1882]. The cover of the directory showed a schedule and ports of call between Baltimore and Philadelphia for the Ericsson Line. The steamboats took fifteen hours between the cities and 16 stops along the way. This closely matches the transport time for Jones and Green decades earlier.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Escaping Out of Baltimore on the Ericsson Line

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As with the series based on my report to the National Park on escapes on the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, I may make some minor revisions in wording in this series on escapes through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

# data[].attributes.body
Stebney Swan et al.

# data[].attributes.headline
Lear Green (1857) William Peel Jones (1859), Philadelphia, PA, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Lear Green (1857) William Peel Jones (1859), Philadelphia, PA, USA

# data[].attributes.body
)"Finally, however, he arrived at Philadelphia, on a steamer, Sabbath morning"

"The trial in the box lasted just seventeen hours before victory was achieved. Jones was well cared for by the Vigilance Committee and sent on his way rejoicing, feeling that Resolution, Underground Rail Road, and Liberty were invaluable."

-Still, pg. 47

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" ' Mr. Still, I take this opportunity of writing a few lines to you hoping that tha may find you in good health and femaly. i am well at present and doing well at present i am now in a store and getting sixteen dollars a month at the present. i feel very much o blige to you and your family for your kindness while i was with you i have got a long without any trub al at al. i am now in albany City' "
-Letter from William Peel Jones to William Still (UGRR agent) in Philadelphia
-Still, pg. 47

# data[].attributes.location_name
424 East 23rd Street, Baltimore, MD, USA

# data[].attributes.headline
Jim Taylor Residence: 1904-1937: 424 East 23rd Street, Baltimore, MD, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Jim Taylor Residence: 1904-1937: 424 East 23rd Street, Baltimore, MD, USA

# data[].attributes.body
"I secured a job with James Hitchens, a colored man, who had six furniture vans drawn by two horses each". "I am, and have been a member of North Street Baptist Church for thirty-three years. I am the father of nine children, have been married twice and a grandfather of twenty-three grandaughters and grandsons, and forty-five great-grandchildren."

# data[].attributes.headline
Jim Taylor Post-Slavery: Talbot County, MD, USA

# data[].attributes.subject
Jim Taylor Post-Slavery: Talbot County, MD, USA

# data[].attributes.body
Returned to Talbot County after national abolition. Resided in Talbot until 1904. 1880 US Census lists Jim Tayler (Black Male, born Maryland 1848) living in Centreville, nearby Queen Anne's County. Possible mislabeling.

https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/discoveryui-content/view/27595626:6742?_phsrc=xvB36&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=Jim&gsln=Taylor&ml_rpos=1&queryId=14835858cad4b503d13c6cce3e780566

# data[].attributes.body
Listed in 1870 US Census as a 41 year old Black Male, born in Maryland (30 y/o when escaped). Listed as having spouse/partner Mary.

https://www.ancestryheritagequest.com/discoveryui-content/view/24128933:7163?_phsrc=xvB12&_phstart=successSource&gsfn=John&gsln=Hillis&ml_rpos=1&queryId=a3bbc3d63770c7761a2f8dd71a3fbbb6

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Our apologies, we seem to be having a problem loading this page.

# data[].attributes.body
1870 US Census records Isabella Pugh in Massachussetts, listed as Black, born in Virginia, and 37 years old.

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:MDSL-KXH?cid=fs_copy

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Railroad connection from Philadelphia to Gallipolis, Ohio:

https://railroads.unl.edu/documents/view_document.php?id=rail.str.0243

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Railroads and the Making of Modern America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This site explores the history of railroads, telegraphs, and technologies in the nineteenth century, especially the era of the Civil War. It focuses on key episodes in American history: slavery, territorial expansion, the Civil War, the transcontinental railroad, the Indian Wars, immigration, the great railway strike, the Pullman strike, William Jennings Bryan, and how Americans adapted to modern technologies.

# data[].attributes.body
John Boice Grey, 1870 US Census:

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:M627-SXZ?cid=fs_copy

# data[].attributes.body
Resided in Philadelphia by 1860 and 1870 US Census records: https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:MZRC-PZ4?cid=fs_copy

https://www.familysearch.org/search/ark:/61903/1:1:MXR3-CLM?cid=fs_copy

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Discover your family history. Explore the world’s largest collection of free family trees, genealogy records and resources.

# data[].attributes.body
Described only as female, born in U.S., age 23 (Canadian 1861 Census), https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4108078_00380

# data[].attributes.headline
John Purnell, St James Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada

# data[].attributes.subject
John Purnell, St James Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada

# data[].attributes.body
48 years old. Described as a married Mulatto laborer from the United States (Canadian 1861 Census), https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391541_01226

# data[].attributes.headline
Thomas Sipple, Frontenac County, ON, Canada

# data[].attributes.subject
Thomas Sipple, Frontenac County, ON, Canada

# data[].attributes.body
29 years old. Described as a single "Colored" laborer from the United States (Canadian 1861 Census), https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391549_00227

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From Philadelphia, they were "forwarded to John W. Jones, Underground Rail Road agent, at Elmira". The following letter from Jones on their arrival was received in Philadelphia: "ELMIRA, June 6th, 1860. FRIEND Wsr. STILL :  All six came safe to this place. The two men came last night, about twelve o'clock ; the man and woman stopped at the depot, and went east on the next train, about eighteen miles, and did not get back till to-night, so that the two men went this morning, and the four went this evening. 0, old master don't cry for me, For I am going to Canada where colored men are free."
-William Still,  https://enduringconnections.salisbury.edu/r/abstracts_from_stills_underground_railroad/160

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Full Narrative

This party were slaves, living near Kunkletown, in Worcester county, Maryland, and had become restive in their fetters. Although they did not know a letter of the alphabet, they were fully persuaded that they were entitled to their freedom. In considering what way would he safest for them to adopt, they concluded that the water would be less dangerous than any other route. As the matter of freedom had been in their minds for a long time, they had frequently counted the cost, and had been laying by trifling sums of money which had fallen perchance into their hands. Among them all they had about thirty dollars. As they could not go by water without a boat, one of their number purchased an old batteau for the small sum of six dollars. The Delaware Bay lay between them and the Jersey shore, which they desired to reach. They did not calculate, however, that before leaving the Delaware shore they would have to contend with the enemy. That in crossing, they would lose sight of the land they well understood. They managed to find out the direction of the shore, and about the length of time that it might take them to reach it. Undaunted by the perils before them the party repaired to the bay, and at ten o'clock, P. M. embarked direct for the other shore. Near Kate's Hammock, on the Delaware shore, they were attacked by five white men in a small boat. One of them seized the chain of the fugitives' boat, and peremptorily claimed it. " This is not your boat, we bought this boat and paid for it," spake one of the brave fugitives. " I am an officer, and must have it," said the white man, holding on to the chain. Being armed, the white men threatened to shoot. Manfully did the black men stand up for their rights, and declare that they did not mean to give up their boat alive. The parties speedily came to blows. One of the white * men dealt a heavy blow with his oar upon the head of one of the black men, which knocked him down, and broke the oar at the same time. The blow was immediately returned by Thomas Sipple, and one of the white men was laid flat on the bottom of the boat. The white men were instantly seized with a panic, and retreated ; after getting some yards off they snapped their guns at the fugitives several times, and one load of small shot was fired into them. John received two shot in the forehead, but was not dangerously hurt. George received some in the arms, Hale Burton got one about his temple, and Thomas got a few in one of his arms ; but the shot being light, none of the fugitives were seriously damaged. Some of the shot will remain in them as long as life lasts. The conflict lasted for several minutes, but the victorious bondmen were only made all the more courageous by seeing the foe retreat. They rowed with a greater will than ever, and landed on a small island. Where they were, or what to do they could not tell. One whole night they passed in gloom ? on this sad spot. Their hearts were greatly cast down ; the next morning they set out on foot to see what they could see. The young women were very sick, and the men were tried to the last extremity ; however, after walking about one mile, they came across the captain of an oyster boat. They perceived that he spoke in a friendly way, and they at once asked directions with regard to Philadelphia. He gave them the desired information, and even offered to bring them to the city if they would pay him for his services. They had about twenty-five dollars in all. This they willingly gave him, and he brought them according to agreement. When they found the captain they were not far from Cape May light-house. Taking into account the fact that it was night when they started, that their little boat was weak, combined with their lack of knowledge in relation to the imminent danger surrounding them, any intelligent man would have been justified in predicting for them a watery grave, long before the bay was half crossed. But they crossed safely. They greatly needed food, clothing, rest, and money, which they freely received, and were afterwards forwarded to John W. Jones, Underground Rail Eoad agent, at Elmira. The subjoined letter giving an account of their arrival was duly received: ELMIEA, June 6th, 1860. FRIEND Wsr. STILL : ? All six came safe to this place. The two men came last night, about twelve o'clock ; the man and woman stopped at the depot, and went east on the next train, about eighteen miles, and did not get back till to-night, so that the two men went this morning, and the four went this evening. 0, old master don't cry for me, For I am going to Canada where colored men are free. P. S. What is the news in the city ? Will you tell me how many you have sent over to Canada? I would like to know. They all send their love to you. I have nothing new to tell you. We are all in good health. I see there is a law passed in Maryland not to set any slaves free. They had better get the consent of the Underground Eail Road before they passed such a thing. Good night from your friend, JOHN W. JONES.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Enduring Connections - Record #160 from Abstracts from William Still's Underground Railroad

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Full Narrative This party were slaves, living near Kunkletown, in Worcester county, Maryland, and had become restive in their fetters. Although they did not know a letter of the alphabet, they were fully persuaded that they were entitled to their freedom.

# data[].attributes.headline
New Jersey Coast, Near Cape May Lighthouse

# data[].attributes.subject
New Jersey Coast, Near Cape May Lighthouse

# data[].attributes.body
Bateau group encounter friendly local osterman, who offers to take them to Philadelphia for 25 dollars. They accept, and pay him. -Still, pg. 529

# data[].attributes.body
Destination for Stebney Swan et. al. and Captain Robert Lee. Lee was later “suspected, arrested, tried, convicted, and torn away from his wife and two little children, and sent to the Richmond Penitentiary for twenty-five years”. -Still, pg 112

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Title
Escaping from Norfolk in Capt. Lee's skiff
Additional title: Escaping from Norfolk in Captain Lee's skiff.

Names

Reed, C. H. (Engraver)

Collection

Wallach Division Picture Collection

African-American History -- 1801s-1850s

Dates / Origin

Library locations

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection

Shelf locator: PC AFRA-H-180

Topics

Fugitive slaves -- United States -- 1850-1859

African Americans -- History -- 1800-1899

African Americans -- 1850-1859

Genres

Notes

Content: Written on border: "Slaves escaping, 1850s."

Source note: The underground railroad : a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, etc. (Philadelphia : Porter, 1872) Still, William (1821-1902), Author.

Physical Description

Extent: 1 print : b ; 12 x 13 cm. (4 3/4 x 5 in.)

Type of Resource

Still image

Identifiers

NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b17594435

Barcode: 33333159330873

Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): ba0a88b0-c52e-012f-211a-58d385a7bc34

Rights Statement

The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Item timeline of events

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Escaping from Norfolk in Capt. Lee's skiff

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
TitleEscaping from Norfolk in Capt. Lee's skiff Additional title: Escaping from Norfolk in Captain Lee's skiff. Names Reed, C. H. (Engraver) Collection Wallach Division Picture Collection African-American History -- 1801s-1850s Dates / Origin Library locations The Miriam and Ira D.

# data[].attributes.body
Captain Fountain, et al.

# data[].attributes.body
Anthony Blow

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Capt. Fountain et al.

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Skiff Group

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Skiff Group

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Enslavement: Skiff group: William Thomas Cope et al.

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Enslavement: Skiff group: William Thomas Cope et al.

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Lewes, DE, USA: William Thomas Cope, John Boice Grey, Henry Boice, Isaac White, sailed Skiff from Lewes DE to Jersey Shore. " The land route presented less encouragement than by water". “Having lived all their lives not far from the bay, they had some knowledge of small boats, skiffs in particular”
-Still, pgs. 481-82

Image by pressbooks.library.ryerson.ca

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Skiff group: “they were discovered by the Captain of an oyster boat whose sense of humanity was so strongly appealed to by their appearance that he was engaged to pilot them to Philadelphia”

-Still, pg. 482

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Portsmouth, VA, USA: Stebney Swan and John Stinger enslaved for Oysterman Joseph Carter. Anthony Pugh, Isabella, and Robert Emerson enslaved nearby. Free white Capt. Robert Lee sails his skiff with these slaves hidden in them

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"After arriving in Philadelphia, we went to Allen's mission, a colored church that helped escaping slaves. I stayed in Philadelphia until I was about 19 years old, then all the colored people were free"
-Library of Congress, Slave Narratives, 1937
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.080/?sp=67&st=image&r=-0.278,0.426,1.461,0.714,0

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Image 67 of Federal Writers' Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 8, Maryland, Brooks-Williams

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Jim Taylor: Encountered several abolitionist White men in town. “There were several white men in Chester who were very much interested in colored people, they gave us money to go to Philadelphia.”

-Slave Narratives, Vol 8, Pg. 64

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Disembark and travel on foot along Harriet Tubman path. "They ran the tug across the bay to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there beached the tug on the North side, followed a stream that Harriet Tubman had told them about” -Slave Narratives, Vol 8, pg. 63

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Stole the Tugboat when the captain was not looking. “Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy)." - Slave Narratives, Vol 8, Pg. 63

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Born 1847, St. Michael's Island. “My mother and father both were owned by a Mr. Davis of St. Michaels who had several tugs and small boats. In the summer, the small boats were used to haul produce while the tug were used for towing coal and lumber on the Chesapeake Bay and the small rivers on the Eastern Shore. Mr. Davis brought able-bodied colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats.”

-Slave Narrative Project. LoC, Vol 8, Pg. 64
https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.080/?sp=66&st=image&r=-0.352,0.161,1.678,0.82,0

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Image 66 of Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 8, Maryland, Brooks-Williams

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The Library of Congress is not aware of any copyright restrictions for the materials presented in this collection. U.S. Government employees created the materials in this collection. Generally speaking, works created by U.S. Government employees are not eligible for copyright protection in the Unite…

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Anthony Blow

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Bateau Group

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Anthony Blow

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John Hillis "was doubly happy when he learned that the "Majestic" was to make a trip to Philadelphia" -Still, pg. 500

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Skiff Group

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Bateau Group: Thomas Sipple (et. al) Destination

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Bateau Group: Thomas Sipple (et. al) Destination

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Philadelphia, PA, USA

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Bateau Group: Were assaulted by a boat full of slave catchers. Beat them and forced their retreat, no casualties, some injuries. “John received two shot in the forehead, but was not dangerously hurt” -Still, pg. 528

Image by New York Public Library Digital Collection

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Enslavement: Thomas and Mary Ann Sipple, Henry and Elizabeth Burkett, John Purnell, Hale Burton

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Enslavement: Thomas and Mary Ann Sipple, Henry and Elizabeth Burkett, John Purnell, Hale Burton

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Purchased a small bateau boat for six dollars in Kunkletown (Worcester County, MD, USA).

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Philadelphia, PA, USA

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Richmond, VA, USA:  Climbed aboard a steamship bound for Philadelphia. “A friend named Minkins, employed on the steamship City of Richmond, would undertake to conceal him on the boat” -Still, pg. 63

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Stebney Swan et. al

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Lear Green (1857) and William Peel Jones (1859) Enslavement

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Lear Green (1857) and William Peel Jones (1859) Enslavement

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Baltimore, MD, USA. “he was boxed up in Baltimore by the friend who received him at the wharf, who did not come in the boat with him” -Still, pg. 46.

Image by collections.digitalmaryland.org

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Stebney Swan, et. al.

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Philadelphia, PA, USA: "On arriving John's eyes were opened to see that he owed Mrs. Le Count nothing, but that she was largely indebted to him for years of unrequited toil ; he could not, therefore, consent to go back to her."
-Still, pg. 500

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East New Market, PA, USA: "The widow [Ms. Louisa LeCount] heard John's plausible story, and saw nothing amiss in it, so she consented that he should work on a schooner. The name of the craft was Majestic." -Still, pg. 500