1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: I'm Sarah Dowdy and I'm de Blane Choker Boarding, and 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: we're going to continue with the black history mark game 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: we've been working on. And initially, when I was trying 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: to pick out a topic, I was thinking I would 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: do something on a slave rebellion, and there are a 8 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: lot of interesting slave rebellions out there. I was trying 9 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: to pick between, you know, which one I wanted to cover, 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,760 Speaker 1: but ultimately I ended up looking more into slave escapes, 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,279 Speaker 1: and there are a lot of interesting slave escapes to um. 12 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: Some are really well known, like Harriet Tubman obviously, others 13 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: are just kind of bizarre, like this guy Henry box Brown. 14 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: He literally mailed himself to freedom, so that's pretty cool. 15 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: But I don't know if we could talk about that 16 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: for an entire podcast. But finally I settled on the 17 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: story of Ellen and William Kraft because they had this 18 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 1: really interesting story. Uh, it's really inspiring, but there's also 19 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: an element of complete bizarness to it too. I don't 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,840 Speaker 1: know if that twist. Yeah, that's so much more eloquent 21 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,480 Speaker 1: way of putting it um a twist, and it's a 22 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: it's a pretty interesting one. And once I, once I 23 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: discovered their story, I knew, like the Bad had to 24 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: be the podcast for the week. Yeah. So it involves 25 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: a woman named Ellen who was twenty two year old 26 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: slave who appeared to be white, and she would disguise 27 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: herself as a young, sickly well off white man and 28 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: travel by train and steamer to freedom. And she was 29 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:41,280 Speaker 1: accompanied by her husband, William, who was playing a part 30 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: of a young man's Faithful slave. And the really just 31 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: mind boggling part about this to me anyway, is that 32 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: it was only eight days after thinking of this plan, 33 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: this escape plan that they hatched, that the couple was 34 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: completely free. Yeah, and I think the mind boggling part 35 00:01:57,360 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: to me is that they are escaping from making Georgia. 36 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 1: So it's one thousand miles from freedom or to freedom 37 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 1: to get to the free States. It's amazing. I just 38 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,080 Speaker 1: if you think about going that far, and we're going 39 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:15,959 Speaker 1: to talk about their journey and all of the slave 40 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: states they have to go through. This really long trip, 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: this really harrowing trip, in the obstacles that have to overcome. Yeah, 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: it's amazing. And that they were so um so ingenious 43 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: to think of this disguise, this masquerading Ellen as a 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: young man, and by doing that, breaking not only racial 45 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: and sex boundaries, but class boundaries as well, since she's 46 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: disguised as a pretty well off country gentlemanly cool story. Yeah, definitely, 47 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: and um, a lot of other people of their stories 48 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: as well. They went on to become Darlene's of the 49 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: Abolition movement, and they ended up publishing the narrative of 50 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: their journey called Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom. So um, 51 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: but the escape definitely wasn't easy, as we mentioned, Um, 52 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: it took a lot of planning, a lot of a 53 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 1: lot of nerve, a lot of nerve, definitely, And so 54 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,280 Speaker 1: we're gonna go a little bit into that right now. Yeah. 55 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,760 Speaker 1: And the reason, the reason why they were willing to 56 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: risk it, aside from just achieving their own freedom, is 57 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: that they really couldn't stand the idea of having their 58 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: own family someday and having it broken apart, having their 59 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: children sold off, because that's how their early family lives 60 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: had been. So. Ellen was born in eight in Clinton, Georgia, 61 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: and she was the daughter of her Master, Major James Smith, 62 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: and his slave, Maria Smith by racial slave, and she 63 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,080 Speaker 1: was often mistaken as a member of her master's white family, 64 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 1: which is something that his wife, the plantation mistress, did 65 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: not like it at all, and Maria suffered and Ellen 66 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:56,360 Speaker 1: suffered because of this. They were not treated well on 67 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: the plantation by the mistress. And uh so, finally, when 68 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 1: Ellen is eleven years old, the mistress finally gets rid 69 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: of her. She gives her as a wedding present to 70 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: her own daughter, and so Ellen moves. She separated from 71 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: her mother, and uh she's all her family are and 72 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: all her family, yeah, and she's away from this original 73 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: very cruel mistress though. So the mistress's daughter lives in Macon, Georgia, 74 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,719 Speaker 1: where it is where Ellen eventually moves, and it's there 75 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,160 Speaker 1: that she meets William Kraft, who, at age sixteen, he's 76 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: already seen his family torn apart piece by piece as well. 77 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 1: First his master sells off his mother and father as 78 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: they grow older. Then they sell off his brother and 79 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,440 Speaker 1: then a sister to William and another brother were apprenticed 80 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: to trades, though I think his brother became a blacksmith 81 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: and he learned cabinet making and actually became quite skilled 82 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: at it, so that was positive for him. Before his 83 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 1: apprenticeship was actually over, though, his master sold his brother 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: and mortgaged William as well as his fourteen year old 85 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: sister for cotton speculating money. The problem was, though, when 86 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: he eventually couldn't make that payment, the children had to 87 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: be sold off two different men to get the money 88 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: to make up that difference. So William actually had to 89 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: watch his sister stand on an auction block. They were 90 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: both auctioned off, and it's really poignant how he describes this. 91 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: We're talking a little bit about that earlier, about watching 92 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: his sister being taken away and she's being loaded onto 93 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:26,440 Speaker 1: a cart to go home to her new master, and 94 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: he just kind of has to watch. And since he's 95 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: being auctioned off at the time, he can't even say 96 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: goodbye Toime. He just wants to say goodbye. He asked 97 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,120 Speaker 1: another slave to ask the cart to wait for a second. 98 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: He asked the guy who's auctioning to let him go 99 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: and say goodbye, and nobody lets him. He just has 100 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: to watch her drive away. It's very probably one of 101 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: the saddest parts of the narrative. Yeah, heartbreaking, But then 102 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: he's purchased by a bank cashier who sends him back 103 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: to his apprenticeship. So that's kind of where he ends up. 104 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: But in the narrative, William actually later admits that he 105 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: and Ellen postpone their marriage for quite some time, even 106 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:03,679 Speaker 1: after they met and got to know each other, because 107 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: they were afraid of having children that could be bought 108 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: and traded as well. That was sort of a deal. 109 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: If a mother had children and she was a slave, 110 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: they were sort of already part of that way of life. Yeah, 111 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: they were the property of whoever owned her. And he 112 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 1: even writes about this in the narrative quite poignantly. He writes, quote, 113 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,400 Speaker 1: but after puzzling our brains for years, we were reluctantly 114 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: driven to the sag conclusion that it was almost impossible 115 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: to escape from slavery in Georgia and travel one thousand 116 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: miles across the slave states. We therefore resolved to get 117 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:40,400 Speaker 1: the consent of our owners, be married, settled down in slavery, 118 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,200 Speaker 1: and endeavor to make ourselves as comfortable as possible under 119 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:48,560 Speaker 1: that system. But you know, no surprise here. They obviously 120 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: don't settle down. They keep on thinking of a way 121 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: to escape this system, even though they are so far 122 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: away from free states. And finally, in December eight will 123 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: Lamb hatches a plan, and it's a pretty amazing plan. 124 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,400 Speaker 1: It's that well, Ellen could pass as white and William 125 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: could act as their slaves. But white women didn't travel 126 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: unaccompanied with a male slave. It just wasn't proper, It 127 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: wasn't how things worked, and it wouldn't fly. So for 128 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: this plan they're trying to cook up to actually work, 129 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 1: Ellen would have to pass off not only as a 130 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 1: white person, but as a man, because that's no surprise 131 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: at all, a young white country gentleman traveling with his slave. Well, 132 00:07:35,120 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: there was another problem as well too that they had 133 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: to overcome. Even after they figured out the perfect costume, 134 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: time was a big factor. The best opportunity for them 135 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: to leave would be at Christmas time, since that was 136 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 1: the time when slaves were most likely to get time 137 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: off from their masters. So after a little convincing, Ellen 138 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: decides to go for this plan, decides maybe maybe it'll work, 139 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: and they quickly start to go to work on her 140 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: disguise that they've devised. Yeah, when she decides she's okay 141 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: with it, they really swing into action. It's funny though. 142 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: In the narrative, William makes a really strong point of 143 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: emphasizing that Ellen only agreed to this disguise, this cross 144 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: dressing disguise, because it was the only way possible. She 145 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,720 Speaker 1: was not like into it or something. And I just 146 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: think that's that's it's kind of funny to to look 147 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: at certain um ideas that that people try to put 148 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 1: into their own narrative. Make sure they set the story straight. 149 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: He wants her to still seem proper and not tarnish 150 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,200 Speaker 1: her character at all, that this thing that she had 151 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: to do, Yeah, a proper Victorian lady. But in the meantime, 152 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: you know, and when this was actually going down, they 153 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: were working hard on a disguise that would make her 154 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: a convincing man. And so Ellen, who worked as a 155 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 1: seamstress for her family, um got to work on sewing 156 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 1: men's pants. And then William went about talent. He went 157 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: to all these different suppliers so he wouldn't attract suspision 158 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: by buying too much from one person, and bought her 159 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: hat and a coat and these high heeled men shoes 160 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: to give her a little bit of extra height. And 161 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: even my favorite touch, I think is green spectacles because 162 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:14,800 Speaker 1: she says that, you know, she's going to be in 163 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 1: the company of men quite a bit, and she might 164 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: feel a little more comfortable if she at least had 165 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: some kind of eye shake, you know, something to hide 166 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: behind or at least make her feel more comfortable. Yeah, 167 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: it was kind of an ingenious touch, and they it's 168 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 1: interesting because they really thought about the little details like that. 169 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: They thought about everything. They even just so she wouldn't 170 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 1: be asked to register their names and log books because 171 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: they were literate, they couldn't read and write. At that point, 172 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 1: Ellen made a sling for her right arm so that 173 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: she wouldn't be asked to sign things. She'd have a 174 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,600 Speaker 1: good excuse, right and to hide her beardless face and 175 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: avoid long conversations with people, she wrapped her cheeks and 176 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: chin and poultices and a white handkerchief. So good way 177 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: to deter anyone who wants to get too close to you. Definitely, 178 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: and right before they left on December one that same year, 179 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: with their you know, they've obtained their passes from their masters. 180 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: William cuts Ellen's hair about shoulder length, and all of 181 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: a sudden, down she looked like this very sickly well 182 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: off country gentleman. It was a convincing disguise for sure. 183 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: And so that morning they left their house where they 184 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: left Ellen's house, and they parted ways because obviously they 185 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: didn't want anybody to catch them going from her house 186 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:34,920 Speaker 1: right to the train station, and they arrived there separately. 187 00:10:35,440 --> 00:10:38,240 Speaker 1: It's interesting, I've actually been to this making train station. 188 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:41,960 Speaker 1: I think it's a museum today, but I feel like 189 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: I've got a little part of history here. And um, 190 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,840 Speaker 1: Ellen buys their tickets, a ticket for her and for 191 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 1: her slave, her supposed slave. She got into one of 192 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: the nicer cars. William boarded one of the cars for slaves, 193 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: and um, they're almost lost right from the start, all 194 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,319 Speaker 1: this careful planning they've put into it the past few days, 195 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: they're almost betrayed before they even leave town. Yeah, it's 196 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: a really scary experience. Actually, William spots the owner of 197 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,599 Speaker 1: the cabinet shop that he's worked for standing on the platform, 198 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: and the guy actually has a little suspicion and starts 199 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: walking through the train. But luckily he doesn't notice Ellen 200 00:11:23,480 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: at all. I guess was in fact pretty good. Um, 201 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: and the whistle blows right before he gets to William's car, 202 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: So pretty close call there. Apparently the cabinet maker ums 203 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,880 Speaker 1: his suspicions are allayed as soon as he realizes they're 204 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: not on the train, or as soon as he thinks 205 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:43,080 Speaker 1: they're not on the train, goes home, doesn't give it 206 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: any thought for the next few days, since they do 207 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: have passes. But meanwhile Ellen is running into a little 208 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: trouble of her own. She realized that she was sitting 209 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: right next to a guy named Mr Cray who was 210 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: a friend of her master's, and a guy who had 211 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: been at the house recently for dinner, and who knew 212 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: her since she was a child, so somebody who seems 213 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: like pretty likely he could recognize her. So she doesn't 214 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: want to chat with him because she's afraid that if 215 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: he hears her and looks at her, it'll be enough 216 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 1: to betray who she really is. So she feigns deafness, 217 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,079 Speaker 1: and he asks a few times how about this weather 218 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,440 Speaker 1: along the lines of that, and she doesn't answer, and 219 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: finally he just about shouts it, and she's, oh, it's nice, 220 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: and then he assumes she's deaf and doesn't try to 221 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: chat any longer. Um, But she spends the rest of 222 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: the trip listening to him and his friends talk about 223 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:40,040 Speaker 1: cotton and slaves and abolitionists. So my wedding bullet snow doubt. Yeah, 224 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:43,000 Speaker 1: I must have been a very, very uncomfortable ride. So 225 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: they reached Savannah safely, and from there Ellen and William 226 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: take a steamer bound for Charleston. Ellen is the master 227 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:52,800 Speaker 1: sleeping in the birth of course, and William is on 228 00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: cotton bags on the deck. So it's here where the 229 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 1: charade gets really interesting if you didn't already think it 230 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: was interesting enough before to explain Ellen's bandages, her early bedtime, 231 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,199 Speaker 1: and the lack of social mingling on board the steamer, 232 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: William spreads the word around that his master had terrible 233 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,160 Speaker 1: rheumatism and that they were on their way to Philadelphia 234 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: for medical consultation. So William plays the part two publicly 235 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: heating the bandages and really talking about it a lot. Yeah, definitely, 236 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: gossiping almost about the situation with so called master. And 237 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:27,960 Speaker 1: he did the job so well that people really took notice. 238 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: At this point, the captain told Ellen, while she was disguised, 239 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: you have a very attentive boy, sir, but you had 240 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:36,560 Speaker 1: better watch him like a hawk when you get onto 241 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: the north and a slave dealer actually came up to 242 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: her an offered to take William off of her hands, 243 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 1: since she'd certainly lose him when she got on Free Soil. Yes, 244 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: I try to buy William from her. I mean, it's 245 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,719 Speaker 1: kind of ridiculous. I think she says I couldn't get 246 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 1: on without him. Yeah, but Ellen is is pretty popular too, 247 00:13:54,320 --> 00:14:00,079 Speaker 1: is this young gentleman invalid? There's this chatty young officer 248 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 1: who sort of tries to befriend her and give her 249 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: pointers on how to treat her slave. He hears her 250 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: thanking William and tells her you never talked to your 251 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: slave like that. You you have to be harsh with them. 252 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: And you can imagine what Ellen is probably thinking to that. 253 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 1: But once they get to Charleston, she stays in this 254 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: nice hotel and the staff preens on her him as 255 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: they think for being so sickly, you know, warming up 256 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: the pultices, and and William is still playing that part, 257 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:34,920 Speaker 1: spreading the word, making everyone think this, this young man 258 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: really needs to be carefully attended to. And uh. But 259 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: they run into another hitch here because from Charleston they're 260 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: supposed to take a steamer all the way to Philadelphia, 261 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 1: which would be their final free destination. But unfortunately the 262 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,880 Speaker 1: steamer that went to Philadelphia didn't run in the winter, 263 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: and to make things even scarier for them, the last 264 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: run that had been made, uh stowaway had been found 265 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: out a runaway slave. So suspicious, every everyone is kind 266 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: of on edge, and I'm sure they were at this 267 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: point too, So they changed their plan and instead they 268 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 1: end up taking the steamer to Wilmington, North Carolina instead, 269 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: but they run into trouble there too. The ticket seller 270 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: was not cool with them signing their names William Johnson 271 00:15:22,840 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: and slave or what they had been doing with him 272 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,960 Speaker 1: signing the name for them right exactly. He was suspicious 273 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:31,480 Speaker 1: because there had been kind of a crackdown on whites 274 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:34,240 Speaker 1: at that time traveling with unidentified black slaves with no 275 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: proof of ownership. They could have been abolitionists after all. Yeah. 276 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: The idea was that any white abolitionists could come to 277 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: the South, pick up a slave, pretend it was his own, 278 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,080 Speaker 1: and then travel north freedom. So they wanted proof of 279 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: ownership and all this documentation, so consequently travelers would be 280 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: way laid for quite some time. Um, And that's that 281 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: looks like what was going to be Maybe happening to 282 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: to Ellen and William. Fortunately that wasn't the case, though, 283 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: because several of Ellen's new cronies that she'd met on 284 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,000 Speaker 1: her previous rides stepped up to the plate. The young 285 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:14,200 Speaker 1: officer vouched for Mr Johnson, pretending to know him very 286 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,400 Speaker 1: well that he knew his kin, and the steamboat captain 287 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: volunteered to write the name for Ellen. So they were 288 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,800 Speaker 1: on board and in Wilmington's by morning. Yeah. And once 289 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: they were in Wilmington's they kept on going, taking a 290 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: train to Richmond, Virginia. And Ellen rode in this car 291 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: with an old gentleman and his two daughters. And this 292 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: might be one of the lightest or potentially, I mean, 293 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: if you can have a light part of this narrative, 294 00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: I think this is it. Ellen is in this car 295 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: with this old gentleman and his two lovely daughters, and again, 296 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: all three of them are really concerned about this poor 297 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: sickly young man and his rheumatism. And judging by the narrative, 298 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: it seems almost like the two daughters get a bit 299 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:03,640 Speaker 1: of a crush on this young Mr Johnson. Um, I 300 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,880 Speaker 1: must have just felt so sorry for him. But William 301 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: writes quote they fell in love with the wrong chap 302 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,360 Speaker 1: And I like William's little interjections of humor throughout the narrative. 303 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,840 Speaker 1: But even when things are going pretty well, you know this, 304 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: this old country gentleman giving his recipe for rheumatism relief 305 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 1: to Ellen. Uh, there's still some close calls. And it Richmond. 306 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: This old woman misidentified William that's her runaway slave, and 307 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: Ellen has to correct her, say, no, that's my slave, 308 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,200 Speaker 1: not your ned. And after this there's one little bit 309 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: in the narrative that I find a little hard to swallow. 310 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 1: And if you've read, if you've read several slave narratives before, 311 00:17:46,119 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 1: you know that sometimes it breaks down into a dialogue, 312 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,360 Speaker 1: which is more like a novel than than a personal account. 313 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,639 Speaker 1: And this is this is that spot in Ellen and 314 00:17:56,680 --> 00:18:01,680 Speaker 1: Williams narrative, because reluctant to talk, Ellen, who has been 315 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: feigning deafness and tying her head up with poultices, apparently 316 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: asks the slew appointed questions to this woman who has 317 00:18:10,680 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: had her own slave run away and is looking for him, 318 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: Questions like where was your slave married? What happened to 319 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:22,360 Speaker 1: his wife? Oh, you've sold his wife? Things like that, 320 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:24,560 Speaker 1: trying to sort of make the old woman see the 321 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: wrong of her ways, almost get a rise out of 322 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: her and get it right. Yeah, so not only engaging 323 00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: in a long conversation, but a contentious conversation trying to 324 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,080 Speaker 1: make this woman realize what she'd done. I don't know 325 00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: if I if I totally buy that it might have 326 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: been more of um to the point conversation if she 327 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: was having it. It does seem a little tough to believe. 328 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: But nevertheless, they pressed on to d C from there 329 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: and took the train to Baltimore. At this point where 330 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: at Christmas Eve, it's the last slave port before freedom. 331 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 1: But because it was the last slave port before Pennsylvania, 332 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: it was really tough to get through. Ellen and William 333 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,640 Speaker 1: were removed from the train. Ellen had to speak with 334 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,800 Speaker 1: the railroad officer who asked them to prove ownership at 335 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:16,399 Speaker 1: that point, and they argued that. She argued, in fact, 336 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: that she had already bought tickets in Charleston to go 337 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: all the way through to Philadelphia. But the guy wouldn't budge, 338 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:26,280 Speaker 1: and when the departure bell rang, he suddenly just broke 339 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:29,119 Speaker 1: he he'd let them go. He says, this guy is 340 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: clearly not well, let's just let him through. I don't 341 00:19:32,200 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: see any harm in it. Yeah, I mean, they just 342 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:38,119 Speaker 1: scraped by very very close call. And there's a really 343 00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: frightening part in the narrative when Ellen, who has been 344 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:48,280 Speaker 1: arguing admirably with this uh, this railroad officer, finally doesn't 345 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:50,560 Speaker 1: know what else to say and just looks at William, 346 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: and they're both terrified they're going to do something, make 347 00:19:53,640 --> 00:19:57,280 Speaker 1: some faux paw or just be betrayed by their emotions 348 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: finally and be lost right here at the very end. 349 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: But yeah, Fortunately they get on the train and they 350 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,399 Speaker 1: arrived in Philadelphia free and as soon as they were 351 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,960 Speaker 1: out of the station, you can imagine the relief, Ellen 352 00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: breaks down sobbing, and they traveled to an abolitionist run 353 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: boarding house in the city. Interestingly, a free black man 354 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:20,920 Speaker 1: on the train had told William about it, urging him 355 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,439 Speaker 1: to to run away from his master as soon as 356 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:26,359 Speaker 1: he got onto Free Soil. It proved to be useful information, 357 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,360 Speaker 1: and once they were in Pennsylvania, they were really welcomed 358 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: by the abolitionist network and kind of shuttled about two 359 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:38,200 Speaker 1: different towns because even though Pennsylvania was a free state, 360 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:40,400 Speaker 1: it was not a safe place to be because it 361 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 1: was a border state. It was someplace where slave hunters 362 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: could run in essentially grab slaves and and take them 363 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 1: back into the South. So luckily, with the help of 364 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: this abolitionist network there they kind of dodge around a 365 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 1: little bit. They're shuttled about, and during that time they're 366 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:00,440 Speaker 1: giving reading lessons. Finally they're sent to Boston though, since 367 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,400 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania is unsafe, but Boston wasn't exactly safe either, especially 368 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 1: after something called the Fugitive Slave Act of eighteen fifty. Now, 369 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: Congress passed this law in exchange for Southern support of 370 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: California entering the Union as a free state and the 371 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: slave trade ending in the district. It meant that federal 372 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: commissioners were allowed to hunt down runaways in any state, 373 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,280 Speaker 1: no matter how long the slave had been free. Yeah, 374 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: so it put Ellen and William at risk even in 375 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:31,320 Speaker 1: relatively safe Boston. And uh, not long after that, Ellen 376 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: and Williams former masters hire these slave hunters named Willis 377 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 1: Hughes and John Knight, and they essentially stalk the couple. 378 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: I mean, they are looking for them and presumably would 379 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: have taken them back to make in by fourth and 380 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:49,880 Speaker 1: abolitionists are hiding Ellen and William and again shuttling them 381 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: about to keep them away from these slave hunters. And 382 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:57,119 Speaker 1: this is this is another harrowing detail of this story. 383 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,720 Speaker 1: But when they're finally legally married and November seventh, eighteen 384 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:05,080 Speaker 1: fifty because of course, um, their first marriage wasn't a 385 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: legal ceremony. But when they're finally legally married, the officiant 386 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:13,000 Speaker 1: gave William a revolver and a knife and told him 387 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: defend yourself and defend your wife with this if slave 388 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: hunters try to get you. Pretty scary. So they end 389 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:24,200 Speaker 1: up moving to England. While they're there, they have five kids, 390 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,959 Speaker 1: they have a boarding house and an import business for 391 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,960 Speaker 1: West African goods. They end up publishing their memoirs we 392 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: already know, and they release Ellen's portrait in her disguise, 393 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: and this sells really, really well, so well in fact 394 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:40,280 Speaker 1: that William mentions he hopes he might use the funds 395 00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:43,480 Speaker 1: one day to buy his sister out of slavery. So 396 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,480 Speaker 1: this is one thing that he's held onto, the sad 397 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: idea of seeing a sister say goodbye, and um, he 398 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: ends up finding out where she is in Mississippi and 399 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: trying to find a way to to get her back. Yeah, 400 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: and about the portrait too, I mean you can you 401 00:22:57,119 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 1: can search for this online and find it. But there's 402 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:04,159 Speaker 1: Ellen in her top hat and she's depicted without the 403 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: facial pulses, so you can you can see what she 404 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: looks like. I think they made the decision that picture 405 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: might sell a little better. Um. But yeah, they're they're 406 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,960 Speaker 1: doing well for themselves in England and they really used 407 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 1: their fame and connections to promote the anti slavery cause too. 408 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: They even appeared in the Crystal Palace exhibit, which was 409 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: of course the fifty one London World's Fair, and it 410 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,719 Speaker 1: wasn't in sort of the exhibitionist way you might expect 411 00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:37,400 Speaker 1: them to be shown as as part of a World's fare. Instead, 412 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,640 Speaker 1: they just walked around the Crystal Palace arm in arm 413 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: with really famous prominent abolitionists of the opposite gender. So 414 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: I think it it caused quite a stir because for 415 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: for Ellen and the abolishnists, she's walking with it. It 416 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: looks like a white man and a white woman just 417 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: strolling about London together, US equals and and that was 418 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: the that was the point of of having their display 419 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 1: like that, to show that the abolitionists in England considered 420 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: them their equals. They respected their story of escape, so, 421 00:24:11,119 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 1: like you said, they have some respect to there, and 422 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 1: they seem to have acquired a pretty good life. But 423 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: after the fifteenth Amendment was ratified in eighteen seventy, they 424 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,120 Speaker 1: actually came home to Georgia with two of their kids 425 00:24:21,200 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: and set up a school for former slaves and a farm. 426 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: And Devlena and I were speculating on this a little 427 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: earlier about why why they came back, and I mean, 428 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,120 Speaker 1: I can I guess I can see a few different reasons. 429 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 1: They might have wanted to live in their home again 430 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: as free people. Um, they might have wanted to prove 431 00:24:38,840 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: a point like we can go back and so we will, 432 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,480 Speaker 1: we don't have to be fugitives anymore. But I guess 433 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: I kind of think the most likely explanation is maybe 434 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: they wanted to help their their people, so slave former 435 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: slaves from Georgia who could get the opportunities they had gotten, 436 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:58,040 Speaker 1: like learning how to read and write and established trades. 437 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: I don't know, though, Yeah, we can't know for sure, 438 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:02,960 Speaker 1: but what we do know is that things weren't that 439 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:05,320 Speaker 1: easy for them really. When they came back. Their farm 440 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: ended up failing because cotton prices started to drop, their 441 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:11,439 Speaker 1: school had to close, and William was actually accused at 442 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: one point of using school funds for personal for personal gain, 443 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,760 Speaker 1: and the KKK threatened them as well. I mean, that's 444 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,280 Speaker 1: not that surprising, I guess, but it occurred also, and 445 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:25,120 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety ended up moving to Charleston to live 446 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,840 Speaker 1: with their daughter. Ellen died in eighteen nine and William 447 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 1: in n Yeah, and out of this whole narrative. If 448 00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,960 Speaker 1: if you go and read the whole thing, which is 449 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: all available online, I'd recommend doing it. It's not only 450 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,919 Speaker 1: an interesting story, but it is interesting to hear William's 451 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 1: own words. But we've got to point out that you 452 00:25:44,400 --> 00:25:47,199 Speaker 1: don't really get Ellen's out of the story, out of 453 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: the whole thing, because even though she's the one who 454 00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:52,920 Speaker 1: is keeping up this elaborate ruse, you know, the one 455 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: arguing with the railroad officer and feigning deafness and chatting 456 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: with the young army officer, it's it's very much William's 457 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: story in the account, and the stress of it was 458 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,639 Speaker 1: apparently so much that she she was sick for quite 459 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 1: some time after they arrived in the Free State. So 460 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: I wish we had a little more from her, you know, 461 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: I wish we did too, especially because apparently there were 462 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,719 Speaker 1: rumors circulating that she had turned herself over to an 463 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: American in London and that she missed slavery. Yeah. Well 464 00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: that's one point though, where we where we do get 465 00:26:29,040 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: to hear a little bit from her, and it's such 466 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:34,880 Speaker 1: an interesting glimpse into into who this woman was, who 467 00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 1: had sort of faded into the background after the exciting escape. 468 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: You know, she had assumed the role of the proper 469 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: Victorian wife who when William would present their story during lecture, 470 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: she would stand quietly by his side and did a 471 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: little bit of work out out of the home, but 472 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: mostly was working as a wife and mother. It is 473 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,280 Speaker 1: interesting when we finally get to hear her stand up 474 00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,199 Speaker 1: for her for her own freedom. Yeah, and we have 475 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 1: a quote from her here. She says, I never had 476 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: the slightest inclination whatever of returning to bondage, and God 477 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 1: forbid that I should ever be so false to liberty 478 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,240 Speaker 1: as to prefer slavery in its stead. In fact, since 479 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: my escape from slavery, I have gotten much better in 480 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:19,120 Speaker 1: every respect than I could have possibly anticipated. Though had 481 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,960 Speaker 1: it been to the contrary, my feelings in regard to 482 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,080 Speaker 1: this would have been just the same, for I had 483 00:27:24,119 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: much rather starve in England a free woman than be 484 00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: a slave. For the best man that ever breathed upon 485 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: the American continent, yours very truly, Alan Craft. I think 486 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 1: that's probably the best way to end a podcast like 487 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:41,560 Speaker 1: this in Ellen's own word, I hardly agree. And um, yeah, 488 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 1: So if you if you have any other great runaway 489 00:27:45,240 --> 00:27:47,159 Speaker 1: slave stories you want to share with us, I mean, 490 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,080 Speaker 1: I think these are are so fascinating and touching. We'd 491 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,680 Speaker 1: love to hear your favorites or maybe some that you'd 492 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: like us to try to cover at some point. You 493 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:59,280 Speaker 1: can contact us through Twitter at Misston History. You can 494 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,480 Speaker 1: send us an email at History Podcast at how stuff 495 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:05,680 Speaker 1: works dot com, and we're also on Facebook. And if 496 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: you want to learn a little bit more about how 497 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: the more classic runaway slave escape went not this elaborate disguise, 498 00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,640 Speaker 1: although there were a few other women who cross stressed 499 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: their way to freedom Clarissa Davis and Mary Milbourne and 500 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,919 Speaker 1: Maria Weims. But if you want to learn more of 501 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: the classic story about the underground railroad, we do have 502 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: an article on that. It's called How the Underground Railroad Worked, 503 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: and you could find it by searching for Underground Railroad 504 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: on our homepage at www dot how stuff works dot com. 505 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,280 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics, visit 506 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:49,120 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. To learn more about the podcast, 507 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: click on the podcast icon in the upper right corner 508 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: of our homepage. The How Stuff Works iPhone up has 509 00:28:54,960 --> 00:29:02,200 Speaker 1: a rise. Download it today on iTunes. Can be