1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Greetings everyone, Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: where we learn a smidgen of history every day. Today 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: is March. The day was March eighteen forty nine. An 5 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: enslaved man named Henry Brown packed himself up in a 6 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,520 Speaker 1: box and with the help of friends, mailed himself from 7 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: slavery in Virginia to freedom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Henry was 8 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: born in eighteen fifteen or eighteen sixteen at the Hermitage 9 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: Plantation in Louisa County, Virginia, and John Barrett was his owner. 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 1: Henry's life was markedly different from that of many other 11 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: people who were enslaved at the time. He knew and 12 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: grew up with his parents and his four sisters and 13 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,399 Speaker 1: three brothers. He was not whipped. As Henry learned more 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:09,039 Speaker 1: about slavery on other plantations, he discovered how terrible the 15 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: conditions on plantations could be. But it wasn't long before 16 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: Henry's life would be changed forever by one of the 17 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: cruel practices endemic to the institution of slavery, family separation. 18 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: When Henry was a teenager, John Barrett died and gave 19 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: Henry to his son William. William took Henry to Richmond 20 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,200 Speaker 1: to work in a tobacco factory, separating Henry from his family. 21 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: William promised Henry good treatment in a small sum of 22 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: money if he behaved well and worked hard. Years later, 23 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: Henry married an enslaved woman named Nancy, who was owned 24 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: by a banker named Mr. Lee. But Henry was once 25 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: again torn apart from a loved one when Nancy was 26 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: sold to Joseph cole Quit, then to a man named 27 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 1: Samuel Catrell. Cotrell basically extorted Henry, telling Henry that he 28 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 1: could stay with his wife and kids if he paid 29 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: him fifty dollars a year. Henry did so, and the 30 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: family lived together for years in a rental home, attending 31 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: the first African Baptist church. But in August, twelve years 32 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: into the marriage, Cotrell sold Nancy and the three Brown children. 33 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: At the time, Nancy was pregnant. On the day Nancy 34 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: had to leave for North Carolina, Henry held Nancy's hand 35 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:42,120 Speaker 1: for four miles before he said his final goodbye. Henry 36 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: was once again ripped away from his family. What happened 37 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: to Nancy and their children is unknown. It was at 38 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,639 Speaker 1: this point when Henry began to really resent the lack 39 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: of morality and goodness and supposedly Christian slave owners, and 40 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 1: he longed to escape slavery. He later wrote the following 41 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: One day, while I was at work and my thoughts 42 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: were eagerly feasting upon the idea of freedom, I felt 43 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: my soul called out to Heaven to breathe a prayer 44 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: to Almighty God. I prayed fervently that he who seeth 45 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: in secret and knew the inmost desires of my heart, 46 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: would lend me his aid in bursting my fetters asunder, 47 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,679 Speaker 1: and then restoring me to the possession of those rights 48 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: of which men had robbed me. When the idea suddenly 49 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: flashed across my mind of shutting myself up in a 50 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: box and getting myself conveyed as dry goods to a 51 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: free state, so Henry turned to James Caesar Anthony Smith, 52 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,880 Speaker 1: a free black man and fellow member of the First 53 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: African Baptist Church choir, for help. James Smith then reached 54 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 1: out to Samuel Alexander Smith, a white shoemaker, gambler, and 55 00:03:56,280 --> 00:04:00,720 Speaker 1: slave owner, to set up the escape. After they decided 56 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: that Henry would be shipped in a box by rail 57 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,840 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. Samuel Smith got in touch with James Miller McKim, 58 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: a leader of the Pennsylvania Anti Slavery Society who was 59 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:16,720 Speaker 1: involved in the underground railroad. Henry port sulfuric acid on 60 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,160 Speaker 1: one of his fingers that was already infected to get 61 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: off work, and on March Henry climbed into a wooden 62 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: box marked as dry goods that was three ft one 63 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 1: inch long, two ft wide, and two and a half 64 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: feet high. Henry was around five ft and ten inches 65 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: and two hundred pounds, so it was a tight fit. 66 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: He had a little water and some biscuits for the ride, 67 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,039 Speaker 1: and he had cut holes in the box for air. 68 00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: Samuel and James nailed him into the box, and Samuel 69 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: shipped it to Philadelphia through the Adams Express Company. The 70 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 1: trip took a grueling twenty seven hours, and along the 71 00:04:57,320 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 1: way Henry was turned upside down and thought he might die, 72 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: but he made it to the headquarters of the Philadelphia 73 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: Anti Slavery Society alive the next day. Henry later wrote, 74 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: I had risen as if it were from the dead. 75 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,880 Speaker 1: Months later, Samuel and James were arrested for trying to 76 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: ship another person to freedom. Samuel was sentenced to six 77 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: and a half years in prison, but James was released. 78 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: Henry Box Brown went on tours telling his story and 79 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 1: wrote a book with the abolitionist Charles Stearns called Narrative 80 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: of Henry Box Brown. Just before the Fugitive Slave Act 81 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,799 Speaker 1: of eighteen fifty past, which would require people who escaped 82 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: slavery and lived in free states to be returned to 83 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: their owners, Henry was motivated to leave the country because 84 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:53,039 Speaker 1: of a racist assault he had endured. Henry lived in 85 00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: England for twenty five years, performing acts about his escape, abolition, 86 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:02,719 Speaker 1: and eventually magic and sciences. He returned to the US 87 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: in eighteen seventy five with his second wife and daughter 88 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,239 Speaker 1: and stayed in the entertainment business. Years later, he moved 89 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: to Canada and likely died there in eighteen ninety seven. 90 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,440 Speaker 1: People who were enslaved used many different methods of escape, 91 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,960 Speaker 1: some successful and some not, but Henry's mail escape lives 92 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:28,240 Speaker 1: on as a testament to the ingenuity and determination many 93 00:06:28,279 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: people had to employ to find a way to freedom. 94 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:35,880 Speaker 1: I'm Eves Jeff Coote, and hopefully you know a little 95 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. If you 96 00:06:40,279 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: want to know more about Henry's life, listen to the 97 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: episode of Stuffy Mist in history class called The Life 98 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: and Magic of Henry Box Brown. And I'd like to 99 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: add that some sources claim he was shipped on March 100 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:57,480 Speaker 1: twenty nine and arrived in Philadelphia on March thirtie, including 101 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: the book that Brown wrote himself called The Narrative of 102 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 1: the Life of Henry Box Brown. But a letter James 103 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: Miller McKim wrote on March puts the shipping day at 104 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: March and other documents back that date up as well. 105 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,960 Speaker 1: And during his lifetime, Henry did have some critics. James 106 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: Smith criticized him for taking an English wife instead of 107 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: trying to find and purchase Nancy. Frederick Douglas also thought 108 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: that Brown ruined the chance for other enslaved people to 109 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: escape via shipping, since Brown had publicized his method. Thanks 110 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: again for listening, and we'll see you here again tomorrow. 111 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 112 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.