WEBVTT - S04 Episode 5 Extra: Deadly Skins 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:15.920 Welcome to Unexplained Extra with Me Richard McClain Smith, where 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:18.479 for the weeks in between episodes, we look at the 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.159 stories that, for one reason or other, didn't make it 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:26.520 into the show. In last week's episode, pre Sense, young 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.280 couple Lisa and Andy Wyrick were haunted by the prospect 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:33.400 that their daughter had been cursed with the ability to 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:38.040 see people who had long since died. This story was 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:40.640 used as the basis for a two thousand and thirteen 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:46.360 film titled, rather paradoxically, The Haunting in Connecticut two Ghosts 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:51.320 of Georgia, where in real life no specific reason was 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.680 ever given for the apparitions that were apparently witnessed at 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:58.720 the Wyrick property, the film took a decidedly different attact. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:03.720 Rather than a random selection of previous local residents, the 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:07.160 spirits were taken to be former slaves who had tried 0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:10.000 to escape the region, only to be murdered by the 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:14.080 man who had promised to help them. The story draws 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:18.039 heavily on the history of the Underground Railroad, a network 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:21.880 of secret routes and safe houses established in the late 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:26.039 eighteenth century to help slaves escape the South and seek 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:28.480 a better life in the Free States of the North, 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:33.800 as well as in Mexico and Canada. This incredible organization, 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.880 led by free born African Americans as well as former 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:42.360 slaves such as Harriet Tubman and other abolitionists such as 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:46.560 Levi Coffin, is credited with helping over a hundred thousand 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:52.480 individuals gain their freedom. The Underground Railroad was so called 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.920 partly as a reference to the secrecy of the organization, 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.880 but also because its secrecy was maintained by the use 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:05.600 of code words such as conductors, stations, and station masters 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:10.600 to refer to the railroad's members and safe locations. There 0:02:10.680 --> 0:02:14.560 is little doubt that Georgia was a slave state. However, 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:18.320 anyone trying to escape the region was unlikely to have 0:02:18.360 --> 0:02:22.960 been helped by the Underground Railroad, the reason being it 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:27.519 was simply too dangerous. As one of the lower South 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:33.560 states topped to the north by Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Virginia, 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:37.560 and Kentucky, it would require having to travel in secret 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.800 through at least two other states in order to reach 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:45.520 the safety of the North. Most would have considered it 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:51.320 an impossible journey. In eighteen forty eight, however, seventeen years 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:56.440 before slavery was legally outlawed in the United States, two individuals, 0:02:56.960 --> 0:03:03.240 Ellen and William Craft, attempted it regardless. Their story is 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:07.880 one of the most extraordinary, daring and heartbreaking escapes to 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:20.720 freedom the world has ever known. Before recounting the Craft's story, 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.320 it is essential to understand the context under which it 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:29.080 took place. Around the year eighteen fifty, they were estimated 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:32.400 to be roughly four million slaves in the United States, 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.600 and half a million of those were in Georgia. Just 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:40.880 under a third of the adult white male population of 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:44.680 the state owned a slave, but most belonged to the 0:03:44.720 --> 0:03:49.520 slave holding elite, which constituted roughly fifteen percent of the 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:56.040 white adult male population roughly twenty thousand individuals. Though only 0:03:56.040 --> 0:04:00.160 a small minority, this fifteen percent of the population or 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:05.080 did a deeply disproportionate amount of power, not only as landowners, 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:09.000 but also because two thirds of the states legislators were 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:14.000 taken from this minority. In other words, those who owned 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:18.880 slaves could dictate the state's political and economic path without 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:24.520 ever needing the cooperation of non slaveholding legislators. So when 0:04:24.520 --> 0:04:27.800 it came to the question of abolition, the quest to 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:31.400 end slavery in the United states. It goes without saying 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:35.240 that these men, whose power and wealth were entirely dependent 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:40.400 on slavery, had little sympathy for it. The way to 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:44.320 justify their position legally was to treat their slaves like 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:48.080 any other property that they owned, which is to say, 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:53.400 while slavery remained legal, any attempt to escape from it meant, 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.440 in the eyes of the law, that you were perpetrating 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:03.120 the theft of property, the property being yourself. The consequences 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.120 of being caught attempting to flee from bondage as a 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:10.719 slave were stark and would invariably include, at the very 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:17.160 least torture, if not rape, and even death. In some cases, 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.200 a slave owner would prefer to maim or kill their 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:26.120 own slaves rather than allow them their freedom. Punishments meted 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:30.120 out to captured slaves could range anywhere from whipping to 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:34.040 having ears cropped, to the severing of hamstrings or the 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:37.800 tendons close to the knee. To prevent further attempts that escape, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.760 it was also common to have individuals branded on the face, 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.039 on the shoulder, and even the butters, so that other 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:51.440 locals could easily identify a former runaway slave, and such 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:55.920 actions were permitted and in some cases encouraged by law, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:00.480 which says nothing of the difficulty for any slave on 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:05.479 the run in evading capture in the first place. It 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.680 was also legal in a number of slave states for 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.640 any white person to stop a black individual if they 0:06:12.640 --> 0:06:15.159 had reason to suspect they were not where they were 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:19.840 supposed to be. As the law stated, it shall be 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:25.520 lawful for such white persons to pursue, apprehend, and moderately 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:29.960 correct such a slave, And if such slave should strike 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:35.520 or assault such white person, such slave may be lawfully killed. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:47.880 It was a right often taken with relish. William Craft 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:52.080 was born into slavery in Macon, Georgia, eighteen twenty four. 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.280 By age ten, he had watched helplessly as his mother 0:06:56.320 --> 0:07:00.080 and father were separated and sold off to different owners 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:04.360 many miles apart, unlikely to ever see each other again. 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.520 By sixteen, two brothers and two sisters had also been 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:13.360 sold to raise bank debts for his owner. However, since 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:16.920 his owner was ultimately unable to pay these debts, William 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:21.080 was essentially confiscated by the bank and soon after became 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:25.920 the property of one of the company's cashiers, having already 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:29.440 been apprenticed to a carpenter in Macon, it was decided 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:34.240 he should be kept on in that role. In eighteen 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:39.200 twenty five, Maria Ellen Craft's mother was raped by her owner, 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:44.680 Major James Smith, and consequently fell pregnant. She gave birth 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:48.520 to Ellen the following year, creating the not unusual predicament 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:53.240 that Ellen's father was also her slave master. As a 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:57.240 further consequence of this crime, Ellen's skin was unusually light 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:01.320 for a black slave, even more so as her mother 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:06.560 had also been born under similar circumstances. As a child 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:11.200 slaving for Major Smith's family, Ellen was frequently mistaken for 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:15.600 one of his wife's children. Angered by this as well 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.040 as her being a constant reminder of her husband's infidelity, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:24.400 Missus Smith decided to take action. At the age of eleven, 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.120 Ellen was taken from her mother and given as a 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:30.320 gift to one of mister and Missus Smith's daughters, who 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:34.480 lived in Macon as a wedding present. It was there 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:40.320 that Ellen would later meet William, stealing moments together whenever 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:44.480 they could. The pair soon fell in love, and as 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.040 their relationship grew, it was only natural that their thoughts 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.400 should turn to their future life together and the prospect 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.760 of perhaps one day starting a family. Both knew only 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.840 too well, however, that any child of theirs would, by 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:03.200 law or so become the property of Ellen's masters, and 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.960 this was not a situation either was willing to accept. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:12.320 Though they fantasized about escaping to freedom, both knew it 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:16.200 would be a near impossibility. Not only were they over 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.360 seven hundred and fifty miles from the nearest free state 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.800 if they were caught, the punishment for attempting it, at 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:27.560 the bare minimum being separated from each other did not 0:09:27.840 --> 0:09:32.800 bear thinking about. In the end, they put all thought 0:09:32.840 --> 0:09:35.560 of escape behind them and resolved to eke out what 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.480 joy they could in the company of each other. In 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.760 eighteen forty six, after getting permission from their owners, Ellen 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:48.520 and William were married. But as each day passed and 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:52.000 the desire for a child grew stronger and stronger, the 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:56.480 injustice of it all only became more intense. Until one 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:10.240 day William hit on a plan. Since Ellen had frequently 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:14.480 been mistaken for being white, perhaps they could travel unnoticed, 0:10:14.520 --> 0:10:18.280 he thought, provided Ellen played the part of William's master. 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.600 The big catch being that, since it was virtually unheard 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.400 of for a white woman to travel alone, with a 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:29.160 black slave, Ellen would have to do this while also 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:33.560 pretending to be a man. Over the next few months, 0:10:33.960 --> 0:10:40.080 the pair cautiously made their preparations. As a carpenter, William 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.640 was allowed to keep a small percentage of his earnings, 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:47.200 and so he began to save them up. Then, always 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:50.880 at a regular times and from different shops, he started 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:55.000 to buy all the necessary pieces for Ellen's disguise, who 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:59.600 in turn made the required adjustments, stashing each item away 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:02.679 in a chest of drawers that William had made for her. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:08.200 After securing permission to take a few days leave, something 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:11.880 which was only very occasionally granted during the Christmas holidays, 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:18.000 the pair waited patiently for their day to arrive. On Tuesday, 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:22.000 December twentieth, Ellen and William spent the night together in 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:25.439 Ellen's room, terrified at the prospect of what they were 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:30.680 about to do. Then, as the hour drew near, Ellen 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:36.959 put on her disguise. This included a fine jacket and trousers, 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:39.960 as well as a top hat and a sash of tartan, 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:44.200 the preferred accessory of many a slave owner. The costume 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.080 was finished off with a pair of glasses. But then 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:52.400 something occurred to Ellen. Neither she nor William could read 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:56.400 or write it, being in fact illegal for anyone to 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:59.079 teach a slave how to do so as part of 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:04.800 a systematic effort to prevent organizing against their oppressors. If, 0:12:04.880 --> 0:12:07.920 as was custom, Ellen was required to put her name 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.200 in a boarding or customs house directory, they would be 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:17.520 found out immediately. Then she had an idea. Taking some material, 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.560 she made a sling for her arm and a bandage 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:23.360 to place around her head. If she was asked to 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:26.280 write her name, she would claim to be too infirm 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.760 to do it. The bandage on her head would hide 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:33.640 her lack of facial hair and hopefully dissuade people from 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:38.120 talking to her. With the hour having arrived, they blew 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:41.040 out the candles and quietly made their way to the 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:45.360 front door as the faint glimmer of freedom beckoned from beyond. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.560 But as William stepped forward to leave, Ellen remained fixed 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:54.199 to the spot. Suddenly it had all come rushing up 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:57.400 to her, the impossibility of what they were trying to do, 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:02.040 and the price if they were to get aught. She 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.640 looked to William, her eyes welling with tears, and silently 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:11.720 shook her head. But then she thought of everything they 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.920 had suffered, of what her future children would suffer, and 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:19.840 everyone else that had ever suffered. Then she wiped away 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:24.120 the tears and looked her husband in the eye. Come 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.600 it is getting late, she said, Let us venture upon 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:34.000 our perilous journey. And with that they were gone into 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:40.160 the early morning light. Are you always taking care of 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.680 your family? Do you often take care of others and 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.960 not yourself? Now it's time to take care of yourself, 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.840 to make time for you. You deserve it. 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Download the app or 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:36.520 visit teledoc dot com forward slash unexplained podcast Today to 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:49.680 get started, That's teladoc dot com slash Unexplained podcast. Their 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.400 first task was to make it out of Macon without 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:57.120 William being spotted. Though they were confident Ellen would evade capture. 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.200 Since William was only meant to be taking time time 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.400 off for Christmas, any evidence that he was leaving the 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:08.400 city would be immediately suspect. They knew also that they 0:15:08.440 --> 0:15:12.200 didn't have long before both their absences would be noticed. 0:15:13.080 --> 0:15:18.200 Every part of the plan had to run perfectly That 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:23.119 morning to avoid suspicion. The pair traveled to the station separately, 0:15:24.360 --> 0:15:27.400 Having arrived at the earliest. William had to endure a 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.080 painful weight looking out for any sign of Ellen, fearing 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:35.840 every second that her cover had been blown. Finally catching 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:39.160 sight of her, he stood wait as she successfully purchased 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:43.080 the tickets, handing one silently to him before making her 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:47.240 way to the first class carriage. William then stowed away 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:49.920 the luggage and went to sit with the other slaves 0:15:50.000 --> 0:15:54.840 in the back carriage. Now separated but joined in the 0:15:54.880 --> 0:15:58.840 quickening rhythm of their hearts, the pair sat and waited, 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:02.160 counting the seconds as the rest of the passengers milled 0:16:02.160 --> 0:16:07.960 about looking for their seats. Just then William's face froze 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.400 in horror. The carpenter he had been apprenticed to was 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:17.400 steadily making his way down the platform, clearly looking for somebody. 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:22.560 As the man's agitation intensified, William watched with terror as 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.760 the man jumped onto the train and began charging through 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:29.840 the carriages, checking the face of every passenger he passed. 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.440 William turned to the window as the man drew closer 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:38.600 and closer, until when on the verge of entering his carriage, 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.480 the sharp peep of a whistle was heard, followed by 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:47.080 the ringing of the train's disembarking bell, and then it 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:52.280 started to shudder forward. The man took one last desperate look, 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.960 then wrenched open the door and jumped onto the platform. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:08.720 Seconds later, the train pulled away the station up ahead 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:12.800 in first class. Unaware of the earlier close call, Ellen 0:17:12.960 --> 0:17:16.119 was also trying to avoid eye contact, staring out at 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.400 the window when she felt the presence of another passenger 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:23.640 sit down beside her. It was Ellen's turn now to 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:28.280 freeze in fear. Since the man was mister Cray, an 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:32.840 old friend of her former master. It's a very fine morning, sir, 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.560 came a voice. I said, a fine morning, sir, he 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:43.600 repeated with irritation, Ellen pretended not to hear. When he 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.720 said it again, louder, this time, drawing embarrassed looks from 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:53.760 fellow passengers. Ellen finally plucked up the courage to face him. 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:57.600 Slowly turning round, she kept her head low and muttered 0:17:57.600 --> 0:18:02.040 a quiet yes before turning back to the window. Thankfully, 0:18:02.440 --> 0:18:07.560 mister Craig didn't recognize her. That evening, they arrived in 0:18:07.640 --> 0:18:12.439 Savannah and took a steamship bound for Charleston in South Carolina. 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:16.520 Later that night, Ellen was able to avoid the customary 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:20.800 drink with guests by pretending to suffer about of rheumatism. 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:24.359 Once settled in her cabin, William stepped out onto the 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.399 deck to ask a steward where he was supposed to sleep. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:32.040 The steward replied there was no place for people like him, 0:18:32.280 --> 0:18:36.679 slave or otherwise. William eventually settled on top of some 0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:39.919 bags of cotton, close to the warmth of the ship's funnel, 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:46.199 and sat there until dawn. The following morning, Ellen, no 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:50.160 longer able to avoid conversation, was forced to take breakfast 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:54.040 with the rest of the first class passengers. Arriving in 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.359 the dining room, she discovered she would also be sitting 0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:02.240 next to the captain. Throughout the conversation, as William cut 0:19:02.240 --> 0:19:05.720 the food for his pretend master, the crafts were treated 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:09.200 to the full litany of ideas and language one can 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:13.720 imagine of wealthy slave owners of the time. At one point, 0:19:14.080 --> 0:19:17.240 one guest, concerned that Ellen, who they took, of course 0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:20.280 to be a man, might lose his slave if he 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.640 were to travel to Pennsylvania, offered to take William off 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.879 his hands there and then, in the deepest tone she 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:31.200 could muster, Ellen thanked the man for his kind gesture, 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:35.439 before excusing herself at the first opportunity and making her 0:19:35.480 --> 0:19:40.520 way back to her cabin. Later, Ellen was invited to 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.560 take a drink with the military officer, who was also 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:46.200 concerned at the way she appeared to spoil her slave, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:50.240 not once having even reprimanded him in all the time 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.439 she had been on board the vessel. After finally arriving 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:59.600 at their destination having avoided detection, Ellen and William proceeded 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:02.959 to an near by hotel to get some food before 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.840 returning to the port to board a steamer bound for 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:11.879 Wilmington in North Carolina. Everything went smoothly until Ellen was 0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:14.960 asked to write her name. When she asked if the 0:20:14.960 --> 0:20:19.440 ticket officer could do it for her, he refused. There 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:21.800 was just something about the man stood in front of 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:25.840 him that didn't seem quite right. He was just leaning 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:28.560 in to get a closer look at his face when 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:30.879 a voice called out from the back of the queue. 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:34.320 It was the military man from the previous boat trip, 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.560 demanding to know what the hold up was on. Seeing 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:41.760 Ellen having trouble at the front, the man scolded the 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:45.680 ticket officer and demanded immediately that she'd be allowed through. 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:59.239 The officer duly obliged. From Wilmington, Ellen and William, who 0:20:59.320 --> 0:21:02.680 by now had been declared missing back in Georgia, continued 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:07.800 by train through Richmond, Virginia, and on toward Maryland, each 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:14.879 hour bringing them simultaneously closer to freedom but also possible capture. Thankfully, 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.120 the next part of their journey passed without major incident, 0:21:18.760 --> 0:21:21.960 with the exception of William being at one point mistaken 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.199 for someone else's slave, until finally, on the eve of 0:21:26.280 --> 0:21:31.800 Christmas Day, they poured in to Baltimore. Ellen and William 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:37.040 were now only forty miles away from the nearest free state. However, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:39.919 being one of the last major cities so close to 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:43.840 the Pennsylvania border, Baltimore was also one of the most 0:21:43.960 --> 0:21:48.679 heavily policed for fugitive slaves looking to sneak across the border. 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.760 Later that day, for what they hoped would be the 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:56.800 last time before they made it across the border, Ellen 0:21:56.960 --> 0:22:00.639 approached the ticket office window and brought two tickets for 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:05.280 the overnight train to Philadelphia. On receiving them, she handed 0:22:05.280 --> 0:22:08.080 one to William, and together they headed on to the 0:22:08.119 --> 0:22:12.199 train once again, William helping her into the first class 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:17.320 carriage before taking his place in the slave carriage. Moments later, 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:21.000 Ellen was surprised to see William standing at the carriage 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:24.800 door again. It was all she could do to suppress 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:27.320 a smile at the thought that in only a few 0:22:27.359 --> 0:22:31.199 hours time they could be free, but something on the 0:22:31.200 --> 0:22:35.720 look of William's face told a different story. William asked 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.760 his master to join him on the platform. Ellen promptly 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:42.520 got up and stepped off the train to find a 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:46.960 police officer waiting to speak with her outside. The man 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:51.919 then invited her into his office while the passengers watched 0:22:52.000 --> 0:22:55.600 from inside the train The officer explained that he could 0:22:55.640 --> 0:22:58.880 not let Ellen travel across the border unless she could 0:22:58.880 --> 0:23:03.920 provide proof that she was William's rightful owner. Was to someone, 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:07.679 perhaps in Baltimore, that could vouch for them, the officer asked, 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:13.280 Ellen shook her head. The officer looked both William and 0:23:13.359 --> 0:23:16.800 the disguised Ellen up and down, then asked them both 0:23:17.119 --> 0:23:21.119 to stay where they were. Just then, the train's departure 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:25.440 bell rang out and a commotion started up. It was 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:29.359 the passengers on the train, demanding that the officer let 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:33.639 the man travel with his slave. After all, couldn't he 0:23:33.680 --> 0:23:37.679 see he was an invalid. The officer arrived back in 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:42.040 the room, unsure what to do. Finally he made a decision. 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:46.199 He handed the tickets back to Ellen and destructed the 0:23:46.200 --> 0:23:49.560 clerk to inform the conductor that they were now permitted 0:23:49.840 --> 0:24:00.560 to board the train. That night, the pair across the 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:05.000 border into the Free state of Pennsylvania. A few hours later, 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.080 the train stopped at the banks of the Susquehanna River. 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:12.560 Here the passengers were required to disembark in order to 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:15.560 take a ferry to the other side, before meeting up 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:19.600 with the train again and continuing on their way to Philadelphia, 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:22.800 but when Ellen arrived at the other side, there was 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:27.200 no sign of William anywhere. While trying not to display 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:30.560 her panic, she asked the other passengers if anyone had 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:36.000 seen him. Ironically, since most of them were abolitionists, none 0:24:36.000 --> 0:24:40.480 of them were inclined to help. She soon realized that 0:24:40.560 --> 0:24:46.280 he had most likely been discovered or abducted. In any case, 0:24:47.000 --> 0:24:50.760 he was now gone, with the train due to leave. 0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:54.679 Ellen had a choice to make. Since she had the 0:24:54.680 --> 0:24:58.080 tickets and what was left of their money, leaving without 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:02.560 him would mean almost certainly never seeing him again, but 0:25:02.680 --> 0:25:07.280 if she stayed, she might too risk capture. She had 0:25:07.320 --> 0:25:13.359 no choice but to continue. Utterly devastated and inconsolable, but 0:25:13.560 --> 0:25:17.000 unable to reveal even a hint of it, Ellen boarded 0:25:17.040 --> 0:25:20.520 the train and took her seat in the first class carriage. 0:25:22.560 --> 0:25:26.040 Just then a voice called out from the back of it. 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:32.200 Ellen turned to find William standing in the entrance. I 0:25:32.320 --> 0:25:36.680 heard you were looking for me, sir, he said, without flinching. 0:25:37.080 --> 0:25:40.680 Ellen replied, I was afraid you had run away. William, 0:25:41.960 --> 0:25:45.840 never your master, he said, before turning to take his 0:25:45.920 --> 0:25:51.800 seat in his usual carriage. After arriving in Philadelphia, William 0:25:51.800 --> 0:25:56.280 and Ellen were introduced to mister Berkley Evans, a prominent abolitionist, 0:25:56.640 --> 0:25:58.679 who invited the couple to stay with him at his 0:25:58.760 --> 0:26:03.119 family while they out their next plans. It was the 0:26:03.160 --> 0:26:05.680 first time either of them, as they put it later, 0:26:06.119 --> 0:26:10.159 had experienced an act of disinterested kindness from a white person. 0:26:11.520 --> 0:26:14.800 From there, the couple were given safe passage to Boston, 0:26:15.040 --> 0:26:18.480 where they settled for two years, with William working as 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:23.520 a carpenter and Ellen as a seamstress. However, with the 0:26:23.600 --> 0:26:30.280 government passing the Fugitive Slave Bill in eighteen fifty, everything changed. Now, 0:26:30.600 --> 0:26:33.040 regardless of whether a slave had made it to a 0:26:33.080 --> 0:26:37.080 free state or not, inhabitants of free states were required, 0:26:37.160 --> 0:26:41.520 under law, under heavy penalty, to refuse food and shelter 0:26:41.840 --> 0:26:46.080 to any fugitive slaves, but also to assist in seizing 0:26:46.280 --> 0:26:51.800 the perceived perpetrators. Judges required to officiate over the matter 0:26:51.840 --> 0:26:55.240 of returning a fugitive slave to their owner would be 0:26:55.280 --> 0:27:07.040 paid commission to do so. As soon as this bill 0:27:07.160 --> 0:27:11.600 was passed, Ellen and William's owners took out warrants and 0:27:11.720 --> 0:27:14.200 placed them in the hands of the United States Marshal 0:27:14.400 --> 0:27:19.879 to execute. A few weeks later, two slave hunters mister 0:27:19.960 --> 0:27:24.320 Hughes and mister Knight arrived in Boston intent on capturing 0:27:24.359 --> 0:27:29.000 them with the help of the Vigilance Committee, an organization 0:27:29.080 --> 0:27:32.680 of abolitionists. Ellen was taken out of the city to hide, 0:27:33.280 --> 0:27:36.080 while William had little choice but to stick it out 0:27:36.320 --> 0:27:39.840 in their home. Thankfully, it was not legal for the 0:27:39.880 --> 0:27:43.480 bounty hunters or u S Marshals to break into anyone's property, 0:27:43.920 --> 0:27:49.560 and so attent stalemate ensued. Frustrated by it, the craft's 0:27:49.640 --> 0:27:54.520 old masters even wrote to President Fillmore for assistance, who, 0:27:54.600 --> 0:27:57.600 in turn, agreeing that the pair should be arrested and 0:27:57.720 --> 0:28:01.600 sent back to slavery, arranged for a small military force 0:28:01.920 --> 0:28:06.680 to assist the marshal in making the arrest. Miraculously, however, 0:28:07.080 --> 0:28:10.640 Ellen and William managed to evade capture for over two 0:28:10.680 --> 0:28:14.879 weeks before finally making it out of Boston, and with 0:28:14.920 --> 0:28:18.800 the assistance of more abolitionists, eventually succeeded in making it 0:28:18.840 --> 0:28:22.480 all the way to Liverpool in the United Kingdom and 0:28:22.600 --> 0:28:27.800 to complete freedom at last. The couple remained in England 0:28:27.840 --> 0:28:31.359 for almost two decades, where they had five children. Together, 0:28:32.760 --> 0:28:35.560 with the resolution of the United States Civil War and 0:28:35.640 --> 0:28:38.959 the abolition of slavery, they were finally able to return 0:28:39.080 --> 0:28:44.200 to their homeland. In the years that followed, the couple 0:28:44.240 --> 0:28:47.480 were frequently invited to lecture on the circumstances of their 0:28:47.520 --> 0:28:52.120 extraordinary escape. Such was the etiquette of the time, only 0:28:52.160 --> 0:28:55.640 William was ever permitted to talk, while Ellen had to 0:28:55.680 --> 0:29:00.400 be content to sit silently on the stage next to him. 0:29:00.480 --> 0:29:03.280 In the first few years after making it to the UKAE, 0:29:03.880 --> 0:29:07.360 many slavers, keen to protect their profits and drum up 0:29:07.360 --> 0:29:11.120 support for maintaining the slave trade, resorted to good old 0:29:11.160 --> 0:29:15.680 fashioned fake news in their efforts. Pamphlets were made up 0:29:16.040 --> 0:29:20.240 stating that since escaping their captivity, the crafts had fallen 0:29:20.240 --> 0:29:23.520