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50 - My Story of the Civil War and the Under-Ground Railroad by Marvin Benjamin Butler · My Story of the Civil War and the Under-Ground Railroad

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  Speaker 1: Chapter forty nine of My Story of the Civil War
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  Speaker 1: and the Underground Railroad by Marvin Benjamin Butler. This LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Quote and the King
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  Speaker 1: shall answer any say unto them. Verily, I say unto you,
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  Speaker 1: inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren,
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  Speaker 1: even these least ye did it unto me Unquote Anna
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  Speaker 1: the Slave Girl, chapter forty nine. At the age of eighteen,
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  Speaker 1: Anna was a very beautiful girl. She had handsome brown eyes,
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  Speaker 1: rich dark hair, and teith resembling a double row of pearls,
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  Speaker 1: and through her veins coursed some of the best blood
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  Speaker 1: of Virginia. Mister Brandon and his master lived near the
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  Speaker 1: little village of Camden, Virginia. He had inherited a large plantation,
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  Speaker 1: well stocked with negroes, mules and fast horses, and with
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  Speaker 1: all was a great sport and a very reckless man.
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  Speaker 1: He bet on elections, gambled with professionals, lost heavily at
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  Speaker 1: the races, and drank too freely. From eighteen fifty to
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  Speaker 1: fifty two he found himself so involved in debt that
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  Speaker 1: to save his credit and honor, he was compelled to
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  Speaker 1: sell some of his slaves. So Anna and five field
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  Speaker 1: hands were sold to the agent of our Art Shrimp
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  Speaker 1: and Company of Mobile, Alabama, to fill up their stockyards.
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  Speaker 1: When the sale was completed, they were chained together with
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  Speaker 1: a few others, picked up in the neighborhood and shipped
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  Speaker 1: like a drove of mules to Mobile. On the opposite
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  Speaker 1: side of the street from mister Brandon's and some forty
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  Speaker 1: rods nearer the village lived the Honorable Marshall C. Van Camp,
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  Speaker 1: and on the next lot to the east lived Squire Mason.
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  Speaker 1: These two men were very intimate friends and for years
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  Speaker 1: were partners in the real estate business. Messrs Van Camp
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  Speaker 1: and Mason were Wesleyan Methodists from Puritan stock and regarded
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  Speaker 1: the whole system of slavery as wicked and sinful. Anna
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  Speaker 1: had been a frequent caller at both of these homes
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  Speaker 1: and highly respected and kindly treated by every member. The
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  Speaker 1: Van Camps had one daughter, an only child about Anna's age,
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  Speaker 1: and between the two a warm friendship sprang up in
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  Speaker 1: childhood and lasted until irma Van Camp was stricken down
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  Speaker 1: with fever, and, after a week of suffering, died in
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  Speaker 1: Anna's arms. The poor girl was then heartbroken and desolate,
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  Speaker 1: and as often as possible called on the bereaved parents,
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  Speaker 1: where she found relief and sympathy, and still another great
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  Speaker 1: sorrow followed. Her only friends, the van Camps and Masons,
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  Speaker 1: sold their business and property and located in Mobile, about
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  Speaker 1: one month before Anna was sold. Something like six weeks
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  Speaker 1: after reaching Mobile, mister van Camp was passing through the
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  Speaker 1: slave bends of Shrimp and Company, and off in a
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  Speaker 1: dark corner, all alone, he saw a girl that resembled Anna.
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  Speaker 1: She was crying and sobbing and wringing her hands as
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  Speaker 1: if in utter despair. Why Anna, is it possible? Said
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  Speaker 1: the judge. How came you here? Oh, mister van Camp,
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  Speaker 1: God surely sent you to me. I am almost dying
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  Speaker 1: from sorrow and despair, and my heart is breaking. I
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  Speaker 1: was sold to pay masters gambling debts and brought to
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  Speaker 1: this den by a slave trader and chain gang. Then
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  Speaker 1: she dropped on her knees before him, while a fresh
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  Speaker 1: fountain of tears rained down her face and cried out, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: mister van Camp, will you save me? Oh? Can you
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  Speaker 1: buy me? I will serve you so faithfully, you and
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  Speaker 1: missus van Camp, you are so good and kind. I
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  Speaker 1: will work day and night for you as long as
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  Speaker 1: I live. I will pay you back in faithful service
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  Speaker 1: many times. But Anna, said mister van Camp. You know
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  Speaker 1: I never owned a slave. I can't. It's all wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Oh you need not call me your slave, said Anna.
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  Speaker 1: Buy me and let me serve you until I have
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  Speaker 1: paid the last farthing of cost. And then I'll serve
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  Speaker 1: you as long as you live. If you will give
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  Speaker 1: me a home. I can never this shame and degradation.
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  Speaker 1: Since I came here, I have been sent to the
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  Speaker 1: whipping post twice, and each time was stripped of my
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  Speaker 1: clothing and given thirty lashes on my bare back by
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  Speaker 1: a brute. Because I couldn't eat and sing and dance
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  Speaker 1: and laugh with the others. The trader says he will
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  Speaker 1: stop my crying or kill me. I can't stop. My
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  Speaker 1: heart would break if i'd stop, No I know, said
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  Speaker 1: mister van Camp. Take courage, don't cry any more. You're
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  Speaker 1: very sick. Now, I'll see what I can do and
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  Speaker 1: be back in an hour. The judge call at the
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  Speaker 1: office of Art Shrimph, and in a friendly manner, said, Art,
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  Speaker 1: what are you doing with Brandon's Emma? I just passed
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  Speaker 1: through your cattle pin, and found her off by herself
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  Speaker 1: in a dark corner, crying herself to death. I've bought
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  Speaker 1: her thinking she was a choice piece of goods, but
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  Speaker 1: pleasing stick, she won't eat and cries all the time.
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  Speaker 1: I've had her whipped twice severely and did no good.
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  Speaker 1: I hardly know what to do with her. By her, Judge,
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  Speaker 1: I'll give you a bargain. She's a fine cook. I
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  Speaker 1: buy and owned a slave Art and shut myself out
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  Speaker 1: of heaven. I don't know much about heaven, said Art,
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  Speaker 1: but I'd like to sell her before she gets there.
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  Speaker 1: You'll sell her pretty soon, then, for she'll not live
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  Speaker 1: forty eight hours in her present condition. She's burning up
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  Speaker 1: with fever now and so weak she can hardly stand
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  Speaker 1: on her feet. What is your price, well, judge, you
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  Speaker 1: may have her for twelve, No Art, she may not
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  Speaker 1: live with the best of care a week, and I'll
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  Speaker 1: have the expense of a casket and burial. I'll give
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  Speaker 1: eight because I pity the girl and possibly may be
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  Speaker 1: able to save her life. Call it nine, judge. No
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  Speaker 1: eight is enough for a girl standing on the edge
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  Speaker 1: of the grave. Had she been a horse or even
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  Speaker 1: a dog, as sick as she is, you would have
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  Speaker 1: had all the doctors in the city this year. I
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  Speaker 1: tell you, Art, she has cried and is in such
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  Speaker 1: despair now that her brain is burning up. And all
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  Speaker 1: that you have done for her was to give her
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  Speaker 1: sixty lashes and threatened to kill her if she didn't
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  Speaker 1: stop crying. If you say eight, I'll take her home,
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  Speaker 1: put her to bed, and sent for our doctor at once.
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  Speaker 1: There's not a minute to lose. Well take her then,
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  Speaker 1: and good luck to you, judge. When the bill of
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  Speaker 1: sale was made out and signed, and the check drawn
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  Speaker 1: up and signed, Van Camp went back through the slave
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  Speaker 1: pen and, finding Anna, he said, kindly, come, Nna, you
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  Speaker 1: are our girl. Now I have bought you. Come with me.
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  Speaker 1: He supported her to the door and with help placed
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  Speaker 1: her in a cab. But Anna never knew how she
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  Speaker 1: got out of that dark room, and had no recollection
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  Speaker 1: of the ride to her new home on East Bay Street,
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  Speaker 1: where she was placed on a soft bed in a nice, large,
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  Speaker 1: well ventilated room. The family physician was there and pronounced
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  Speaker 1: it a critical case of brain fever and prescribed absolute
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  Speaker 1: quiet for many hours. In days her delirium lasted, she
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  Speaker 1: imagined herself in the slave pen or at the whipping post,
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  Speaker 1: and would often get under the blankets to hide from
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  Speaker 1: the brute who gave her those sixty lashes. She often
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  Speaker 1: begged for Irma to come and get her. I am
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  Speaker 1: dying here in this foul din, she would say, come
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  Speaker 1: and get me, Irma, and let me die in your arms,
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  Speaker 1: as you didn't mind. On the eighth day, the raving
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  Speaker 1: stopped and she closed her eyes in natural sleep. When
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  Speaker 1: she awoke, the mother van Camp was at her side.
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  Speaker 1: Their eyes met, and Anna returned her smile. There there, Anna,
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  Speaker 1: don't try to talk. You have been very sick, but
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  Speaker 1: you are better now. Rest, dear child, You are at home.
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  Speaker 1: This is your home now and shall be as long
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  Speaker 1: as you live. You are our girl, and we need you,
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  Speaker 1: so rest and sleep and live for us. Dear child.
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  Speaker 1: We gave Irma back to God, and he has given
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  Speaker 1: you to us. A week later, the judge sat reading
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  Speaker 1: in Anna's room, and she was sitting in the big
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  Speaker 1: rocking chair while bolstered up with pillows and cushions. Mother
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  Speaker 1: van Camp came in, stood behind Anna's chair, stroked her
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  Speaker 1: hair a few minutes, and then sat down by her side.
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  Speaker 1: Why those tears Anna, you are certainly gain very rapidly.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be discouraged. You'll soon be well. Oh yes, I
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  Speaker 1: know it, Auntie. But I was just thinking as you
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  Speaker 1: came in, how good you had been to me and
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  Speaker 1: taking me out of that sleave pen where I heard
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  Speaker 1: nothing but whipping, screaming, swearing, fiddling and dancing. And how
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  Speaker 1: I thought then that God had forgotten and forsaken me,
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  Speaker 1: and all hope was dying and despair was seizing my brain.
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  Speaker 1: When mister van Camp came up to me so unexpectedly
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  Speaker 1: and spoke so kindly to me, just when I was
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  Speaker 1: sinking down lower lower, He said, come man, come with me.
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  Speaker 1: You are our girl now. And that was almost the
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  Speaker 1: last I knew until I came to myself in this room,
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  Speaker 1: in a nice clean bed, with you watching over me.
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  Speaker 1: And for many days I don't know how many you
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  Speaker 1: and he had washed over me, while my brain seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be a big ball of fire burning me up.
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  Speaker 1: Through all this, you have patiently and tenderly nursed me
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  Speaker 1: back to life. And now Andy, my heart is so full.
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  Speaker 1: Will you not let me shed a few tears? As
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  Speaker 1: I can express my gratitude in no other way During
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  Speaker 1: this brief recital. The judge closed this book, while occasionally
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  Speaker 1: a big tear rolled down his face. Aunt van Camp
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  Speaker 1: took one of Anna's hands in hers, and with the
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  Speaker 1: other stroked her hair, and when Anna had ceased talking, said, there, Anna,
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  Speaker 1: dear child, we understand how you feel, and we know
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  Speaker 1: all about how you suffered from your old master and mistress,
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  Speaker 1: and how you have suffered since they sold you. And
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  Speaker 1: we well remember too, when our erma was sick, how
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  Speaker 1: you sat up with her night after night, and then
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  Speaker 1: did your full work every day, for no one, not
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  Speaker 1: even I her own mother, could handle her as tenderly
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  Speaker 1: as you. And then too, we have not forgotten that
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  Speaker 1: our girl made us promise that, should it ever be possible,
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  Speaker 1: that we must do for you as we would have
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  Speaker 1: done for her had she lived. In trying to keep
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  Speaker 1: this promise, Anna, God is blessing us in the same
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  Speaker 1: ratio that we are helping you. And then, as Aunt
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  Speaker 1: van Camp kissed her tenderly, she continued, there, dear child,
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  Speaker 1: we understand all you'd like to say, but now we
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  Speaker 1: are anxious to see a little more rich red blood
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  Speaker 1: come back in your face and hear your old musical
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  Speaker 1: laugh and hear you sing as you and Irma sang
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  Speaker 1: back in the old home. What we have done and
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  Speaker 1: are doing for you is a privilege, and you can
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  Speaker 1: reward us a thousand times in love and affection. So
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  Speaker 1: brighten up to your child and throw off this burden. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I will try anthe to cheer up. But you and
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  Speaker 1: Master have treated me so kindly, so differently. Everything seems
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  Speaker 1: so new and strange, so different from the old life,
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  Speaker 1: that I felt burdened and overwhelmed with obligation, and felt
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  Speaker 1: that I ought to thank God and you with every breath. Emma,
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  Speaker 1: said the judge as he sat down by her side
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  Speaker 1: and took her hand in his. It's proper and our
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  Speaker 1: duty to always thank God for all our blessings. But
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  Speaker 1: now you must throw off this burden of obligation to
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  Speaker 1: us for our sakes and your sake, and live for God,
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  Speaker 1: yourself and us. We need you to fill the place
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  Speaker 1: made boyd by the loss of our dear girl. And
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  Speaker 1: now Anna, let me tell your kindly this once. Please
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  Speaker 1: never call me master. We have but one master here
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  Speaker 1: is mine, and yours. Call me Marshal or mister van
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  Speaker 1: Camp or judge or uncle or father, whichever seems to
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  Speaker 1: express your regard for me the best. Then Anna slipped
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  Speaker 1: her arm around the judge's neck, planted a kiss upon
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  Speaker 1: his cheek, and said, while glad tears glistened in her eyes,
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  Speaker 1: and in inexpressible joy illumined her pale face, Oh, will
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  Speaker 1: you let me love you as your own daughter did
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  Speaker 1: and be to you what she was as I loved her?
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  Speaker 1: So dearly? May I and can I take her place
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  Speaker 1: and call you father? And call anti van Camp mother,
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  Speaker 1: and thus helped heal your sore hearts? Or yes, dear child,
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  Speaker 1: they both responded, and in thus consenting, the hearts of
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  Speaker 1: these good old people were healed of a great sorrow.
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  Speaker 1: And the effect of this interview on Emma was truly magical,
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  Speaker 1: for in another week her laugh was heard ringing through
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  Speaker 1: the house, and the roses were coming back to her cheeks,
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  Speaker 1: and each day she seemed to grow more beautiful, graceful,
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  Speaker 1: and useful to these old people. The most frequent callers
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  Speaker 1: at the van Camp home or mister Mason and lady
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  Speaker 1: mister john Ward, who owned a foundry and machine shop
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  Speaker 1: only a few blocks away, and a mister Fairfield and
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  Speaker 1: old acquaintance back in Virginia, born and raised in the
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  Speaker 1: same neighborhood with the Van Camps, Mason's and Anna. Mister
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  Speaker 1: Fairfield traveled in disguise, but these people knew very well
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  Speaker 1: to what noble purpose he was devoting his life, energy,
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  Speaker 1: and fortune. Some three weeks after Anna's recovery, mister Van
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  Speaker 1: Camp presented her with a double locket with a gold chain,
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  Speaker 1: very rich and beautiful in design and finish, with his
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  Speaker 1: and Missus Van Camp's portraits. In the case and on
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  Speaker 1: the lid was nicely engraved Anna Eleanora van Camp, and
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  Speaker 1: on the other was engraved from father and Mother van Camp.
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  Speaker 1: In presenting this, he said, now, my daughter, you have
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  Speaker 1: a name of your own, and never use the name
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  Speaker 1: of Brandon, for it was not yours and it has
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  Speaker 1: been disgraced. Anna impulsively threw her arms around his neck
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  Speaker 1: and placed a daughter's kiss upon his forehead, and while
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  Speaker 1: tears of gratitude started from her eyes, she replied, dear father,
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  Speaker 1: I will honor the name you have given me as
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  Speaker 1: long as I live, So help me God. Missus Stowe
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  Speaker 1: says in Uncle Tom's cabin quote, there are in this
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  Speaker 1: world many noble fathers and mothers. When earthly hopes have
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  Speaker 1: been laid in the grave with many tears, the seed
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  Speaker 1: from which spring and affection so warm and so strong
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  Speaker 1: that it can only be satisfied when healing bleeding hearts
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  Speaker 1: and soothing the sorrows of the lowly, the friendless and
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  Speaker 1: oppressed unquote. Of such were mister and Missus Bancamp, And
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  Speaker 1: of such is the kingdom of heaven. Four years had passed,
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  Speaker 1: and Anna sat in her room with her head resting
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  Speaker 1: on her hand, thinking, as she often did when alone,
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  Speaker 1: comparing the old life with the new. Oh, what peace
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  Speaker 1: and happiness, she thought, I have enjoyed in this home.
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  Speaker 1: If I could always have such a home, I'd like
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  Speaker 1: to live a thousand years just four years ago today,
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  Speaker 1: she said, since Father van Camp took me out of
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  Speaker 1: that foul slave pen. Oh is this new life real
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  Speaker 1: or is it a dream? I'm afraid it's too good
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  Speaker 1: to last. How long can father and mother live? His
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  Speaker 1: health has failed in the last years. He is quite feeble.
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  Speaker 1: Then a thought flashed through her mind like an electric current. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: if they should die, what then? What? Then? This so
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  Speaker 1: startled her that she sprang to her feet and cried
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  Speaker 1: out aloud, Oh, if they should die, God pity me,
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  Speaker 1: just as Mother van Camp entered the door and caught
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  Speaker 1: her in her arms. Why Anna, what in the world
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  Speaker 1: has excited you so you are trimbling like a leaf?
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  Speaker 1: Do sit and tell me what it means if you
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  Speaker 1: should die? Oh Mother, I was dreaming, though wide awake.
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  Speaker 1: I was thinking of the home you had given me,
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  Speaker 1: of your love and parental care, and how happy I
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  Speaker 1: had been for these four years. When I thought, not
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  Speaker 1: exactly a thought, twas more like a voice that said,
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  Speaker 1: if they should die? What then? It's so frightened me
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  Speaker 1: that I sprang to my feet and spoke out loud
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  Speaker 1: that you heard me. What does it mean? Mother? What
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  Speaker 1: can it mean? Dear Anna, You must quiet down and
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: don't let this alarm you. Father has made everything secure
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  Speaker 1: for you. Don't think of auction blocks or slave pens.
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  Speaker 1: He has made Europe free papers. I saw and read them,
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  Speaker 1: and he has made other provisions for all. His papers
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: are in Squire Mason's hands to be held in trust.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not at liberty to tell you all, but he
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  Speaker 1: has made the same provisions for you that he would
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  Speaker 1: have made for Irma had she lived. Oh, dear mother,
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  Speaker 1: don't let me seem ungrateful to you. I have for
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  Speaker 1: some time been worrying about father. He seemed so feeble. Late,
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  Speaker 1: all I can ask or take is my freedom when
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  Speaker 1: I earn it. One hundred years of my service would
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  Speaker 1: not pay you for what you've done for me. I
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  Speaker 1: was an orphan, a beggar, yes, poorer than the poorest beggar,
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  Speaker 1: a slave, possessing no right to my body or soul,
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  Speaker 1: hopeless and helpless. When you snatched me out of the
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  Speaker 1: grave and brought me here and took me to your hearts,
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  Speaker 1: made me feel that I was your child, and gave
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  Speaker 1: me a home and more, you gave me love. Yes, Emma,
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  Speaker 1: oh that is true. But we know that you have
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  Speaker 1: already earned your freedom in believing us of every care.
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  Speaker 1: So let your mind be at rest now, and we
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  Speaker 1: will drop this subject entirely. Anna was no longer harassed
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  Speaker 1: with the dread of auction sales and slave pens, and
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  Speaker 1: cheerfully attended to all her duties in the home and
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  Speaker 1: rendered valuable assistance to mister van Camp in the settlement
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  Speaker 1: of his business. Only a month later, on the first
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: of August, Mother van Camp was taken with malarial fever
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: and from the first there was such a complication of
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: other troubles that the doctors gave no encouragement. And here
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  Speaker 1: at the sick bed of one very dear to her,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: Anna devoted her best energy day and night until a
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  Speaker 1: noble life passed to its reward. You have truly been
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  Speaker 1: an angel of mercy to us, Enna, said mister van
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  Speaker 1: camp On returning from the burial. How glad I am,
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  Speaker 1: but God put it into my heart to bring you
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  Speaker 1: into our home. I can stay with you only a
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  Speaker 1: few days longer. I feel that my days are numbered.
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  Speaker 1: I am anxious to go. I have made all arrangements
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  Speaker 1: for you, and you are to have a home as
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: long as you'd like, with our friends, mister and missus
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Mason when I am gone, and don't burn from mer daughter,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: for I shall be better off there than here. Oh father,
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: you must not. I cannot let you go, said Anna
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: as she placed her head on his shoulder and wept
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: and sobbed like a child. Dear child, you must not
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: take on. So I only speak of this that when
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: my time for departure draws nigh, you may also be prepared.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: It may be many days yet, or but very few.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: God grant that it may be many, said Anna, but
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: it was only one short week till mister Van Camp
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: was stricken with a malignant type of fever and lived
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: only a few days. Another sad opportunity for Anna to
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: minister to one in his last sickness who had saved
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: her from a cruel and terrible faith. After the burial,
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: she locked the Van camsmp house and went to her
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: new home with mister and Missus Mason, who received her
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: so cordially that it did much to heal a sore heart.
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: The next day, after the burial, Squire Mason took from
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: his safe the large envelope containing the Van Camp papers,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: on which was written A. J. Mason esquire this package
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: you will open immediately after my burial in the presence
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: of John Ward and Anna Eleanora van Camp, and followed
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the instructions herein contained. That evening, the three were in
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: the Squire's office and the package was opened in the
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: presence of all. The first paper taken out was a
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: letter addressed to Anna, which she opened and read while
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: tears blinded her eyes. After looking over she read it aloud, quote,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: Dear child, few daughters ever gave so freely such unbounded
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: affection and devotion as you have lavished on mother and me.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Every day you filled our home and hearts with sunshine
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: and joy. I am not able to reward you for
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: such devotion. God alone can do that. I leave you
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: with mister and Missus Mason. Should there be any trouble
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: in the settlement of my state, John Fairfield, whom you remember,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: will assist him and you. May God keep and bless you,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: my dear child, farewell, Marshal van Camp. The second paper
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: in the package instructions directed to Squire Mason and John Ward,
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: to which was penned a certificate of deposits in a
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: New York bank for fifteen hundred dollars drawn to Squire
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Mason and John Ward as trustees. The instructions were brief
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: and as follows quote. I leave my child Anna in
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: your care and under your protection. I have one near
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: relative back in Virginia that would sell his lord for
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: less than thirty pieces of silver. Beware of him. I
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: have arranged with John Fairfield AU should you require an attorney,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: deal with this child as you would by your own daughter,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: and God will reward you, Marshall van Camp. In the
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: third envelope was a check on the planter's bank mobile
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: for fifteen hundred dollars, with instructions as follows quote. This
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: check must be endorsed and drawn by Squire Mason and
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: John Wood immediately after my burial. This is intended to
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: be used in case proceedings are instituted to deprive Anna
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: of her liberty or the property deeded to her. The residue,
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: if any, shall be held by human trust for her
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: benefit until she is secure in her freedom. The fourth
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: paper was a warranty deed to Squire Mason and John
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: Ward as trustees of this property of Anna E. Van Camp,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: conveying the home property and several other houses and lots
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: on the same street. The deed provided that this real
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: estate should be held by them in trust for twenty
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: years or less at their option than the net receipts
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: over and above what might be necessary for her use.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: Should be deposited in a safe bank in a free
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: state or in Canada. The fifth paper was a draft
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: on a New York bank for five hundred dollars drawn
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: to the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Church to which
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: he and his wife belonged back in Virginia. The sixth
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: envelope was marked on the outside quote free papers for
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: Anna E. Van Camp. Anna was the first to open
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: the envelope, and as she glanced it over, she exclaimed,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: oh oh, Father, forgot to sign this paper. She handed
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: it to Mason and Ward and they looked it through
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: and sat for a moment as if dazed. Well said Ward,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: there's no question as to the intention that can be
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: proven by you in Fairfield and me, But said the Squire,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: will the court regard the intention if you're not, remarked Ward,
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: we can't consult the lawyer here, for this omission must
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: not be made known to any person mobile, Fairfield said Ward. Yes,
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: Fairfield said Mason. I'll see him a telegram to be
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: here on the ninety am tomorrow. During this brief conversation,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Anna sat as motionless as if carved from stone. Ana said,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: mister Mason, don't give up. God bless you child. They
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: can't have you, though. It should take every dollar bequeathed
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: you to get your freedom. Fairfield, with his mulatto servant
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: carrying a suitcase, arrived on the nine a m Train
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: as expected, and immediately crossed over to Squire Mason's office,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: where he found all the parties interested. The papers were
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: then taken up and carefully examined. Well, said mister Fairfield,
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: there is only one serious trouble the free papers. Should
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: the court decide the boyd, then Anna is yet the
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: property of the estate, and property can't hold property. But
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: continued mister Fairfield, this real estate, which is very valuable,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: has been wisely conveyed to you as trustees for twenty
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: years or a less time at your option, can, in
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: my opinion, be held by you if we succeed in
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: helping Anna with her free papers beyond their reach for
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: a few years. For I tell you now that as
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: sure as there is a just God in heaven, in
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: less than ten years, every slave will be free. Ah Men,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: said mister Mason. I believe and know it. Now, said
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: mister Fairfield. If they commence proceedings to recover this property,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: including Anna, shall we you fight it? Or shall I
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: take Anna now immediately to Canada before she is attached? Oh?
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Said Anna, springing to her feet and her voice trembling
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: with emotion. What have I done to involve you, the
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: only friends I have in the world, in such trouble
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: as this? What have I done that I should be
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: compelled to flee like a base coverted criminal in the night,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: or in disguise, from my home to some foreign land.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Why am I liable to arrest an imprisonment, as I
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: am guilty of no crime except that I was born
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: of a slave mother that was unfortunate in being white
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: and beautiful. Must I the daughter of one who was
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: once a member of Congress and later of the US Senate,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: and my own mother, the child of one who was
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: the governor of the great state of Virginia? Must I
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: be spirited away in the night like a thief from
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: my home and the few friends I love. Is my
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: life because of my blood? People here and in Virginia
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: talk of blood. Why, sir, my mother's mother was the
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: daughter of one who signed the Declaration of Independence declaring
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: all men free and equal before God, and afterwards gave
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: his life to make this country free. I feel as
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: though I'd rather fight than run. I know what is
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: to be a slave, and I know how precious freedom is. Huh,
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: said mister Fairfield. I have known you from all you
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: have said as to your blood is true, and like
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: your ancestors, I see you have the nerve. But the
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: safest way is always abyss. In the safest way requires nerve.
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: We'll see you shall never go back into slavery again,
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: so surely as God spears my life. John Fairfield appeared
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: here in two characters, On the Streets and in the
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: Slave Markets. He was a Texas planter, wearing a broad
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: brimmed hat, a costume of homespun and vernacular peculiar to
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the district he represented. His disguise was so perfect in
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: voice and costume that not one of his most intimate
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: friends would suppose him to be the polished and cultured
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: John Fairfield of Virginia. After dinner, Fairfield, disguised as a
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: Texas planter, and his servant, cared in a suitcase called
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: at the probate office, where he found a lawyer from
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: his own county in Virginia. The lawyer asked to see
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: the will of the late Marshal Sea van Camp. The
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: clerk shook his head and replied that none had been filed.
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: Has there been no action for the settlement of the estate.
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: Not any, replied the clerk. He may have settled his
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: own estate, say lawyer, said the planter. I have a
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: little claim against that estate and called to see the
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: executor or administrator. But as there is none, I guess
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: I'm up against it. Was there any property left, you know, well,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: said the lawyer, I find nothing here. I have heard
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: that he had one girl said to be worth two
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: thousand dollars in some very valuable real estate. Oooh, she
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: must be very nice to be worth that. They say
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: she's the previoust and smartest girl in mobile. Well, said
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: the planter, I might buy her if for sale, she'll
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: be for sale. I shall get out an attachment as
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: soon as I find out where she is, probably tomorrow.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Our planter had found out all he wanted to know,
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: and looking at his watch, saw that it was two thirty.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Come Jack said he I have an appointment at three,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: and we must go bring the case Jack. They started
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: off in an opposite direction, and after quite a long tramp,
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: came in to Squire Mason's through an alley seldom frequented.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Mister and missus Mason and Anna were present. Mister Fairfield
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: took off his disguise and then said, come into the office,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: draw the curtain and lock the doors. I have a scheme,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: and I know Anna has a nerve to play her part.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: A writ of attachment and search warrant will be gotten
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: out and serve tomorrow. This boy Jack of mine is
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: not a boy, but a girl the same age of Anna,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and as wide and beautiful as she is. Meaning no
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: offense to you, Anna, I haven't time now to tell
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: how or where or in what condition I found her.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: I have another suit of boy's clothing, exactly the same
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: that Jack has on, and you Anna will be Jack,
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: and Jack will be Jim. Missus Mason will get a
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: pair of shears and cut your hair just as Jims
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: is cut, and Jim will dope you just as she
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: is doped from head to foot. It will never wash
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: off with water. When necessary, I will furnish you a
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: chemical that will erase it entirely. What say you, Anna,
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: What say you, missus Mason. It is the easiest and
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: quickest way out, and also safe. I will then stay
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: and defend the suit as to the real estate, or
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: furnish a lawyer while the officers are looking for Anna Brandon.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: Mister Mason will now give you your free papers, so
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: that he need not tell an untruth when he says
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: Anna took her free papers and left. What you say Anna,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: the judge might rule, said Anna, that the omission of
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the signature was intentional, and overrule all evidence to prove
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: the intention. I'll do it, mister Fairfield, and I've got
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: the nerve to play my part. Yes, I'll play my
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: part of this joke. Bring the shears, missus Mason. A
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: luxurious growth of rich brown hair soon lay on the table.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Then the process of shingling was nicely done. Now, Jack,
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: take Anna into a room and dope her from head
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: to foot, and dress her in that suit like yours.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: Anna blushed and hesitated. Jack, said Fairfield. Take Anna into
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: her room and show her the scars on your back
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: and shoulders. And while they were out, mister Fairfield continued,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: I saw them the next night after it was done,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: and I never saw such a sight before. The overseer
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: gave her forty lashes, whipped her till she fainted and fell,
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: then kicked her and left her for dead. And she
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: would have died sure enough, had not a wench. A
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: good old mother carried her to an old cotton house
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: and doctored her wounds till she could stand on her
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: feet and walk. Then I got her away. This happened
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: three months ago, and she has been with me ever since.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: As I take Anna and her to Canada, we will
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: stop at Lexington, Kentucky, and get her mother, who is
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: on a plantation three miles out. I shall have a
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: good old mother that nursed Lizzie as soon as I
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: get back from this trip. Now, Jack said Fairfield, as
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: they came in, your name hereafter will be Jim. Please
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: rem member, and your name Anna will be Jack, representing
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: the same Jack that has been with me all over
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: the city, the slave market and hotels. Carrying my suitcase,
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: which by the way, contains a bundle of banknotes and
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: valuable papers, be sure and keep it in your hands.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: And now you go with Jim to the back alley
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: and learn how to walk. This practice was kept up
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: for two days. On the next morning, early a Texas
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: planter with a boy servant carrying a suitcase called at
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: the planter's hotel and inquired for mister polk Graham. He
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: is in his room, Sir, said the clerk. Will you
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: take my card and say to him that a gentleman
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: from Altoon, Texas would like to see him a few
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: minutes the clerk bowed and disappeared, and on returning, said
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: the gentleman, says, he will be pleased to see you.
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: Come Jack, said the planter, If the clerk will please
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: show us the way, we'll go to his room. On
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: entering the room, he was received very cordially and introduced
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: to his two daughters, aged respectively eighteen and twenty. Mister Graham,
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: I learn that you are the legal heir to the
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: estate of the late Marshall Sea v Encamp. Yes, sir,
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: I have placed on file in the probate office evidence
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: of that FicT. Is there anything I can do for
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: you will, perhaps, said the planter. I have a small
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: claim which I ought to file, not large, only a
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: couple of hundred. How do you find the estate? Well,
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: I find but little. As yet his cash has all
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: been disposed of in some way. In his real estate,
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: which is valuable, has all been heeded to two men
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: to hold in trust for twenty years for the benefit
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: of one Anna Eleanora van Camp. We are not able
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: yet to find who she is or where she is,
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: but we are quite satisfied that she is the Anna
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: Brandon that he bought up shrimp some four years ago. Well,
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: said the planter, if he bought her of art shrimp.
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: He will identify her, he would if he'd sold her
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: twenty years ago. No trouble there for finder. We have
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: issued a search warrant and a writ of attachment and
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: will probably bring her in today. Now, mister Graham, my
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: business in the city is to pick up a few,
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: say two or three handsome girls from eighteen to twenty four.
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: Have two now near here, And from what I can
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: learn of this and Brandon, she's a daisy. Did you
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: ever see her, mister Graham? And will you know her now? Oh? Yes,
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: I saw her often at Brandon's and am sure i'd
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: know her now. She was a beauty then, and proud
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: as Lucifer, say, Paul, said the older daughter. Don't you
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: sell her? I want her for a maid. You promise
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: to get me one. Well, say, I think she's a
• 47:49
  Speaker 1: little toning for you. She's been spoiled by uncle and
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: aunt and has got too many airs. That's just the
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: reason I want her. I'd like to take her down.
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: I'd soon no use talk and say I'm a seller.
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: We've got niggers in the What do you call her worth,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: asked the planter. She's worth twenty, but I'll take eighteen now, well,
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: mister Graham, if I can help you in any way
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: to find her, I'm glad to do so. Thank you,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: mister Brown. Call again, come Jack, we must go, now
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: bring the case. They went down through the barroom out
• 48:33
  Speaker 1: into the street and made their way to Shrimp's office.
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: Will Art, how are you take a cigar or genuine havana?
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: How is your stuck? Now? Show me through. I'm looking
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: for a few fancy gals, two or three. Shrimp took
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: him all through his rooms and yards, but none of
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: his girls suited. They were too old or too young,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: too dark or too yellow. As they were going out,
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: Shrimp said the Fairfield, that's a fine boy you got there.
• 49:10
  Speaker 1: Where'd you pick him up? Ober In Kentuck? What's your price?
• 49:15
  Speaker 1: Not for sale? I can send that board to New Orleans,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: Austin or Cuba if necessary, on any kind of business,
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: and he will do it as well as I can.
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: A fine looking fellow, said Shrimp day Brown. I expect
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: to have a girl here by tomorrow. When I sold
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: over four years ago to bank Camp. She's a beauty
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: and for sale. I've heard of her, and when you
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: get her in, notify me at once. At the Ellen house.
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: Come Jack, we'll go now. They went directly to the hotel,
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: got their dinners, then made their way to Mason's and
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: came in through the alley from another street. Fairfield took
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: off his disguise, and they all went into Mason's private office,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: leaving Jim to receive or dismiss callers. About an hour
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: after you left, said Mason, an officer called on me
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: and read a search warrant and writ of attachment. All right,
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: I said, you can search the premises and attach anything
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: you find that don't belong to me. He went all
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: through the barn and house, and barn and outbuildings, garden
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: and park, but of course found nothing. He then became
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: quite mellow and inquired if I knew Anna Brandon van
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: Camp's house servant. No, I answered, but I knew Anna
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: van Camp, who lived there several years. A mighty fine
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: girl too. She called them father and mother and nursed
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: them through their last sickness. She was no servant, however,
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: her mother might have been a slave. Some time before
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: mister van Camp died, he made out free papers for
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: her and placed them in my hands to hold for
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: her in case of his death. Right soon after the burial.
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: I handed Anne her papers and quite a purse, and
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: she left. Then he asked if I knew where she went.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: I answered no, but she'll probably land up north somewhere,
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: for she had a right smart sum of money and
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: has had plenty of time. He had called on Ward
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: before he came here. Well done, Mason, said Fairfield. We
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: have played them an expensive joke, worth by their estimate
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: eighteen hundred dollars. The suit will be brought against you
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: and war to recover the real estate. I don't know
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: what they expect to do, but I do know that
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: the institution of slavery is a bubble, all hollow, and
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: will burst in less than ten years. A revolution is inevitable,
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: and God rules. Slavery is doomed. Whom the gods wish
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: to destroy, they first make mad. At this time, mister
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: Ward came in and Mitzer Fairfield continued as I said, Mason,
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: you and Ward will be made defendants to a suit
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: to recover Honor's real estate. I have employed you one
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: of the best lawyers I know, a friend of mine,
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: John Sherman, living in Ohio. Here is his card. Send
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: him a tie as soon as notice is served on you.
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: I will be here if possible, but you know the
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: harvest is plenty and laborers are few. Now, Jack, you
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: and Jim pack all of your duds good, but right quick,
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: and when done, if you have anything in the old home,
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: mister Mason and Ward will go across with you and
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: open the door. The key must be left with Mason.
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: Get what you will need that belongs to you that's
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: not bulky, and pack in these trunks. Then Jack mark
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: them plainly, Chester Markley, Covington, Kentucky valuable. Get the dre
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: and both you boys hop on and go to the
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: station and order them shipped by express and first train.
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: Hurry up, for we shall go on the ten forty tonight.
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: While these details were being looked after by Jack and Jim,
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: mister Fairfield, in his disguise, was visiting the hotels and
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: finally called on mister Graham. Thought I'd drop in a
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: few minutes and see if you'd found that gal. No,
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: we've not found her. And that's not the worst of it.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: We learned from that man Mason, one of the trustees,
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: that my uncle made her out free papers, put them
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: in his hands to hold until his death, and a
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: day or so after the burial. He handed them to
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: her with a lot of money, and she skipped out
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: a clean two thousand gone. My uncle was a crank,
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: and I questioned whether I get enough out of this
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: estate to pay my expenses. Will Will said the platter.
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: I'm awful sorry about Dargale. I was in hopes you've
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: found her by this time. Take a genuine Halenna. She
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: may be hid somewhere in the city, and if you
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: find her, see that you get hold of the papers.
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: At ten thirty p m. The bus was at the door.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: Anna had kept up bravely until the parting with mister
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: and missus Mason. Then the tears started from her eyes.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: Her lips moved, but she could not speak, but threw
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: her arms around their necks and kissed them both, then
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: shook hands with mister Ward and climbed into the bus.
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: Mister Fairfield had already procured tickets for himself and two servants,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: and at ten forty they bid mobile farewell and started
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: for Lexington, Kentucky. Our travelers reached Lexington at ten a
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: m On Sunday and found rooms at a hotel well
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: in the eastern portion of the city. Mister Fairfield engaged
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: a span of good drivers and a two seated closed
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: cab for a twelve or fifteen mile drive to start
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: that evening at five o'clock. Aunt Polly, Lizzie's mother, was
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: well known in her neighborhood by the colored people as
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: a good nurse and doctor for children. Promptly at the hour,
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: the cab was driven up to the door. Fairfield took
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: the lines, Lizzie sat by his side, and Anna took
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: the back seat. They drove west into the heart of
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: the city, then south two miles, then east four miles,
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: north two miles, then east three quarters of a mile,
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: and Lizzie stepped out of the cab and walked rapidly
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: toward the slave quarters. When she got within twenty rods
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: of Aunt Polly's cabin, she met a colored girl handed
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: her a silver dollar and asked her to tell Aunt
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: Polly to come out there, but don't tell anybody else.
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: Day's a mighty sick child down to massa Haven's be spry. Yes,
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: I'll get her here and jerk. As Aunt Polly approached,
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: Lizzie could hardly control her voice, but managed to say,
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: is you Aunt Polly, Shot, Yes, sir, I is Aunt
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: Polly they's got a minus sick baby to Massa Havens.
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: Come with me mighty fast and you can ride there.
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: Anna had changed to the front seat and Lizzie and
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: her mother got in the back seat. Then the team
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: was driven on a good pace past the plantation to
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: the next corner, then turned to the left, and on
• 58:23
  Speaker 1: reaching the pike, started for the east part of the city.
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: As soon as Lizzie was seated and the team started,
• 58:34
  Speaker 1: she spoke in her natural voice, Oh, mother, don't you
• 58:39
  Speaker 1: know your own Lizzie. I'm your girl, dressed in boys clothes,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: on my way to Canada. Then she threw her arms
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: around her mother's neck and asked her again, don't you
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: know me, mother, I'm your Lizzie that was sold. Do
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: you know me now? Yes, Lizzie, I knows your voice.
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: Blessed the Lord. It is busy, Yes, it is blessed Lord.
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: Oh my soul, blessed the Lord. Oh, how my heart
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: has ached to take you to my arms once more.
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: The carriage rattled on over the gravel pike back to
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: the city while Lizzie told in a brief way the
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: story of her crucifixion. It was ten o'clock PM when
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: they reached their rooms, and Fairfield told Anna and Lizzie
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: to take Aunt Polly to their room and dope her
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: black from head to foot, cut and shingle her hair,
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: and fit this wig. We must have one bench in
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: our gang, he said. And Aunt Polly, remember you are
• 59:48
  Speaker 1: a professional cook. That's what I am. Messa. Well, girls,
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: we leave here on the one thirty am train for Covington,
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: so'll be lively. Aunt Polly scarcely showed any African blood,
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: and when the girls brought her into Fairfield's room, a
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: dark brown with a wig and a wide red ribbon
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: around her forehead, she bowed and said, I as your cook, massa.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: He indulged in a hearty laugh, which was very unusual
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: for him. Well done, girls, said he. You have learned
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: the art, and I think I'll keep you in the service.
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: Aunt Polly spoke to Lizzie and said, I'll be glad
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: when you get your own clothes on and that yellow
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: off your face. I shall know you. I shouldn't know
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 1: you now if it wasn't for your voice. Well, mother,
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: I shouldn't know you with your voice, if I hadn't
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: helped to put on the dope. At one twenty the
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: bus was at the door and one thirty mister Fairfield,
• 1:01:03
  Speaker 1: one Wench and two yellow boys and got aboard. Reached
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: Covington safely and crossed over to Cincinnati and went directly
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: to missus Leman's, a quakeress, where the party rested that day.
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: They then took the Midnight Express and reached Richmond, Indiana,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: where they stopped with mister Martin, a quaker. Here the
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: girls were both sick and compelled to go to bed.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: They were worn out by loss of sleep and constant anxiety,
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: and now Aunt Polly made herself useful as a nurse
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: and doctor. She gave warm baths, mints, catnip, and many
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: bitter herbs for a week. The treatment was so radical
• 1:01:57
  Speaker 1: that the girls concluded they were cured. They began to
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: get so noisy and unmanageable that Aunt Polly discharged them
• 1:02:08
  Speaker 1: from Richmond, Indiana. They were compelled to travel on the
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: underground railroad. This was a slow and tedious mode of traveling,
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: especially in the month of November for persons so recently
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: from the climate of mobile Before leaving Richmond, Fairfield secured
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: a good supply of blankets and wraps, and on the
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: evening of the ninth day. From mobile, mister Martin drove
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: them to the next station. Then they passed through Winchester, Portland, Decatur,
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: Fort Wayne, Kendallville, and reached our station in Salem Township
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: in a blinding storm of sleet and snow at four
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: o'clock AC on the twenty eighth of November eighteen fifty five. Cold, tired,
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: and hungry. Although we were not looking for companies so
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: early in the morning and in such a storm, we
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: got out as quickly as possible, built a roaring fire,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: cared for them, and in about an hour our callers
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: sat down to a good hot breakfast. For an hour.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: After breakfast, mister Fairfield gave us a brief description of
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: his trip, the saving of Lizzie from a brutal cotton planter,
• 1:03:41
  Speaker 1: the rescue of Anna right in the open, and the
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: abduction of Aunt Polly. He expected when he reached Richmond
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: to take a train for Fort Wayne or Battle Creek,
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: thinking he could out distance pursuit, but when the girls
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: became sick, he knew he must change to the underground railroad.
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: The next morning, after reaching Richmond, he went to the
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: station and met a detective looking for Aunt Polly. He
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: handed Fairfield a handbill offering for her apprehension three hundred
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: and fifty dollars. Quite a large, fine built woman, nearly white,
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: asked Fairfield. Yes, she was straight, neat, and handsome for
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: her age, I believe, said Fairfield. I saw her at Cincinnati,
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: at the station. And if it was she she boarded
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: a train, how did she get away? Did anyone see
• 1:04:49
  Speaker 1: her escape? No? She dropped out of sight all at
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: once on Sunday night, about half past eight. Have you
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 1: any trace or track of this woman, Polly? Not a
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: single track, replied the detective. She's a goner, and I
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: shall quit when I watch a few more trains and
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: go back to Cincinnati. When our company got thoroughly warm
• 1:05:20
  Speaker 1: and somewhat rested, they all went to bed and slept
• 1:05:24
  Speaker 1: all day. The storm raged while they slept, and by
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: night the roads were impassable. Not until the third night
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: were we able to move them to the next station.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: Mister Fairfield got very nervous and anxious to be going,
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: but the girls and Aunt Polly enjoyed the delay, and
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: I gave us a full and complete history of her
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: life as a slave, as the time would permit, often
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: being prompted by mister Fairfield, who also gave his part
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 1: of the drama. When Anna spoke of mister and Missus
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 1: van Camp and how they rescued her when she was
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: dying with despair, of their goodness and kindness, when she
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: was not only an orphan but hopeless and helpless, her
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: voice trembled and tears glistened in her eyes. As soon
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: as she recovered from her brain fever, they employed a
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: private teacher who came to the house daily except Sundays,
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: until Missus van Camp was taken sick. As to Lizzie
• 1:06:42
  Speaker 1: and Aunt Polly, their stories would be too long for
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: this article. I will add, however, that mister Fairfield called
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: on us the next October and gave us the judge's
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: decision in the case of Graham versus Missrs Mason and Ward.
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: The court ruled that as Anna held free papers from
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: mister Van Camp, the deed to her was good. The
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: execution of the free papers by mister Van Camp was
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: sworn to by the two trustees, and mister Mason also
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: testified that he handed the papers to Anna and that
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 1: she had left the country. The question of their not
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: being signed was not brought out in the trial end
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: of chapter forty nine