A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. HavilandHaviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith)
Religion
A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland
Haviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith)
Freed persons; Haviland, Laura S. (Laura Smith), 1808-1898; Underground Railroad
"Don't you mind Jim and George you giv' a basket full of close to las'
Summer? You giv' me the linen pants an' blue checked gingham coat and
straw hat, an' you giv' Jim thin pants and coat and palm-leaf hat; and
don't you mind we went out in a market-wagon to a Quaker settlement?"
"Yes, but how came you here again?"
"It was for this little woman I went back." Then he went over his
managing process, as above related.
As I was soon to go to my home in Michigan, it was proposed by our
vigilance committee that this couple, with Sarah, who made her escape
over a year previously, should go with me. Sarah was to be sold away
from her little boy of three years for a fancy girl, as she was a
beautiful octoroon and attractive in person. She knew full well the
fate that awaited her, and succeeded in escaping. She was an excellent
house servant, and highly respected by all who made her acquaintance
for her sterling Christian character and general intelligence. She had
lived in a quiet Christian family, who gave her good wages, but she did
not dare to risk her liberty within one hundred miles of her former
home.
A few days after the arrival of George and wife a mulatto woman and her
daughter of sixteen, bound South from Virginia, left a steamer and
joined our company. While waiting for a certain canal-boat, the owner
and captain being friendly to our work, another young man joined us.
These we received at different points to avoid suspicion. Before we
reached the third bridge we were overtaken by Levi Coffin with another
young man, whom he had instructed implicitly to regard all the lessons
I might give him. I gave them all a charge to say nothing of going
farther than Toledo, Ohio, and talk of no farther back than Cincinnati.
While on our way George pointed at a wire, and told his wife it was a
telegraph-wire, at which she dodged back, and for a moment seemed as
badly frightened as though her master had been in sight. It was a lucky
thing for us that no stranger happened to be in sight, as her fright
would have betrayed them. Even an assurance from George that the wires
could do no harm, could hardly satisfy her, until he appealed to me to
confirm his statement, that it was the operators at each end of the
wires that gave information.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account