Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of Wm. Wells Brown from American Slavery: Written by Himself — John Shaqi
Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of Wm. Wells Brown from American Slavery: Written by HimselfBrown, William Wells
History
Illustrated Edition of the Life and Escape of Wm. Wells Brown from American Slavery: Written by Himself
Brown, William Wells
Enslaved persons -- United States -- Biography; Slavery -- Missouri
I went to the jail again the next day, and Mr. Simonds, the keeper,
allowed me to see my sister for the last time. I cannot give a just
description of the scene at that parting interview. Never, never can
be erased from my heart the occurrences of that day! When I entered the
room where she was, she was seated in one corner, alone. There were
four other women in the same room, belonging to the same man. He had
purchased them, he said, for his own use. She was seated with her face
towards the door where I entered, yet she did not look up until I walked
up to her. As soon as she observed me she sprung up, threw her arms
around my neck, leaned her head upon my breast, and, without uttering a
word, burst into tears. As soon as she recovered herself sufficiently to
speak, she advised me to take mother, and try to get out of slavery. She
said there was no hope for herself--that she must live and die a slave.
After giving her some advice, and taking from my finger a ring and
placing it upon hers, I bade her farewell forever, and returned to my
mother, and then and there made up my mind to leave for Canada as soon
as possible.
I had been in the city nearly two days, and as I was to be absent only
a week, I thought best to get on my journey as soon as possible. In
conversing with mother, I found her unwilling to make the attempt to
reach a land of liberty, but she counselled me to get my liberty if I
could.
She said, as all her children were in slavery, she did not wish to leave
them. I could not bear the idea of leaving her among those pirates, when
there was a prospect of being able to get away from them. After much
persuasion I succeeded in inducing her to make the attempt to get away.
The time fixed for our departure was the next night. I had with me a
little money that I had received, from time to time, from gentlemen for
whom I had done errands. I took my scanty means and purchased some dried
beef, crackers and cheese, which I carried to mother, who had provided
herself with a bag to carry it in. I occasionally thought of my old
master, and of my mission to the city to find a new one. I waited with
the most intense anxiety for the appointed time to leave the land of
slavery, in search of a land of liberty.
The time at length arrived, and we left the city just as the clock
struck nine. We proceeded to the upper part of the city, where I had
been two or three times during the day, and selected a skiff to carry us
across the river. The boat was not mine, nor did I know to whom it did
belong; neither did I care. The boat was fastened with a small pole,
which, with the aid of a rail, I soon loosened from its moorings. After
hunting round and finding a board to use as an oar, I turned to the
city, and bidding it a long farewell, pushed off my boat. The current
running very swift, we had not reached the middle of the stream before
we were directly opposite the city.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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