Charles, described as wearing “a long blue coat with metal buttons, duck trousers and Jefferson shoes, with well-nailed soles,” took his freedom from slaveholder John Thomason of Newport, KY on Feb. 6th, 1814. A reward of $10 is offered for his return. Liberty Hall, Cincinnati, OH, 22 Feb, 1814.
Category: Timeline Stories
All timeline stories.
CAMPBELL: Reward Ad for Edmund
Reward for the return of Edmund, who is around 23 yrs old, wears his “temple locks platted” and always carries a knife in his belt. Slaveholder Benjamin Beall, near Flagg Springs, offers $6 for this freedom seeker. Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette, Cincinati, OH; 26 March, 1800
Escape on Horseback
22 September, 1858- An enslaved man from Boone County, Kentucky escaped from slaveholder William Donaldson on the back of a “fine mare belonging to Mr. D.” The slaveholder gave chase, but no trace of the man or horse was found. Both the horse and the man were valued at about $1000 apiece. Cincinnati Commercial, Cincinnati, Oh. 24 Sep 1858
Disaster on the River
Ten freedom seekers of slaveholder and emancipationist Ephraim Porter, made their escape to freedom. Sadly, the wagon they were in overturned near the Ohio River, and, fearing capture, they fled without all of their belongings. Later, several of this group contacted Ephraim Porter, who, according to his obituary, sent them supplies to their new home in Malden, Ontario. Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 10 August, 1872
Five or Six Freedom Seekers Escape
Late November, 1863- Leonard Stephens, in a letter dated 12 Dec, 1863, written to his brother William, of Missouri, “There was a lot of five or six negroes ran away from the neighborhood of Florence three weeks ago. The owners have no intelligence of them, & I believe took no steps to recover them. Some seem to think that there may be a good deal of that sort of thing shortly.” Stephens family letters and documents, compiled by Claude E. Stephens and Sadie Bassett Lamb
James Harvey Patterson Escape
Enslaved man, James Harvey Patterson, was born in Boone County, Kentucky, on Sept. 15, 1831. Two years before the end of the Civil War, Patterson self-emancipated, and settled ultimately in Kansas, where he died at the age of 94 years.
Sold South!
27 Nov 1848- Freedom Seeker Alfred is caught and lodged in the Claiborne County (MS) jail by William H. Jacobs, Esq. Alfred named his slaveholder as George Brasher of Boone County, KY. His escape was made from an overseer named Henry Trisler on Black River. Port Gibson Herald, Port Gibson, MS; 8 Dec 1848
Sold South!
June 1846- George and Edmund, both purchased from G.W. Brasher, (of Boone County), ran away from slaveholder Stephen Tickell of Wilkinson County, MS. The slaveholder believed that they may try to make their way back to Kentucky. Brasher National Aegis, Worcester, MA; 26 June, 1846
Reward for Tom and Hiram
A reward is offered for Tom and Hiram, two men who escaped from slave-trader, O. W. Gaines. The freedom Seekers were named in handbills distributed in Rising Sun, IN post offices. Gaines, related to the Gaines family in Boone County, had also borrowed $50,000 from the Indiana state bank for purchase of Kentucky slaves to sell in the Louisiana market. Many of the enslaved in Boone County were sold south, possibly with this group? Rising Sun Times, Rising Sun, Ind., 31 Oct 1835
Jim J Captured and Jailed
18 Dec 1823-A man named Jim J., a freedom seeker from South Carolina, is caught in Boone County and held by Jailer Benjamin Willis . Justice of the Peace Absalom Graves, of Burlington, KY, was to be contacted by the owner to retrieve him. He had been in jail for several months when the ad was placed in April of 1824. Frankfort Argus, Frankfort, KY, 7 April, 1824
