Escapes

Timeline

Escape of Nancy McGruder

Nancy McGruder was the only slave on the Dinsmore property that is known to have run away.  She left the Dinsmore family in September of 1865 – after most slaves in the United States had been freed but before those in Kentucky were.  She was “excluded” from her church for leaving the state “in a disorderly manner.” www.dinsmorefarm.org

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

Piatts Help Freedom Seeker

Date Unknown- An elderly African American man arrived on the steps of the cabin of Judge Benjamin M. Piatt, in Logan County, KY. Piatt’s wife gave the man food and work in the garden. Soon after, slavehunters from Boone County, KY, where the Piatts had married and lived for years, stopped at the cabin with two freedom seekers they had caught, tied onto the back of a horse, still looking for additional men. Mrs. Piatt, suspecting the old man was part of the group, gave him money and a warning to run. As told by Donn Piatt, son of Benjamin Piatt...Read More

Two Women Escape

Ca. 1850s escape. Two young women, described as “mulatto,” escaped from a farmer by the name of Lodge. The Lodge family was closely associated with the Piatt and Ryle families, so the women may have come from these slaveholders. The escape may have been facilitated by UGRR station master Samuel Barkshare (a free man of color) in Rising Sun. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY; 24 May 1887

Coachman Escape

Ca. mid 1850s– A coachman of the Piatt family escaped to Rising Sun and was helped to freedom by Woodford Barkshire (free man of color), a conductor who regularly helped people on the path to Canada. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, NY; 24 May 1887

KENTON: Family escape.

In Edward Walker’s interview (see 1858 escape): escape from plantation near the Hayden farm in Kenton County- Edward’s uncle, his wife and their children (names unknown.) Louisville Courier Journal, Louisville, Ky. 12 Aug 1894, Accessed 9 Dec 2016. www. newspapers.com

BRACKEN: Ed Mofford Escape.

Unknown date–Ed Mofford, enslaved, assisted by abolitionist Betsy Hamilton (mother-in-law to John F. Gregg) in Augusta. Letter written by John F. Gregg to William J. Hutchings of Genoa, Ohio, August, 1929. Located in Berea College Special Collections Berea, Kentucky.

CAMPBELL: Charles escapes; reward offered.

Charles, about 27 years old, escaped from Newport, March 4th, 1810, John Cleves Symmes, Jr, offers $20 reward for him. The Whig, March 7, 1810