In this cage there was a box lock and an iron strip lock across the door. It is clear that this cage had been built to hold a person. We don't know who was put in the cage. We surmise that the family helping the slaves required them to sleep in the cage , either for fear that the slaves might do something, or as a precaution against being caught by bounty hunters who might show up. If the slave was already in the cage, the family could pretend to the slave catcher that they had already captured and locked the slave up prior to returning him to his owner.
Nobody really knows.
It was really exciting to see this house, I can tell you. When I left the house, I got stuck in what I thought was rush hour traffic, but was actually a crowd waiting to watch the Olympic torch. On Wednesday night, we left from Spencerport. I met up again with Judy Halley, who was going to walk with me and a reporter, Don, from the Smithsonian Magazine who was accompanying me for a few days. I had decided that I would do an all-night run.