Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-02-24
Prom The Vermont Chfoniole
story Of a Strange Life.

contained so much Of the strange and won
J. derful that it seemed 10 belong 10 fiction
], !, rather than fact. She had been " Moses, -
+ and Mol Pitcher" she was the grandest
!. conductor Of the underground railway, and a
p woman who proved herself a man in the bat
Ties for the Union. To give your readers
some idea Of her eventful history is the
! writer's present object and yet he finds it
difficult to condense into a newspaper article
all that he might wish to say.
e At the date above mentioned, this woman
D was not far from fifty years of age Until
about twenty-five years Of age, she was a slave
in Maryland aud was there married to a slave
by the name Of Tubman, and so passed at
the North as Harriet Tubman though at the
South even her first name had been differ
ent Her story Of adventures, if it were
not possible to verify it, one would Ger
tainly consider as an idle tale. About the
year 1918, or perhaps a little earlier, having
felt the sting Of slavery in its most brutal
form, she made good her escape and came to
Philadelphia. In that city she earned little
money, then returned TO the South, and. bray
ing the peril Of recapture, took party Of her
friends into freedom. lIenceforth this was
her mission. First with her own hard-earned
money, then with that which was given her
by philanthropsts at the North, she contin-
ued in her perilous work. But il it was dan
gerous to her, it was not less 80 10 the slave
owners at the South She came and went
like spirit. When they sought to lay hands
upon her they could not. Various rewards
were offered for her capture until upon her
single head was placed the bonus Of bceire
thousand dollars An African Of pure blood, |
she believed with a faith able TO move noun !
tains. In that faith was a mixture Of super |
stition, found nowhere so wild as among the |
/ tribes Of Guinea and Soudan. She saw yis- |
/ ions such as never came TO seer or prophet Of |
| olden time. She dreamed dreams that would |
| put to shame the Arabian tales. To her God |
was person who directed her with pillar Of
cloud and fire to her, Christ was a man. and
She saw Him as clearly as did Peter and John.
Though not a spiritualist, her communion
was yet with the unseen. And it was 10 these
Nfi'f'N IVMNA' 0llf hAAllbNNtl al lltI ~uflfsHs D
She was only second Moses, and did all this
according TO the pattern shown her by the
Almighty himself Laugh at this we may
but her success at last attained the proper
tions Of the miraculous, and her foresight was
that of a prophet. The single fact that she
was able to pilot full three hundred slaves,
and do this in bands Of from one or two up
to thirty, bringing them TO the earthly Canaan
Of the North, is sufficient to prove that some
thing beside good luck prepared her way.
Once, when the long bridge at Wilmington,
Delaware, was held by police, watching to
seize her party, while rewards Of fifteen thou
sand dollars were posted everywhere, to in
duce the most earnest efforts for their cap
ture, her friends Of the underground railway
filed wagon with negro workmen, who came
out Of the city, crossed the bridge, and. when
they returned had the fugitiyes in the bot
tom Of the wagon, while the workmen shouted
and sang in the most careless manner imagn-
able. Some Of IIarriet's pecularities may be
learned from letter written by Thomas Gar
rett, a well-knowu Quaker of Wilmington,
Delaware. The following is but an extract
WILMINGTON, 9th month, 1865
M Friend Thy favor Of the 18th reached me
yesterday requesting such "reminiscences a. could
give respecting the remarkable labon Of Harriet {
lubnian NO slave, who placed himself under her ,
care, was ever arrested that have heard Of In
one instance, when she had two stout men with {
her, some thirty miles below here, she said that
God told her TO stop-which she did, and then
asked Him what she should do. He told her To /
leave the road and turn 10 the left. She ebeyed !
and soon came 10 a small stream Of tide-water
She was told to 60 through; the water was cold |
The water was up To her ann-pits and the men ,
refused to follow till they saw her safe on the other
side. When she called on me, few days after
she was so hoarse that she could hardly speak
The strange part Of the story found TO be- that z
the master Of these two men had put up, the pre-
yious day at the railroad station, near where she
left, an advertisement offering large reward for
their apprehension But they made a safe exit
On one occasion, when had not seen her for three
months, she came to my store and said " God 4
tells YOU have money for me " ! asked her I
Z" II God never deceived her |' She said No" i
" Well, how much does thee want ?' About
tWenty-three dollars. | then gave her twenty !
four dollars and some odd cents the net proceeds
OF five pounds sent from Scotland for her Some !
twelve months after she called on me again, and
said that God told her had some money for her
bnt not 50 much as before had few days pre-
yiOus, received pound ten shilngs for her
from Europe. Thy friend, THos GAIu,Err
At the breaking out of the war, Harriet !
saw she had a mission to perform at the
South as spy, guide and nurse. Governor
Andrew, Of Massachusetts, was one of the {
first to give her a position. To show how
she was considered in high places, a letter or
two is given, the originals of which were in
IIarriets possession;
WASHINGTON, July %, 1868
Maj GEN Hnter-My Dear Sb:-IIarriet Tub
man, a cOored woman, has been nursing our sol
diers during nearly all the war / have known l
her long, and nober higher spirit, or a truer
seldom dwels in the human form. | commend
her, therefore, to your kind and best attentions
Faithfully, your friend,
WILLIAM II. SEWARD.
PErERBoRo November %, 1861
The bearer Harriet Tubman needs not any
recommendation. Nearly all the nation over, she
has been heard OF for her wisdom, integrity patri-
otism aud bravery. | have known Harriet for
many year- and hold her in my high esteem
GERRu SMITH
These are but two of large number of
letters of like import, from officers and civil
officials in the highest positions
She purchased small place in the city of
Auburn, n. Y, where she supported her
aged parents, who had nearly attained the
long life of one hundred years. This old
couple were accustomed to walk mile every
Sabbath to church, where they slept as
soundly as if the writer of this article were
preaching himself. A sketch of her life was
written and the proceeds of its sale were
given to Harriet To this sketch the writer
of this article is in part indebted.
And right here we would let fall the cur
tain on this eventful life, but truth compels
us to go on the public taste demands as
much. No tale is perfect in this highly
seasoned age without marriage. Then a
marriage you shall have. OF all living per-
sons, Harriet, according to the doctrine of
chances, was least likely to be hit by Cupid.
But she had one chance, and like Napoleon,
she took H. The winged cherub drew his
bow at venture, and she who had not
feared the face of clay fell poweress She
was black, and not comely A life of expo
sure and cruel treatment are not well calcu-
lated 10 add to beauty's charms but what
cares Lover lie laughs at locksmiths and
no form Of hindranoe can ever keep him out.
IL was at the Central Pres bvtari an churcb 4,