Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1916-01-21

to be a duty we owed to humanity.
On my last voyage, for we made
several back and forth along the
coast, took the place of our captain,
who remained behind, and while we
. were stopping little north of
Mason's and Dixon's Line, where we
were lucky enough to give refuge
to two mulattoes, a brother and a
sister, two very stern looking men
came aboard late in the evening,
whose business suspected, as they
stood watching very closely Two of
our mulatto sailors.
Finally they stepped up and grab
) bed on to them, telling them to come
along. They resisted, declaring:
We amt yo' slaves, n nevah was =
But the men gripped on to them
all the more fierce. | ran to their
rescue, and told the kidnappers to
|. let go of those boys and leave the
ship, that they had been in our en-
ploy for long time; that they had
free blood in their veins, and should
not be dragged off our boat into
slavery.
They declared that they were
runaway slaves, that there was a
prize on their heads, and they must
go with them. Persisting in their
brutal efforts to subdue them and
bind their arms, one of the boys
landed his fist on one of their assai-
ants nose and sent hin. Keeling.
The other man instantly drew his
pistol and shot and killed the young
man. A. that, | drew my pistol On
him, and had no sooner done so, than
the man whom the mulatto struck
fired at ne, sending a ball through
the fieshy part of my arm. The
other mulatto, happening to have
, a loaded pistol in a deep pocket, al
most simultaneously shot and killed
the man who fired at me. 1t was
all done as quickly as ! am telling
it, AM those looking on could hard
, ly tell whether it was my pistol or
the muIatto's that was fired and
killed the man. His companion had
been as quickly overpowered by
others of our crew, and his weapons
taken from him. When we were all
steamed up ready to start, We let
him 90 with the body of his confed-
crate, which our sailors gently ca :
ried off. We put far out to sea and
urged with all possible speed north
ward while committing to the
. waves the mulattO who was shot
and killed. When within a hundred
8 miles of Boston, we saw that we
9 were being hotIy pursued and it
seemed that we might be soon over
taken, but the night came on and IN
the darkness of a thickly clouded
sky. we eluded our pursuers, and
arrived at harbor in the midst Of a
heavy thunder shower. Having
disguised myself as straggler,
hurried off the boat with our re.
fugee slaves and mulatto sailors,
telling them to follow me at some
distance behind, and well apart from
each other, but not so far as for
the one in trent to lose sight Of me.
- Out in the country, before daylight,
| came to a station of the Under
ground Railroad" that our Captain
had Informed me of, and done bust.
ness with, In a little while the
others all came in, and there we
were concealed through the day.
An Old family doctor was called tt
dress my wounded arm, and after
a refreshing sleep, picked up 4
= paper that had just been put on the
table for me to read, and in il was
S the account of sheriff posse landing
a in Boston that morning in scare h
e of captain of coastwise trading
n vessel, who with his negro sailors
shot and killed man down at Slave
: Port, who with an officer were in
| the act of taking TWO runaway slaves
I off their vessel. "All officers of the
| Nv are requested to be on the SHARP
u lookout !" On the same page,
q read: - reward of $50000O of
; fered by the Virginia authorities TO,
+ the apprehension and conveyance tC
t the Jail of the borough of Nor.
o folk, oJe Captain Marks, (name by
/ which was known in our business
J. in the south, for running off slaves
u in a tradipr, ,,oCcaI spIViptr tha CnI1t h