Slave Life in Georgia - African American History

Slave Life in Georgia 115
in Ohio State, there came one evening in the spring of 1851, to the house of an
Abolitionist--one of the managers of the underground line--a fugitive-slave
seeking shelter. He was soon at home, and informed our friend that himself and
nineteen others had just escaped out of Kentucky. At a particular place they
were to have fallen in with a "pilot." They had reached it but found no pilot
there. Not knowing what to do, and dreading discovery, he
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had broken away from his companions, and wandered on in the dark in search
of a secure hiding-place. It is needless to add, that he found one with our friend
the Abolitionist, who forthwith despatched him to Canada. The next day the
village was in an uproar. The Kentuckians, the masters of the run-aways,
accompanied by their friends, invaded the place in search of their lost property.
They had tracked them to the village, and now threatened vengeance against the
coloured people and the known Abolitionists for enticing away their slaves.
Being armed to the teeth, with bowie-knives, revolvers, and rifles, their
presence and threatening manner caused great excitement and alarm, for they
effected a forcible entry into the premises of every suspected person. It was
fortunate for our friend the Abolitionist that he had already dismissed his
protÉgÉ on the road to freedom. Meanwhile, the Abolitionists were not idle, but
sent out scouts in various directions, in order to ascertain what had become of
the missing nineteen. Their efforts, however, proved unsuccessful. They only
ascertained that the pilot, who had come from another town, had repaired to the
appointed place, expecting the fugitives there at a particular time. After waiting
considerably beyond
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the hour specified, and finding they did not arrive, he concluded they would not
come that night, and returned home. It was supposed, that finding they had
missed their expected guide, the slaves had taken to the woods, where they
would disperse and lie concealed, and hopes were entertained that they might
still elude the vigilance of their pursuers. It ultimately turned out that this was
not the fact. On their arrival near the appointed place, they had sent one of their
number on to look for the pilot. Finding him not there, they strayed about in the
dark until dawn, when they took refuge in a sugar-house owned by a Methodist.
The sequel is soon told. This man finding them there, and tempted by the large
reward which was offered for their recovery, quietly assembled a few of his
24.03.2006