ance committee” agents in towns, where sympathetic free blacks could effectively hide them. When possible, “conductors” met them at such border points as Cincinnati, Ohio, and Wilmington, Delaware. The lake ports of Detroit, Michigan; Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York; were terminals for quick escape to Canada. Harriet Tubman, called the Moses of the blacks, and Levi Coffin, a Cincinnati Quaker, were among the famous rescuers. Professional slave catchers and vigilant officials often seized refugees to gain rewards. But, we had good luck that during the journey there weren’t any of them. We arrived safely in the north. During the journey, Harriet and I became good friends. She told me almost her entire life. She was originally named Araminta Ross and one of 11 children born to slaves Harriet Greene and Benjamin Ross on a plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She later adopted her mother’s first name. Harriet was put to work at the age of five and served as a maid and a children’s nurse before becoming a field hand when she was 12. A year later, a white man—either her overseer or her master—hit her on the head with a heavy weight. The blow left her with permanent neurological damage, and she e

Some topics in this essay:
County Maryland, Kentucky Stowe, Underground Railroad, African American, Liberty Line, Cincinnati Quaker, Little Eva, Slave Law, Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom, underground railroad, runaway slaves, harriet beecher stowe, beecher stowe, harriet tubman, american civil, civil war, uncle tom, harriet beecher, american civil war, compromise 1850, fugitive slave,