African Americans of the Kentucky Borderlands

Items

• 1856--The Margaret Garner Story
  Margaret Garner, Robert Garner, 4 children, and his parents, Simon and Mary and 11 Other slaves were reported to have escaped. Margaret Garner was a Freedom Seeker whose recapture became a national news story. In January 1856, 17 slaves from Boone and Kenton counties crossed the Ohio River. Included were Robert and Margaret Garner and their children, who were owned by the Gaines family of Richwood Road (now Maplewood Farm).
• 1853--The Cincinnati 28
  The Cincinnati 28 included the Parker, Terrill, and Norris families (and possibly more) from Petersburg, KY. Assisted by John Fairfield, John Hatfield, and Levi Coffin, as well as communities in College Hill, and points north. 28 slaves made the journey to Windsor, Canada. Washington Parker was named and one infant died on the journey.
• 1854--Six Slaves Escape to Ohio
  Six enslaved people owned by slaveholder Beall have escaped Covington by crossing into Newport first, then in to Ohio. They were described as “two negro women, one mulatto girl, one negro man, and two black boys.”
• 1851--Henry Foster Escape
  Henry Foster, from Boone County, arrived in Canada "on the railroad".
• 1863--Five or Six Freedom Seekers Escape
  Leonard Stephens, in a letter dated December 12, 1863, wrote to his brother William, in Missouri. The letter states the following, “there was a lot of five or six negroes ran away from the neighborhood of Florence three weeks ago. The owners have no intelligence of them, and I believe took no steps to recover them. Some seem to think that there may be a good deal of that sort of thing shortly.”
• 1853--Ten Escape to Canada
  On the 10th of June, ten Newport slaves belonging to Robert C. Todd, Col. James Taylor, R. Slaughter, Mrs. Mary Winston and Dr. Parker, made their escape and arrived in Canada.
• 1860--Two Captured In Aurora
  On May 7, 1860 James Holmes, West Abbot, R. T. Terrill and several other men "took 2 negroes" at Aurora. Possibly the same capture as one mentioned in an article dated May 10th. One man belonged to Arnold (Lewis), near Verona, the other man belonged to Conner (John F). July 2: James Holmes, Robert Terrill, Mat Wert, Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Ricketts were paid $113 for the enslaved men captured in Aurora.
• 1857--Freedom Seeker Caught By F. M. Bess
  On 27 June 1857, F. M. Bess caught a man from Henry County at the Lochry Ferry and received a $400 out-of-state reward for having caught him on the Indiana side of the Ohio river. This may be a man enslaved to the Sanfords of Boone and Kenton counties, and he may have known his way through the area.
• 1855--Group Escape
  Two unnamed freedom seekers fled from Boone County along with four people from Union County, slaveholder Harvey Williamson, five from slaveholder Joseph Harris of Bracken County. They crossed at point 1/2 mile below Sedamsville.
• 1855--Four Slaves Escape
  Four enslaved persons escape from Bracken County in April (slaveholder, Joseph Harris), 4 from Union County (slaveholder, Williamson) with 2 from Boone County (slaveholder unknown).
• 1852--Fourteen Freedom Seekers
  “On the night of the 18th, fourteen slaves ran away from Burlington, Ky. They belonged to the following individuals: Ten to Ephraim Porter, two to J. G. Hamilton, one to Dr. J. F. Grubbs, and one to C. L. Stanford.”
• 1856--Two Freedom Seekers Chased
  Two enslaved people escape from A. J. Reynolds, who chased them to Covington, then lost them.
• 1857--Fight and Escape
  On July 22, 1857, Perry McNeeley caught a runaway between 11:00 p.m. and midnight. The man had some food supplies. The two men fought, and the freedom seeker slipped away. Presumably in the town of Petersburg.
• 1861--Four Freedom Seekers From Petersburg Area
  Four enslaved persons escape from the Petersburg area, from the widow of Joseph Norris (freedom seekers Joe and Frank), John H. Walton (freedom seeker Ed) and John Terrill (an unnamed male).
• 1863--Three Freedom Seekers
  On September 27, 1863, three enslaved persons (two men and one woman) escape from the Petersburg area. The slaveholders involved were John Norris, Fanny Parker and Richard Parker.
• 1862--Soldier Chased Off
  On August 1, 1862, a federal soldier was chased off of John Norris' land for "trying to persuade" his enslaved people to leave with him.
• 1861--Freedom Seeker Caught By Watt York
  A runaway was caught by Watt York between the 18-23rd of June in 1861. The slaveholder Casper Holloway of Union, Arkansas came to pick him up with Mr. Hamrick (possibly of Petersburg).
• 1861--Margaret and Siblings Escape with Mother
  From the diary of Lewis Loder, dated April 3, 1861, "Adison Gaines' Negro Woman and five children ran off." In 1860, Joseph Adison Gaines is listed in the slave schedule with a 27 year old woman and five children (ages 8, 6, 5, 4 and 1). Based on birth records, it is likely that Margaret is the 6 year old female child listed in the 1860 slave schedule for J. A. Gaines, and was among the children who escaped with their mother. She was listed as "'black,'no mother's name."
• 1861--"Hunting Jack"
  On March 21, 1861, William Craven and Mr. Youell were in Petersburg "hunting Jack," the escaped enslaved man bought from John M. Hoshall.
• 1858--Martin and Wife Caught
  Chamber's man Martin and his wife (both enslaved) ran to Lawrenceburg and were caught trying to "hop a train".
• 1862--Two Female Freedom Seekers Caught
  On September 20, 1862, Tim Smith and S.G. Botts caught two female freedom seekers.
• 1863--Two Freedom Seekers Captured and Sent to Tennessee
  On February 27, 1863, two men were caught the previous fall as runaways by the slave catchers Botts and Riddell. They were put on a mailboat to Tennessee. They had been kept in jail in Burlington, Kentucky, since the capture.
• 1865--Woman and Children Escape Colonel Appleton
  From the Lewis A. Loder diary entry dated April 17, 1865: "Colonel Appleton's Negro Woman and children ran off last night."
• 1850--Eight Freedom Seekers
  Frances Aylor and Chasteen Scott, both slaveholders, lose a total of eight freedom seekers. Mrs. Aylor listed the individuals as follows: one man, about 50 yrs old, two women, ages 29 and 19, one girl, 11 yrs old, and three boys, ages 10, 5, and 1 yr old. Mr. Scott lost one male, age 20 yrs. The paper reported that a "white boy" hid them in his wagon and took them to Cincinnati, where they disappeared. The slaveholders petitioned the Senate for indemnity for the loss of the slaves. They stated that they were taken in a house in Cincinnati by a woman, and not seen again.
• 1853--Woman and Children's Escape
  A woman and eight children, possibly enslaved by the Foster family, ran from Boone County, Kentucky.