Mr. Davis bought able-bodied
colored men for service on the boats. They were sail boats. I would say
about 50 or 60 feet long. On each boat, besides the Captain, there were
from 6 to 10 men used. On the tugs there were more men, besides the mess
boy, than on the sail boats.
"I think a man by the name of Robinson who was in the coal business at
Havre de Grace engaged Mr. Davis to tow several barges of soft coal to
St. Michaels. It was on July 4th when we arrived at Havre de Grace.
Being a holiday, we had to wait until the 5th, before we could start
towards St. Michaels.
"Mr. Tuttle, the captain of the tug, did not sleep on the boat that
night, but went to a cock fight. The colored men decided to escape and
go to Pennsylvania. (I was a small boy). They ran the tug across the bay
to Elk Creek, and upon arriving there they beached the tug on the north
side, followed a stream that Harriett Tubman had told them about. After
traveling about seven miles, they approached a house situated on a large
farm which was occupied by one of the deputy sheriffs of the county. The
sheriff told them they were under arrest. One of the escaping man seized
the sheriff from the rear, after he was thrown they tied him, then they
continued on a road towards Pennsylvania. They reached Pennsylvania
about dawn. After they had gone some distance in Pennsylvania three men
with guns overtook them; but five men and one woman of Pennsylvania with
guns and clubs stopped them.
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