April 24, 2021

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom

Apr 24, 2021

In 1848, Ellen and William Craft devised an unusual and successful plan to escape slavery in the deep South of Macon, Georgia. Within eight days after devising the plan, they were free from the constraints of slavery.

Ellen was the daughter of her first master and his black slave. Ellen looked white and was often mistaken for her first master’s widow’s child. Annoyed, the widow gave Ellen to a daughter as a wedding present. Ellen became a ladies’ maid, was a favorite slave in the family and allowed a small room to herself.

William was an apprenticed cabinetmaker and became the property of a local bank cashier. He continued to work as a cabinetmaker, and the new owner allowed William to keep a small portion of the profits.

The ingenious plan that Ellen and William concocted was to escape in plain sight. Ellen would disguise herself as an invalid master and William as her slave. At odd times, William went to different parts of town and purchased individual items for Ellen’s disguise. The only item not purchased was trousers that Ellen made for herself.  When William gave the items to Ellen for safekeeping, she would lock them up in a chest of drawers that William made.

Ellen and William arranged for a few days off with passes from their masters and began their escape. At the time, neither Ellen nor William could read them. To disguise herself further, she wrapped her head and arm to hide her beardless face and inability to sign documents as they traveled.  She donned spectacles, and William cut her hair noticeably short of making her look like a respectable gentleman.

The road to freedom began at the Macon train station, but William noticed the owner of the cabinetmaking shop where he worked. The man began peering in the train’s windows but did not recognize Ellen, and suddenly the train lurched forward. Other close calls would continue to unnerve the couple until they arrived in Philadelphia. They took the advice of some abolitionists and headed to Boston.

With the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, Ellen and William became deeply concerned about their freedom. Slave hunters from Macon came to Boston to find the Crafts. It was now imperative that they leave Boston, and they escaped to England and returned to America in 1870.

For additional information, their book, Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, is a beautiful narrative about their great escape, and the PBS video is excellent.

https://www.pbs.org/video/georgia-stories-story-william-and-ellen-craft/