Existing comment:
To Go... or to Stay?
Choosing to Flee ... Hoping To Be Free? ...
As the British marched through the Chesapeake in 1814, their leaders offered a choice to the area's enslaved population. That choice offered those who had lived a life of bondage a chance to throw off their chains. In December of 1814, on a cold, dark night between 20 and 30 slaves fled the City of Annapolis, going to the British fleet anchored off Kent Island. Twenty of them -- men, women and children -- were the property of Henrietta Hill Ogle, matriarch of Belair.
Most of Mrs. Ogle's slaves escaped from her property at Talley's Point near Annapolis, but Thomas Timmons, a waiter, fled from her home in Annapolis (Ogle Hall). Another slave, Sam Williams, escaped from her property at Horn Point.
When Mrs. Ogle received word of the escape, she and a friend named Lewis Neth boarded the British ship Menelaus to seek return of the runaways. British forces advised that her slaves had been carried to Bermuda, and turned her away. Mrs. Ogle returned home without her slaves; Sam was eventually captured and returned to her.
No record exists to tell us what Sam, Thomas Timmons or the others took with them, or what loved ones and possessions they left behind.
We can only imagine the fear and emotions that likely ran rampant as they fled in the dark winter night... the thrill of being free, the departure from the familiar, the wrenching absence from beloved family and friends. Could you make a similar decision? What would you take, if you could take anything, with you? What would you say to those you were leaving? How would you have reacted if caught? Share your thoughts on the adjacent panel. |