Searching for Slavery: Fugitive Slaves in the Ohio River Valley Borderland, 1830–1860 Matthew Salafia Ohio Valley History, Volume 8, Number 4, Winter 2008, pp. 38-63 (Article) Published by The Filson Historical Society and Cincinnati Museum Center For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/568165/summary [ Access provided at 28 Sep 2021 21:47 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] 41„ I. Ai12* St) I... i. l 461 * PG 4 1 . r 1, 2 $ 4. 9 V. 4 1 . j 41,1' f : 4, L# A l 3 S. i S I. ' I. %.1 ' 3 1 h . f. I. f.. I I 1 k r 4 r Formerslavequarters the on Winston place,Burlington Boone County,Kentucky,1868 THE FL SON HISTOR(AL SOC ET i Searching for Slavery Fugitiue Slaues in the Ohio River Valley Borderland,1830-1860 Matthew Salafia n the 18505, Richard Daly enjoyed considerable freedom for a man I in bondage Daly lived in Trimble County, Kentucky, on a planta- tion along the Ohio River owned by two brothers, Samuel and George Ferrin Daly worked on the farm and regularly attended the market in free of Indiana He Madison, across the river in the nominally state mar- ried Kitty, a house servant from a neighboring plantation, and they had four children before Kitty died in childbirth at the age of twenty Daly protected his family as best he could and visited his children nightly According to Daly's later description, in the 1850s he yearned to be free, 38 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY MATTHEW SALAFIA but he also recognized that despite his enslaved status he still enjoyed some opportunities and autonomy. Daly understood that he could obtain free- dom whenever he wanted but he later claimed that he never thought about running awav. He did not accept' the legitimacy of slavery nor was lie sat- isfied with his enslaved status; by his own estimate he helped thirty slaves escape from bondage. However, Daly did not believe that the uncertain he would hold st.itus in the "free"states w.as necessarilv better. More important, his ·affection for his family oversh·adowed the advantages of freedom. Bondage conditioned his life, but love motivated Dah:He loved his family more than he wanted freedom. Only when Slrs." Ho·agliti,"tile woman who owned Daly's children, decided to give his d.lughter Mary to her own daughter in Louisville did he decide NARRATil'E AND· WRITINGS to escape slavery. For I)aly, who had not con- sidered escape before, running away or "steal- ing his freedom atid the freedom of his children AN 1)RE W JACKSON, became the only w·ay he could keep his family 3 4 -1 int·act. In 1857, the devoted father escaped to 337 F KENTUCKY ; Canada witli his four children.1 r r,7 1NNG N ACCOUbl OV BIRTl,. AND TV;ENTT SU TZARR . D·.113 's story provides a Ivindow into how iS 1.$,r n W,Lt A •LA%K : 1[!4 ESCAPE : m ¥rARS Om L· ZT!ER ..........KS E]· persolial considerations and the geographic bor- 4,'...'FA'...,t'......:3 ... der between slavery and freedom complicated N.,MATE])11·"11ISE!, ' F: the decisions of Afric· Americans Ohio an in the WkfTTN HV A FtEND. River valle. 1[he boundarr between slavery and freedom carried special significance fi,r African Aniericans because in crossinsr it they enjoyed S¥RACI' SE: 1/!1 Y INI) WEEKLYTAR ' OFFICK SMTIbhhi:, the possibility of escaping their enslaved status. IIt7 However, rather than defining a boundarr that slavery could not penetrate, the Ohic) River mar- ginalized freedom by weakening slavery. A T\t\e page,Narrative and Writings of Andrew cen- Jackson,of Kentucky5yracus: ... Daily trtil inomaly of this borderland the region w·as and Weekly Star Office, 1847).THE FILSON similarity between the work regimes of racial HISTORICALSOCIETY slavery and black wage labor. The Ohio River thus represented a periph- ery of both slavery and freedom, and the resulting racial and labor ambi- guities both provoked violence and muddied distinctions between slave and free status. Consequently,enslaved blacks faced substantial barriers to free- dom that did not end at the Ohio River. 3]lic Fugitive Slave Laws of 1793 and 1850 enabled slaveholders to retrieve their escaped property throughout the country, meaning th,it fugitives' legal status did not change when they escaped to a free state. Even after fleeing from their owners, moreover, run- aways faced a largely hostile and suspicious white population north of the Ohio. Fear of pursuit, punishment, and death strongly discouraged slaves from esc·aping north. As the former Kentucky slave Andrew Jackson noted: If anyone wishes to know what were my feelings during this time, let them imagine themselves a slave, with the strong arm of the law extended over WINTER 2008 39 SEARCHING FOR SLAVERY L- z_Li=A,..i@ Z.- ,»Z_*. - ·.. CA- - --- P, A A e ,/r i ¢ 4 4 1 4' 1, I/ ... Ps* initi-= xr 2-4/E-L-# 3:. 1 1 ' :* . .-1 44- i, r•ib-**-r ,.0* 3» 10&<' er" I 1 4,1* t 4,U"t=« 4 «t' fuer 64='r», 47« 2>„2433, 1'.4 * 1. ' 4= 4-i B . e.* r h. -6 . 1 19*,751 --0 I. I. 1 5 1 I. Western States Map,J Hammond (1835) CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER their heads-doomed, lfretaken,to a severe punishment,and almost unen- durable torture 2" Racism, in short,made free blacks slaves" without masters"throughout the country, a situation that was no different in the Ohio Valley Indeed, free sorne blacks saw little difference between slave and free status Upon arriving in Cincinnati free black john Malvin recalled, I" thought upon coming to a free state like Ohio that I would find every door thrown open to receive me, but from the treatment I received by the people generally, I found it little better than Virginia The constant interaction between enslaved and free African Americans ultimately made white Americans sus- picious of all black laborers As African American minister Elisha Green explained,I "was more of a slave after I bought myself than before Before free- I could go many places without interruption,but when I became a I could the Ohio River Green' man not cross s statement illustrates the contradictions of black freedom In the Ohio Valley His freedom of mobil- ity declined when he became legally free because he could no longer enter the slaves states, as a slave, in contrast, he could enter fiee states 3 In addition, both free and enslaved African Americans enjoyed access the kinds ofwork to same and as a result most remained locked in the same meager economic web After 1830, Kentucky's economy grew increasingly 40 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY MATTHEW SALAFIA diverse, which in turn prompted many slaveholders to hire out their slaves. Hired bondspeople generally performed the same kind of labor as free workers. Tilley worked in fields and factories, on steamboats and in hos- pitals, and as barbers, musicians, draymen, and most commonly as domes- tic servants. A select few self-hired slaves chose their employers, rented houses, and maintained a certain measure of control over their lives. Such work facilitated movement across the river and created unique opportuni- ties for enslaved river workers. Some enslaved people who hired their own time resided in the same wards as free blacks. As Isa·ac Throgmorton,who worked as a barber in Louisville, later explained, I lived with free people, and it was just as though I was free."But, the freedoms ·associated with hiring out revealed the similarity of slave and free labor in the Ohio Valley. These hired sl:wes were well aware of what freedom along the border did and did not offer. As Kentucky slave John Davis noted, I"can't say that I suffered anything par- ticular down South; but they always kept St my 0*117.t. nose down to the grindstone, and never gave me 4'4,f' ' « anything for my labor."When Davis set out in pursuit of freedom he did not settle in the free states immediately to the north. Instead, he Lewis Garrard Clarke (1812-1897), traveled to Canada, where after sixteen years he frontispiece,Narratives of the Sufferings of Lewis and Milton Clarke ... amassed 3,$ 500 worth of property, because he Boston: B. Marsh, 1846).THEFILSONHISTORICALSOCIETY believed that only there could he enjoy economic freedom.4 Indeed, black Americans on both sides of the river found their occupational opportunity and physical mobility limited by race regard- less of their legal status. For a small number of African Americans freedom offered the opportu- nity to work for oneself. Moreover, free blacks kept all of their wages and could better pro- vide for themselves and their families. A few free blacks amassed considerable even fortunes. 1" Washington Spradling, freed in 1814, worked as a barber in Louisville and by 1850 had amassed J. Milton Clarke (1817-1901),from thirty thousand dollars, much of over which he Narratives of the Sufferings of Lewis and used to purchase the freedom of thirty-three Milton Clarke. Boston: B. Marsh, 1846). THEFILSONHISTORICALSOCIETY slaves. However, Spradling was in the minor- ity, and many found little opportunity for advancement. After gaining his freedom, former slave J. C. Brown hoped to join the ranks of financially successful free blacks in the Ohio Valley Brown tried to conduct his mason WINTER 2008 41 SEARCHING FOR SLAVERY business on both sides of the Ohio River,but whites threatened him with violence and conspired to kidnap and sell him soutli, which ultimately con- vinced him to head to Canada.