Aspects of Slavery and Freedom Seeking in North Carolina
Water-Absconding-The Coast as a Route to Escape
Moreover, coastal cities such as Edenton, NewBern, and Wilmington were harbor cities, and freedom seekers fled and received shelter, help, and possibly a way of the state on a vessel near or around that area.
Many of the occupations held by blacks, such as ferrymen, fishermen, pilots, and seamen, were less survived than other occupations. Part of the escape by water or over many water sources relied on fishermen or ferrymen for information about docked ships, details pertaining to who to trust, and the climate of the docks and general aid. In some cases, the runaway involved a waterman whose knowledge, access to a boat, or boat ownership would increase the odds of a successful escape.
To the point of information, “blacks sailors...informed about the political climate beyond the South and offered practical details about coastal geography, sea traffic, and sympathetic captains. A few black seamen even carried letters between Carolina slaves and Northern friends and family.”
William Singleton wrote the following about coastal space:
"So we learned little about the outside world. We did learn, however, that a man named Wendell Phillips and a man named Garrison were getting slaves into Canada and we were told that once you got into Canada they could not get you back again, that you were free. Of course the slaves as a whole wanted to be free. Many of them were not treated well and the thought of being sold was a very burdensome thing. The slaves on our plantation had been told that they were going to be free, and they were looking for what their mistress had said to come true. Then Colonel Nelson, who owned an adjoining plantation, set all his slaves free by his will when he died and they were all sent to Liberia. There were about seventy-five of them. And we were anxious to be free too."
Most enslaved people escaped by the water route in North Carolina field by seeking to blend in the places where enslaved and free blacks worked on or near the harbors of “Wilmington, New Bern, Washington, and Plymouth.”
The act of escaping slavery relied on planning; however, no plan was perfect. Freedom seekers had to plan for the unexpected. Developing new pathways and new strategies and changing hideouts were often necessary. Running required “spontaneity, flexibility, good fortune, deft bartering, guile, and even on the vagaries of friendships and love affairs.”
Harriet Jacobs relied on family and friends, both of whom worked on the waters of North Carolina, to help her attempt an escape through the water route. The most important and consistent help that freedom seekers received was from enslaved and free black people. Slavery, as an institution that required buying and selling, hiring out of enslaved people, and joining a plantation for labor, helped create a maroon community. This unintendedly created great networks among the enslaved people and helped cement a commonality of values and perspectives, which included helping their own and sacrificing their interests. Freedom seekers depended on the help from other blacks.
The best example of this shows up during the civil war.
This was because the true allegiance of the enslaved was to family and freedom.
“A slave woman named Juno escaped with her children by paddling a canoe down the Neuse River at night. “
A slave waterman known as ‘Big Bob’ carried 16 runaways to a Union Navy vessel at Washington, North Carolina and then headed back upriver into Rebel territory for more.
Allen Parker offers another example of escape by boat during the civil war as follows:
Plans could change in a moment’s notice, and events such as weather, disease outbreak, and rumors of a slave plot could affect how an enslaved person adjusted their plans or how any other cases postponed or abandoned the plans. Travel by the water route was dangerous, and not everyone was able to escape the shores of North Carolina."One day we heard a gun fire about four o'clock in the morning and upon gathering in the morning to see what the matter was we saw a United States gunboat out in the river. As this was by no means the first we had seen of Uncle Sam's vessels we were not at all surprised and in fact for some days we had agreed that the next time a vessel came up the river we would try and get on board her. That night after it was quiet, my three friends, whose names were Joe, Arden and Dick all slaves of one Robert Felton came to see me. We talked the matter over and concluded to start that night. We waited till everything was quiet for as it happened there were no "pattie rollers" out that night; and then stole our way down to the river bank, where we knew there was a boat. We found the boat all right but it was fastened to a tree with a chain the ends being locked together. I told the other three men to get some sticks and march up and down the beach like soldiers while I took another stick with which I managed to pull out the staple that held the chain to the boat thereby leaving chain and lock fast to the tree where it may be yet for ought I know to the contrary.
There were some paddles in the boat, and we were not long in making use of them. Pushing out from the shore we bid goodbye to the old plantations and slave life forever. As we neared the boat we were hailed with, "Who are you?" We replied, "Friends," and received the reply, "Advance, friends, and come alongside." As we got alongside of the gunboat we were hailed again with, "Who are you?" and "where did you come from?" My friends said that they were from Rob. Felton's plantation, and I told them that I belonged to Miss Annie Parker. They then inquired if our owners were Union people or not, and we replied that they were not."
"The officer who had hailed us then reported what we said to the captain, but before he went away we told him that all wanted to go on board the vessel and stay. We asked him if he could not take us on board to let us know at once, so that we could got back home before morning. When the officer came back he said he had orders from the captain to let us come aboard. We immediately accepted the invitation, and being very tired, were soon fast asleep on the deck of the vessel. In the morning we were told that we could stay on the boat. Accordingly, we let our boat drift, which, by the way, was only a cypress dugout, being made of a single log."
In 1831, 19 enslaved blacks who resided near the Plymouth region attempted to make an escape by way of water but wrecked the lighter boat and the boat started leaking. They were caught by white men on a sloop. Blacks were in dire situation, as “the negroes would in a few hours inevitably have perished but for the timely rescue afforded by the sloop weather was squally and that night blew a gale [strong wind].”
Thus, not all were successful when exiting the shores of North Carolina, yet it did not mean the end of danger for those who were successful.