In the Shadow of Freedom: The Politics of Slavery in the National Capital

The 1848 Pearl Escape from Washington, D.C.

195 Mary K. Ricks The  Pearl Escape from Washington, D.C. A Convergence of Opportunity, Motivation, and Political Action in the Nation’s Capital An audacious escape฀attempt฀on฀the฀Underground฀Railroad,฀involving ฀nearly฀eighty฀fugitives฀on฀a฀fifty-four-ton฀schooner฀named฀the฀ Pearl,฀occurred฀in฀the฀unlikeliest฀of฀places—the฀nation’s฀capital,฀with฀its฀almost ฀nonexistent฀agricultural฀base.฀But฀it฀was฀the฀only฀city฀in฀slave฀territory฀ where฀such฀an฀ambitious฀event฀could฀have฀been฀organized,฀and฀it฀had฀greater฀ purpose฀than฀moving฀slaves฀north฀to฀freedom.฀Although฀the฀schooner฀was฀ captured฀and฀the฀fugitives฀returned฀to฀Washington,฀the฀failed฀escape฀became฀ a฀significant฀part฀of฀the฀ongoing฀debate฀over฀slavery. The Escape On฀the฀evening฀of฀April฀15, 1848,฀the฀fugitives฀made฀their฀way฀through฀the฀ streets฀of฀Washington฀to฀board฀a฀hired฀schooner฀from฀Philadelphia฀named฀ the Pearl.1 ฀Among฀them฀were฀teenaged฀sisters฀Mary฀and฀emily฀edmonson฀and฀ their฀four฀older฀brothers,฀whose฀family’s฀story฀is฀well฀documented.฀Harriet฀ Beecher฀Stowe,฀who฀later฀sponsored฀the฀sisters’฀schooling฀at฀Oberlin฀College,฀ wrote a chapter devoted to the Edmonsons and the escape attempt in her 1 This chapter is adapted from Mary Kay Ricks, Escape on the Pearl: The Heroic Bid for Freedom on the Underground Railroad฀(New฀york,฀2007),฀which฀details฀the฀planning,฀execution,฀and฀ aftermath of the attempted escape on the schooner Pearl in 1848. 196 Mary K. Ricks 1853 nonfiction book, the Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. John Paynter, an Edmonson ฀family฀descendant฀and฀graduate฀of฀Lincoln฀University฀(AB฀1883, Hon. D.Litt. 1941),฀provided฀an฀extensively฀detailed฀account฀of฀the฀family’s฀role฀in฀ the฀escape.฀Paynter฀interviewed฀his฀great-uncle฀and฀Pearl fugitive,฀Samuel฀ Edmonson, for a 1916฀article,฀“The฀Fugitives฀of฀the฀Pearl,”฀published฀in฀the฀ first฀issue฀of฀Carter฀g.฀Woodson’s฀Journal of Negro History. In 1930 Paynter wrote฀an฀expanded฀and฀partly฀fictionalized฀book฀of฀the฀same฀title.2 ฀Although฀ both฀of฀his฀works฀are฀missing฀a฀number฀of฀important฀facts,฀most฀noticeably฀ the pivotal role played by northern antislavery activist William Chaplin, an impressive฀amount฀of฀Paynter’s฀story฀has฀been฀corroborated. ฀ The฀six฀edmonson฀siblings฀were฀enslaved฀because฀their฀mother฀was฀a฀ slave.฀The฀law฀was฀clear฀at฀that฀time฀in฀all฀slave฀jurisdictions:฀a฀child’s฀legal฀ status flowed directly from the mother. It made no difference that their father ฀was฀a฀free฀man฀who฀owned฀a฀forty-acre฀farm฀in฀Montgomery฀County,฀ Maryland,฀a฀significant฀accomplishment฀when฀the฀small฀number฀of฀free฀black฀ landowners possessed closer to a quarter acre in that area.3 ฀ The฀edmonson฀offspring฀were฀hired฀out฀to฀work฀for฀prominent฀Washingtonians :฀Mary฀and฀emily฀were฀placed฀in฀elegant฀homes฀and฀treated฀well,฀ Richard฀was฀the฀coach฀driver฀for฀James฀Polk’s฀secretary฀of฀the฀Treasury,฀and฀ Samuel฀poured฀the฀wine฀and฀set฀the฀table฀for฀Joseph฀Bradley,฀Washington’s฀ most respected lawyer. ฀ Other฀fugitives฀were฀owned฀by฀a฀disparate฀array฀of฀owners฀that฀included฀ a฀grocer,฀a฀shoe฀manufacturer,฀the฀U.S.฀marshal฀for฀the฀District฀of฀Columbia ,฀at฀least฀two฀physicians,฀a฀Baptist฀minister,฀a฀former฀U.S.฀congressman,฀ and Dolley Madison, the much loved former first lady.4 The schooner, co-captained by Daniel Drayton and Edward Sayres, had arrived฀two฀days฀earlier฀at฀the฀busy฀main฀Seventh฀Street฀wharf฀in฀Washington ฀and฀unloaded฀a฀cargo฀of฀wood฀purchased฀with฀money฀provided฀by฀Professor ฀Charles฀Cleveland,฀the฀head฀of฀the฀Philadelphia฀Antislavery฀Society.5 The฀wood฀not฀only฀camouflaged฀the฀schooner’s฀purpose฀in฀Washington฀ 2 John฀H.฀Paynter,฀“The฀Fugitives฀of฀the฀Pearl,”฀Journal of Negro History 1 (1916):243–64; Paynter, Fugitives of the Pearl (Washington,฀D.C.,฀1930). Because the 1916฀article฀was฀largely฀ incorporated into the 1930 book, all further references are to the book. 3 Montgomery฀County฀Land฀Records,฀BS 7, 1935, 414–415, and STS 3, 1947, 198–200. 4 Drayton v. U.S., Trial Records of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 1838–61, RG 221,฀National฀Archives,฀Washington,฀D.C. 5 Charles Cleveland to Wendell Phillips, Francis Jackson, and Lysander Spooner, Feb. 18, 1854,฀Spooner฀Papers,฀New-york฀Historical฀Society. The  Pearl Escape from Washington, D.C. 197 but also would be sold and the proceeds used to purchase supplies for the journey. ฀ It฀was฀not฀the฀first฀time฀Cleveland฀had฀given฀Captain฀Drayton฀money฀to฀ aid...