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Ellen and William Craft (Ellen and William Craft - Wikipedia)Hollywood cannot compete with the true life adventures of William and Ellen Crafts- one of the most imaginative plots to ever come out of the Antebellum South.“For I had much rather starve in England, a free woman, than be a slave for the best man that ever breathed upon the American Continent.”[1][1][1][1]Most runaway slaves fled to freedom in the dead of night, often pursued by barking bloodhounds and bounty hunters. A few fugitives, such as Henry “Box” Brown who mailed himself north in a wooden crate, devised clever ruses or stowed away on ships and wagons.[2][2][2][2] One of the most ingenious escapes was that of a married couple from Georgia, Ellen and William Craft, who traveled in first-class trains, dined with a steamboat captain and stayed in the best hotels during their escape to Philadelphia and freedom in 1848.Ellen, a quadroon with very fair skin, disguised herself as a young white cotton planter traveling with her slave (William). It was William who came up with the scheme to hide in plain sight, but ultimately it was Ellen who convincingly masked her race, her gender and her social status during their four-day trip.[3][3][3][3] Despite the luxury accommodations, the journey was fraught with narrow escapes and heart-in-the-mouth moments that could have led to their discovery and capture. Courage, quick thinking, luck and “our Heavenly Father,” sustained them, the Crafts said in Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom, the book they wrote in 1860 chronicling the escape.[4][4][4][4]Ellen Craft 1846 (Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise)Ellen and William lived in Macon, Georgia, and were owned by different masters. Born in 1826, as a child, Ellen, the offspring of her first master, Major James Smith and Maria a slave of African descent and European ancestry,[5][5][5][5] had frequently been mistaken for a member of his white family. Much annoyed by the situation, Smith's wife sent 11-year-old Ellen to her daughter in Macon as a wedding present in 1837, where she served as a ladies maid.[6][6][6][6]William Craft was forced to endure an entirely different upbringing. Throughout his childhood, William Craft’s masters regularly ripped his family apart by selling his parents and siblings. One master once sold William and his sister to separate slave owners.[7][7][7][7] William once recalled:“My old master had the reputation of being a very humane and Christian man, but he thought nothing of selling my poor old father, and dear aged mother, at separate times, to different persons, to be dragged off never to behold each other again, till summoned to appear before the great tribunal of heaven.”[8][8][8][8]Put up for auction at age 16 to help settle his master’s debts, William had become the property of a local bank cashier, Ira H. Taylor.[9][9][9][9] A skilled cabinetmaker, William, continued to work at the shop where he had apprenticed, and his new owner collected most of his wages. Craft’s new owner permitted William to hire himself out as a carpenter, and was allowed to keep earnings over $220 annually.[10][10][10][10] In time these meager earnings would prove to come in handy. Minutes before being sold on the auction block, William had witnessed the sale of his frightened, tearful 14-year-old sister.[11][11][11][11] His parents and brother had met the same fate and were scattered throughout the SouthJumping the Broom: 8 Historical Facts You Need to Know About This Wedding TraditionA twist of fate, and his impressive carpentry skills, eventually brought William and Ellen together. Denied the opportunity to marry[12][12][12][12] , in 1838, the couple “jumped the broom,” which was an African ceremony that consecrated the couple’s commitment to one another in secrecy.[13][13][13][13] Having experienced brutal family separations, the couple despaired over having children, fearing they would be torn away from them. “The mere thought,” William later wrote of his wife’s distress, “filled her soul with horror.”[14][14][14][14]Pondering various escape plans to Philadelphia, William, knowing that slaveholders could take their slaves to any state, slave or free, decided upon the idea of fair-complexioned Ellen passing herself off as his master—a wealthy young white man because it was not customary for women to travel with male servants.[15][15][15][15] Initially Ellen panicked at the idea but was gradually won over. Because they were “favourite slaves,”[16][16][16][16] the couple had little trouble obtaining passes from their masters for a few days leave at Christmastime, giving them some days to be missing without raising the alarm.[17][17][17][17]Figures of Ellen and William Craft presented at the University of Pittsburgh’s Free At Last?: Slavery in Pittsburgh in the 18th and 19th Centuries Exhibition, October 25, 2008-April 5, 2009.Before setting out on December 21, 1848, William cut Ellen’s hair to neck length. She improved on the deception by putting her right arm in a sling, which would prevent hotel clerks and others from expecting “him” to sign a registry or other papers.[18][18][18][18] Georgia law prohibited teaching slaves to read or write, so neither Ellen nor William could do either.[19][19][19][19] Refining the invalid disguise, Ellen asked William to wrap bandages around much of her face, hiding her smooth skin and beardless chin, giving her a reason to limit conversation with strangers.[20][20][20][20] She wore a pair of men’s trousers that she herself had sewed, completing her disguise with a pair of green-tinted spectacles to hide her eyes and a top hat[21][21][21][21] They knelt and prayed and took “a desperate leap for liberty.”[22][22][22][22]Woodcutting of Ellen Craft in disguise as a white, male plantation owner (Ellen and William Craft - Wikipedia)At the Macon train station, Ellen purchased tickets to Savannah, 200 miles away. As William took a place in the “negro car,” he spotted the owner of the cabinetmaking shop on the platform.[23][23][23][23] After questioning the ticket seller, the man began peering through the windows of the cars. William turned his face from the window and shrank in his seat, expecting the worst. The man searched the car Ellen was in but never gave the bandaged invalid a second glance.[24][24][24][24] Just as he approached William’s car, the bell clanged and the train lurched off.Ellen, who had been staring out the window, discovered that her seat mate was a dear friend of her master, a recent dinner guest who had known Ellen for years.[25][25][25][25] Her first thought was that he had been sent to retrieve her, but the wave of fear soon passed when he greeted her with “It is a very fine morning, sir.”[26][26][26][26] To avoid talking to him, Ellen feigned deafness for the next several hours.The Charleston Hotel 1840 (Former hotels of Charleston | CHStoday)In Savannah, the fugitives boarded a steamer for Charleston, South Carolina.[27][27][27][27] Over breakfast the next morning, the friendly captain marveled at the young master’s “very attentive boy” and warned him to beware “cut-throat abolitionists” in the North who would encourage William to run away.[28][28][28][28] A slave trader on board offered to buy William and take him to the Deep South, and a military officer scolded the invalid for saying “thank you” to his slave.[29][29][29][29] In an overnight stay at the best hotel in Charleston, the solicitous staff treated the ailing traveler with upmost care, giving him a fine room and a good table in the dining room.Trying to buy steamer tickets from South Carolina to Philadelphia, Ellen and William hit a snag when the ticket seller objected to signing the names of the young gentleman and his slave even after seeing the injured arm.[30][30][30][30] In an effort to prevent white abolitionists from taking slaves out of the South, slaveholders had to prove that the slaves traveling with them were indeed their property. Sometimes travelers were detained for days trying to prove ownership. As the surly ticket seller reiterated his refusal to sign by jamming his hands in his pockets, providence prevailed: The genial captain happened by, vouched for the planter and his slave and signed their names.[31][31][31][31]Baltimore, the last major stop before Pennsylvania, a free state, had a particularly vigilant border patrol.[32][32][32][32] Ellen and William were again detained, asked to leave the train and report to the authorities for verification of ownership.“We shan’t let you go,” an officer said with finality. “We felt as though we had come into deep waters and were about being overwhelmed,” William recounted, and returned “to the dark and horrible pit of misery.” Ellen and William silently prayed as the officer stood his ground. Suddenly the jangling of the departure bell shattered the quiet. The officer, clearly agitated, scratched his head. Surveying the sick traveler’s bandages, he said to a clerk, “he is not well, it is a pity to stop him.” Tell the conductor to “let this gentleman and slave pass.”[33][33][33][33]Philadelphia, Pennslyvania (1840's pictures)The Crafts arrived in Philadelphia the next morning—Christmas Day 1848. As they left the station, Ellen burst into tears, crying out, “Thank God, William, we’re safe!”[34][34][34][34]The comfortable coaches and cabins notwithstanding, it had been an emotionally harrowing journey, especially for Ellen as she kept up the multilayered deception. From making excuses for not partaking of brandy and cigars with the other gentleman to worrying that slavers had kidnapped William, her nerves were frayed to the point of exhaustion.[35][35][35][35] At a Virginia railway station, a woman had even mistaken William for her runaway slave and demanded that he come with her.[36][36][36][36]Abolitionists approached William at various stops, advising him to “leave that cripple and have your liberty”.[37][37][37][37] Another free African American man on the train to Philadelphia urged him to take refuge in a boarding house run by abolitionists.[38][38][38][38] Through it all Ellen and William maintained their roles, never revealing anything of themselves to the strangers except a loyal slave and kind master.Upon their arrival in Philadelphia, Ellen and William were quickly given assistance and lodging by the underground abolitionist network. They received a reading lesson their very first day in the city.[39][39][39][39] Three weeks later, they moved to Boston,[40][40][40][40] where William resumed work as a cabinetmaker and Ellen became a seamstress.After two years, in 1850, slave hunters arrived in Boston intent on returning them to Georgia.[41][41][41][41] Legally, both William and Ellen were still fugitives, and were in great danger when the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was passed, part of the Compromise of 1850, law enforcement in non-slave states had an obligation to apprehend escaped slaves, including the Crafts.[42][42][42][42]U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William CraftA civil case began in 1850 concerning the Craft's escape from slavery. A man named John Knight swore in affidavits that he knew William Craft as Ira H. Taylor's slave and Ellen Craft as Robert Collin's slave in Georgia.[43][43][43][43] The Massachusetts law enforcement and courts would have to send William and Ellen back to Macon.The court issued this warrant to find and capture William Craft, a “fugitive from labor,” with the intention of returning him to Georgia.[44][44][44][44] The Census of 1850 shows the Crafts living in freedom at the home of Lewis Hayden in Massachusetts.In 1850, a deputy U.S. Marshall sought them out at Hayden’s home. William and fellow black activist Lewis Hayden met them at the door of Hayden’s house, threatening to blow them all up with dynamite if they crossed the threshold.[45][45][45][45] It goes without comment, the U.S. Marshall departed.According to the warrant issued following this incident, “the complaintant [in the case] didn’t want the [original] warrant returned as he was “informed that the said Crafts [were still] in…this city.” However, within a few weeks the U.S. Marshall of Massachusetts reported: “I have made diligent search for…William Craft, and cannot find him…”[46][46][46][46]U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William CraftThe Crafts fled once again, this time to England. They traveled from Portland Maine to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they boarded the Cambria, bound for Liverpool. As William later recounted in their memoir, "It was not until we stepped ashore at Liverpool that we were free from every slavish fear".[47][47][47][47] Upon arrival, they were aided in England by a group of prominent abolitionists, including Harriet Martineau. She arranged for their intensive schooling at the village school in Ockham, Surrey.[48][48][48][48]The Crafts eventually gave birth to five children, [49][49][49][49] while residing in Hammersmith, England.[50][50][50][50] Throughout the next twenty years, Ellen participated in reform organizations such as the London Emancipation Committee, the Women's Suffrage Organization, and the British and Foreign Freedmen's Society.[51][51][51][51] The couple supported themselves by presenting public lectures about slave conditions in the United States and their subsequent escape. William attempted to set up a carpentry business again, but they still struggled financially.[52][52][52][52]Ellen Craft 1874 (Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise)After the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of slaves, Ellen located her mother Maria in Georgia, paying her passage to England.[53][53][53][53] In 1868, William, Ellen, Maria and three of their children returned to the states.With funds raised from supporters, in 1870 the Craft's purchased 1800 acres of land in near Savannah in Bryan County, Georgia.[54][54][54][54] There they founded the Woodville Co-operative Farm School in 1873 for the education and employment of freedmen.[55][55][55][55] In 1876, William Craft was charged with misuse of funds, and he lost a libel case in 1878 in which he tried to clear his name.[56][56][56][56] The school closed soon after. Although the Crafts tried to keep the farm running, dropping cotton prices and post-Reconstruction era violence contributed to its failure.[57][57][57][57]Charleston, South Carolina: The grave of abolitionist William Craft - Sacred Ground, Sacred HistoryIn 1890, the Crafts returned to Charleston, South Carolina to live with their daughter Ellen, married at the time to Dr. William D. Crum, appointed Collector of the Port of Charleston by President Theodore Roosevelt.[58][58][58][58] The elder Ellen Craft died in 1891, and, at her request, was buried under her favorite tree on their land.[59][59][59][59] William passed nine years later on January 29, 1900.[60][60][60][60]Footnotes[1] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[1] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[1] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[1] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[2] The Narrative of Henry Box Brown (1849)[2] The Narrative of Henry Box Brown (1849)[2] The Narrative of Henry Box Brown (1849)[2] The Narrative of Henry Box Brown (1849)[3] ellen craft quadroon - Google Search[3] ellen craft quadroon - Google Search[3] ellen craft quadroon - Google Search[3] ellen craft quadroon - Google Search[4] RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM[4] RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM[4] RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM[4] RUNNING A THOUSAND MILES FOR FREEDOM[5] How Ellen Craft and Her Husband William Escaped Enslavement[5] How Ellen Craft and Her Husband William Escaped Enslavement[5] How Ellen Craft and Her Husband William Escaped Enslavement[5] How Ellen Craft and Her Husband William Escaped Enslavement[6] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[6] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[6] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[6] Ellen Craft: The Master of Disguise[7] Meet The Slave Who Disguised Herself As A White Man To Flee To Freedom[7] Meet The Slave Who Disguised Herself As A White Man To Flee To Freedom[7] Meet The Slave Who Disguised Herself As A White Man To Flee To Freedom[7] Meet The Slave Who Disguised Herself As A White Man To Flee To Freedom[8] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741[8] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741[8] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741[8] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741[9] I Was Born a Slave[9] I Was Born a Slave[9] I Was Born a Slave[9] I Was Born a Slave[10] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[10] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[10] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[10] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[11] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[11] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[11] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[11] Craft, William (1824-1900), runaway slave and abolitionist lecturer | American National Biography[12] Opinion | Slavery Denied Legal Marriage to Blacks[12] Opinion | Slavery Denied Legal Marriage to Blacks[12] Opinion | Slavery Denied Legal Marriage to Blacks[12] Opinion | Slavery Denied Legal Marriage to Blacks[13] Here's the tangled history behind why some couples jump over a broom at their wedding[13] Here's the tangled history behind why some couples jump over a broom at their wedding[13] Here's the tangled history behind why some couples jump over a broom at their wedding[13] Here's the tangled history behind why some couples jump over a broom at their wedding[14] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741 [14] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741 [14] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741 [14] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraDownload.do%3Fselect_action%3D%26co_obra%3D11883%26co_midia%3D2&ved=2ahUKEwjai_Tgp5XnAhVIbs0KHQjYB38QFjABegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw150uuGpgcK-XGpAmKL4Bfa&cshid=1579630942741 [15] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[15] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[15] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[15] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[16] Disguise Leads To Freedom For Former Slaves[16] Disguise Leads To Freedom For Former Slaves[16] Disguise Leads To Freedom For Former Slaves[16] Disguise Leads To Freedom For Former Slaves[17] Q&A With Barbara McCaskill About Ellen and William Craft[17] Q&A With Barbara McCaskill About Ellen and William Craft[17] Q&A With Barbara McCaskill About Ellen and William Craft[17] Q&A With Barbara McCaskill About Ellen and William Craft[18] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Escape-Ellen-Craft-History/dp/0876147872&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjASegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3FeS_uKvg77vkzXXx7cbRx&cshid=1579631999012[18] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Escape-Ellen-Craft-History/dp/0876147872&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjASegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3FeS_uKvg77vkzXXx7cbRx&cshid=1579631999012[18] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Escape-Ellen-Craft-History/dp/0876147872&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjASegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3FeS_uKvg77vkzXXx7cbRx&cshid=1579631999012[18] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Escape-Ellen-Craft-History/dp/0876147872&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjASegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw3FeS_uKvg77vkzXXx7cbRx&cshid=1579631999012[19] This Day in Georgia History[19] This Day in Georgia History[19] This Day in Georgia History[19] This Day in Georgia History[20] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[20] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[20] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[20] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[21] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[21] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[21] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[21] Ellen's Disguise - History by the Slice[22] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[22] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[22] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[22] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[23] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.scadmoa.org/sites/moa/files/2019-07/The-Crafts-lesson-plan.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjARegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw0ZpcuvyfmMqZGUSfMIf5Eh&cshid=1579631999012[23] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.scadmoa.org/sites/moa/files/2019-07/The-Crafts-lesson-plan.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjARegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw0ZpcuvyfmMqZGUSfMIf5Eh&cshid=1579631999012[23] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.scadmoa.org/sites/moa/files/2019-07/The-Crafts-lesson-plan.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjARegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw0ZpcuvyfmMqZGUSfMIf5Eh&cshid=1579631999012[23] https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.scadmoa.org/sites/moa/files/2019-07/The-Crafts-lesson-plan.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwia7prjqpXnAhX4Ap0JHYRHBTAQFjARegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw0ZpcuvyfmMqZGUSfMIf5Eh&cshid=1579631999012[24] Ellen and William Craft, slaves who escaped to freedom - African American Registry[24] Ellen and William Craft, slaves who escaped to freedom - African American Registry[24] Ellen and William Craft, slaves who escaped to freedom - African American Registry[24] Ellen and William Craft, slaves who escaped to freedom - African American Registry[25] Aboard the Underground Railroad--William Ingersoll Bowditch House[25] Aboard the Underground Railroad--William Ingersoll Bowditch House[25] Aboard the Underground Railroad--William Ingersoll Bowditch House[25] Aboard the Underground Railroad--William Ingersoll Bowditch House[26] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[26] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[26] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[26] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[27] Craft and Crum Family Papers Link Charleston and England[27] Craft and Crum Family Papers Link Charleston and England[27] Craft and Crum Family Papers Link Charleston and England[27] Craft and Crum Family Papers Link Charleston and England[28] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[28] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[28] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[28] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[29] Avery Research Center acquired 1860 first-edition slave escape narrative[29] Avery Research Center acquired 1860 first-edition slave escape narrative[29] Avery Research Center acquired 1860 first-edition slave escape narrative[29] Avery Research Center acquired 1860 first-edition slave escape narrative[30] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[30] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[30] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[30] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[31] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[31] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[31] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[31] The Great Escape From Slavery of Ellen and William Craft[32] A bitter Inner Harbor legacy: the slave trade[32] A bitter Inner Harbor legacy: the slave trade[32] A bitter Inner Harbor legacy: the slave trade[32] A bitter Inner Harbor legacy: the slave trade[33] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[33] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[33] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[33] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[34] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[34] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[34] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[34] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[35] "A Complication of Complaints": Untangling Disability, Race, and Gender in William and Ellen Craft's Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom[35] "A Complication of Complaints": Untangling Disability, Race, and Gender in William and Ellen Craft's Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom[35] "A Complication of Complaints": Untangling Disability, Race, and Gender in William and Ellen Craft's Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom[35] "A Complication of Complaints": Untangling Disability, Race, and Gender in William and Ellen Craft's Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom[36] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[36] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[36] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[36] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[37] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[37] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[37] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[37] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[38] How the Abolitionist Movement Became a Force In America[38] How the Abolitionist Movement Became a Force In America[38] How the Abolitionist Movement Became a Force In America[38] How the Abolitionist Movement Became a Force In America[39] How Ellen Craft learned how to read and write[39] How Ellen Craft learned how to read and write[39] How Ellen Craft learned how to read and write[39] How Ellen Craft learned how to read and write[40] William and Ellen Craft[40] William and Ellen Craft[40] William and Ellen Craft[40] William and Ellen Craft[41] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[41] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[41] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[41] Fascinating life of escaped slave Ellen Craft at James Library in Norwell[42] Fugitive Slave Act 1850[42] Fugitive Slave Act 1850[42] Fugitive Slave Act 1850[42] Fugitive Slave Act 1850[43] John Knight's Affidavit Confirming He Knew William Craft as Ira H. Taylor's Slave[43] John Knight's Affidavit Confirming He Knew William Craft as Ira H. Taylor's Slave[43] John Knight's Affidavit Confirming He Knew William Craft as Ira H. Taylor's Slave[43] John Knight's Affidavit Confirming He Knew William Craft as Ira H. Taylor's Slave[44] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[44] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[44] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[44] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[45] Oh Freedom! William and Ellen Craft’s Escape from Slavery and Continued Search for Freedom[45] Oh Freedom! William and Ellen Craft’s Escape from Slavery and Continued Search for Freedom[45] Oh Freedom! William and Ellen Craft’s Escape from Slavery and Continued Search for Freedom[45] Oh Freedom! William and Ellen Craft’s Escape from Slavery and Continued Search for Freedom[46] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[46] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[46] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[46] U.S. Marshal's Return of Writ to Apprehend William Craft[47] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[47] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[47] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[47] William Craft. Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, the Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.[48] Lakeland Meetings: the Crafts and Harriet Martineau[48] Lakeland Meetings: the Crafts and Harriet Martineau[48] Lakeland Meetings: the Crafts and Harriet Martineau[48] Lakeland Meetings: the Crafts and Harriet Martineau[49] Georgia Women[49] Georgia Women[49] Georgia Women[49] Georgia Women[50] William and Ellen Craft[50] William and Ellen Craft[50] William and Ellen Craft[50] William and Ellen Craft[51] The Profits and the Perils of Partnership in the "Thrilling" Saga of William and Ellen Craft[51] The Profits and the Perils of Partnership in the "Thrilling" Saga of William and Ellen Craft[51] The Profits and the Perils of Partnership in the "Thrilling" Saga of William and Ellen Craft[51] The Profits and the Perils of Partnership in the "Thrilling" Saga of William and Ellen Craft[52] http://Magnusson, Magnus (2006), Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys, Mainstream Publishing,[52] http://Magnusson, Magnus (2006), Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys, Mainstream Publishing,[52] http://Magnusson, Magnus (2006), Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys, Mainstream Publishing,[52] http://Magnusson, Magnus (2006), Fakers, Forgers & Phoneys, Mainstream Publishing,[53] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[53] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[53] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[53] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[54] Ellen Butler Craft (1826-1891) - Find A Grave...[54] Ellen Butler Craft (1826-1891) - Find A Grave...[54] Ellen Butler Craft (1826-1891) - Find A Grave...[54] Ellen Butler Craft (1826-1891) - Find A Grave...[55] https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/william-and-ellen-craft-1824-1900-1826-1891%3famp[55] https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/william-and-ellen-craft-1824-1900-1826-1891%3famp[55] https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/william-and-ellen-craft-1824-1900-1826-1891%3famp[55] https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/william-and-ellen-craft-1824-1900-1826-1891%3famp[56] The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison[56] The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison[56] The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison[56] The Letters of William Lloyd Garrison[57] People and Politics After the Civil War[57] People and Politics After the Civil War[57] People and Politics After the Civil War[57] People and Politics After the Civil War[58] William Demosthenes Crum: Caused an Uproar When Appointed Collector of Customs in Charleston, SC[58] William Demosthenes Crum: Caused an Uproar When Appointed Collector of Customs in Charleston, SC[58] William Demosthenes Crum: Caused an Uproar When Appointed Collector of Customs in Charleston, SC[58] William Demosthenes Crum: Caused an Uproar When Appointed Collector of Customs in Charleston, SC[59] Ellen and William Craft Make a “Crafty” Escape from Slavery[59] Ellen and William Craft Make a “Crafty” Escape from Slavery[59] Ellen and William Craft Make a “Crafty” Escape from Slavery[59] Ellen and William Craft Make a “Crafty” Escape from Slavery[60] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[60] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[60] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft[60] One of the most remarkable escapes from slavery: The story of Ellen and William Craft

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Kateryn Parr died at age 36, and the full story is just crazy.After Henry VIII died in 1547, Kateryn decided she’d had enough of marrying for duty. Three times she’d wed for dynastic reasons. This time, she would marry a man of her own choosing. Unfortunately, the man she wanted to marry was a scoundrel.Thomas Seymour had been sniffing around for a rich wife since his sister, Jane Seymour, had married the king, but he hadn’t found the right one. When Kateryn Parr’s second husband Lord Latimer died, Thomas had focused in on her. He charmed her silly, but before he could seal the deal, the king swooped in and asked Kateryn to marry him. Kateryn didn’t feel she had the option of refusing, and so she became Henry’s sixth queen.The frustrated Thomas started looking elsewhere, but was unable to settle on a bride. He sought the hand of either of the king’s daughters, Elizabeth or Mary, but had been refused permission to approach them. He tried arranging a match with the widow of the king’s bastard son, Henry Fitzroy, but she turned him down flat and wouldn’t change her mind no matter how much her family pressured her. Fortunately for Thomas, Kateryn was soon widowed and was now even richer than before. She showed herself to be receptive to a renewed courtship.Kateryn and Thomas married quickly before the council caught wind of it and could prevent the match. The council was not best pleased to be presented with this fait accompli, to put it mildly. Kateryn was not only the widow of the king, she also had custody of her stepdaughter, Princess Elizabeth. Her wealth and access to the royal family made her marriage a matter of state interest. Thomas was the brother of the Lord Protector (the guardian of young King Edward,) and the brothers didn’t have the best of relationships. The Lord Protector would much rather have given Kateryn’s hand to a noble who was loyal to him and could support his grasp on power instead of his troublesome brother. But it was done now.Everyone was shocked when Kateryn got pregnant shortly after the wedding. She’d been thought to be barren because none of her other three marriages had produced children.Her friends were also worried. Kateryn was about thirty-five years old, and in that era, it was thought to be a dangerously advanced age to have a first pregnancy. But Kateryn was happy – or at least, she would have been, if her husband hadn’t been making advances on her stepdaughter, Elizabeth.Thomas was likely trying to create a backup plan in case Kateryn died, hoping Elizabeth would fall in love with and would be receptive to the idea of eloping, since the council was unlikely to give him permission to marry her. Elizabeth, however, was trying to dodge his “tickling” hands, and Kateryn sent the girl away when she learned what was happening. But at least Kateryn didn’t blame Elizabeth for what had happened.In 1548, Kateryn gave birth to a healthy daughter, but it was soon apparent she wasn’t going to recover. She became terribly ill with childbed fever, caused by unsanitary conditions during the birth. In a feverish moment on her deathbed, she chided Thomas for the “shrewd taunts” he had given her, but when she died just a few days later, she left everything to him. Despite how much he’d hurt her, Kateryn still loved him, and wrote in her will she wished her estate could be many times larger for his sake.Tudor royal funerals were usually an elaborate month-long event, but England was in a state of religious and cultural change as the Protestant faith grew in prominence. Under the reign of young Edward VI, all of the Catholic ceremonial vestiges were being stripped from the Church of England.It appears, however, that Kateryn was embalmed in the traditional fashion. Her internal organs were removed, and the body cavity stuffed with herbs and spices. Perfumed salves and spices were rubbed onto the body itself before it was wrapped snugly in layers of waxed cloth. The bundle was then sealed with sheets of lead before being put inside a wood coffin.Instead of lying in state for weeks while masses and prayers were said for her soul, Kateryn was buried very quickly – the day after she died, according to some accounts. The brief sermon was preached by Miles Coverdale, and Lady Jane Grey served as her chief mourner, but the whole thing was finished by the time the morning was over. Kateryn was buried in the chapel of Sudeley Castle with an engraved slab to mark the place where she lay.Supposedly, this was the text upon it:In this new tomb the royal Katherine lies,Flower of her sex, renowned, great, and wise;A wife by every nuptial virtue known,And faithful partner once of Henry's throne.To Seymour next her plighted hand she yieldsSeymour, whom Neptune's trident yields.From him a beauteous daughter blest her arms,An infant copy of her parent's charms;When now seven days this infant flower had blown,Heaven, in its wrath, the mother's soul resumed.Kateryn’s husband Thomas was now busy trying to talk Princess Elizabeth into marrying him, but she insisted she would do nothing without the permission of the council. He was also trying to undermine his brother, young King Edward’s Lord Protector. When his schemes caught up to him and it looked like treason charges were looming, Thomas came up with the colossally stupid idea of forcing the king to listen to him at gunpoint. He charged into the king’s rooms and shot one of his majesty’s pet dogs before he was arrested. He ended up being executed just a short time later.Sudeley Castle passed to a succession of new owners as the years passed. During the Civil Wars, the castle was besieged several times and plundered. After it passed back and forth between the armies of Parliament and the Royalists, Parliament decided to have the place “slighted” in 1649, meaning disabled so it could no longer be used as a defensive position. The lead roofs were stripped off and melted down for scrap metal. Open to the elements, the castle quickly fell into ruin. As it crumbled, the locals used the walls as a stone quarry, and the old chapel was put in use as a rabbit warren.The story of what happened to Kateryn next is somewhat jumbled and there are conflicting accounts, some of which might be apocryphal. Good records weren't kept, and it's mostly from eyewitness testimony or stories handed down. But it's fascinating...In 1782, a man named John Lucas poked around in the ruins. He was an employee of Lord Rivers, who owned the land where Sudeley stood. He dug in the chapel and discovered the coffin of Kateryn Parr buried about two feet down. Kateryn’s wood outer coffin had decayed away and all that was left was the lead casing around her body. On top of the coffin was a lead plate with an inscription, leaving no doubt as to the person contained inside.Lucas cut into the side of the lead coffin, expecting to find only bones. To his surprise, he encountered six or seven layers of waxed cloth. When he sliced through that, he saw “moist, white flesh” below. Obviously, what had happened was that the lead plates and thick waxed cloth covering had formed an anaerobic environment, and the spices used in her embalming had inhibited bacterial growth, preserving her body.Lucas went no further and apparently reburied Kateryn after this brief examination. He reported his amazing find to Lord Rivers, who seems to have been quite put out that Lucas had been so “forward” as to examine the remains himself.Another account, about the same time, describes a group of lady tourists exploring the ruins of the chapel. They found a fragment of a stone tablet they thought indicated a burial might be nearby and so they had the ground opened. They discovered the lead coffin about a foot down. They cut open the head area of the coffin and saw Kateryn’s intact face below. Alarmed by the sight, they hastily shoveled the earth back over the remains, not even re-covering the face with the cloth before throwing in the dirt.A year later, a friend of Lord Rivers was called to the area on business and she stopped at Sudeley to see Kateryn’s remains herself. She had the earth of Kateryn's grave removed again, and asked her son to copy the text on the lead plate. But because air had been let in to Kateryn’s remains, they were now “quite fetid” and the stench made them ill. The lady expressed the desire to put a stone over Kateryn’s grave to prevent any further “improper inspection” but apparently, this was never done.In 1784, some “rude persons” disturbed the grave again and completely withdrew the body from the coffin. They goofed around with it – one account I’ve read claimed they danced with it— and left it discarded on a refuse heap until the local vicar arranged for the body to be re-interred.Two years later, Reverend T. Nash did an archaeological examination of the remains. His “delicacy” would only allow him to examine her face and hands. By this point, the flesh had decayed away from her face. Her hands, however, were intact, but had turned brown. At this point, or soon after, one of Kateryn’s teeth was taken as a souvenir, along with a small lock of her hair. Nash wrote that he wished Kateryn, the first Protestant queen, could be buried someplace more honorably, because the rabbits in the warren scratched “very irreverently about the royal remains.”In 1792, the tenant of the property discovered someone snooping around in the vicinity of the burial and was concerned they meant to steal Kateryn’s body. The tenant directed his servants to re-bury her in a deeper grave. The September 1792 issue of “Town and County” relates a horrified description of what happened next. “The glass had circulated too quickly” at the servants’ dinner before they attended to the task, and the drunken group abused the body — bashing it with a shovel and knocking out her teeth, ripping off her arms, using a spade to decapitate her, and stabbing her several times with an iron pike — before dumping Kateryn’s coffin in a walled grave, upside down.In 1817, the rector of the small chapel that had been built next to the walls of the original found a vault that was mostly intact. After tidying up the interior by putting the bones of the occupant back into the sole coffin inside, he expressed a desire to a local history buff to find Kateryn Parr and put her coffin in the vault, where it would be safe. They located someone who recalled where Kateryn had been deposited last.Kateryn was exhumed once more, but when they opened the coffin this time, they found that her remains were reduced to bones and a few scraps of cloth, tangled within a profusion of ivy. Later, Agnes Strickland described this as a “wreath of ivy” that had grown as a sepulchral crown around Kateryn’s temples, Nature’s crown for Henry’s last queen, but the truth is not quite so romantic. It had broken through the walls of the grave, as ivy is wont to do, and penetrated through the gaping holes in her coffin.The back of the skull retained a small patch of hair, which they retrieved and later washed, and they kept a small piece of the cloth they found in the coffin, both of which are in the Sudeley museum today. They cleaned the coffin of all its accumulated grime and repaired it before leaving Kateryn to rest quietly in the vault beside Lord Chandos.In 1830s, Sudeley Castle had passed into the hands of the Dent family, who lovingly restored the chapel and part of the castle itself. The family built Kateryn a beautiful tomb, is marble effigy based on her portrait, and the carving on a fragment of the marble slab that had once lain over her grave. Kateryn Parr is now buried in the most beautiful tomb of Henry’s queens, and is finally resting in peace.As for her baby daughter, the child she died bringing into the world…Little Lady Mary Seymour was left an orphan after her father was executed, and a penniless one at that. Her father’s estate had been seized when he was convicted of treason. Her uncle, Seymour’s brother, had been granted a fair chunk of it, but he didn’t want responsibility for caring for the infant. Neither did Kateryn Parr’s brother.Catherine Brandon, the widow of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, had been Kateryn Parr’s best friend. She was appointed as the unwanted child’s guardian. Despite her affection for Kateryn, it was a duty she did grudgingly.Little Mary was doomed to be a burden all her life. Dynastically useless, with no dowry to buy her a fine marriage, she was a purposeless female in a world that put little value on women besides the alliances they could bring.Because she was a queen’s daughter, Lady Mary had her own household staff, and had to be clothed and housed according to her station. Her household cost about £500 per year, an enormous expense that equates to more than a hundred thousand pounds today. Catherine griped about it in letters to William Cecil, who worked for Lord Protector Somerset. She had been promised a pension for the child and appropriate furnishings for the nursery, but nothing had been sent to her. Lady Mary’s servants were demanding their wages, and Catherine’s coffers were suffering for it.Eleven months later, it seems the issue hadn’t been resolved, because Catherine wrote to him again."In these my letters to my lady, I do put her in remembrance, for the performance of her promise, touching some small pension, for my kindness to the late queen's child, for it is with a dozen servants living altogether at my charge, the continuance of which will not bring me out of debt this year. My lord marquess of Northampton, to whom I should deliver her, hath as bad a back for such a burden as I have. He would receive her, but not willingly, if he must receive her train [household]."In 1550, Lady Mary Seymour was granted a portion of her late father’s estate, but after that, she vanishes from the historical records. No further mention is made of her, and historians assume she died around age two. Of what, no one knows, but this should not necessarily be seen as suspicious. In an age before vaccines or a good understanding of hygiene, children died of common ailments that have been almost eradicated today — not to mention the environmental hazards, and poor diet of Tudor life. Fully 50% of children did not survive to adulthood.The Victorian biographer Agnes Strickland claimed that Lady Mary lived to adulthood and had descendants, but there’s no firm evidence for it. Most historians agree that Lady Mary died in infancy.For years, the debate swirled because there seemed to be no definitive answer either way until an archivist at Sudeley Castle uncovered a poem by Kateryn Parr’s chaplain which seems to be Lady Mary’s epitaph:I whom at the costOf her own lifeMy queenly motherBore with the pangs of labourSleep under this marbleAn unfit travellerIf Death had given me to live longerThat virtue, that modesty, That obedience of my excellent MotherThat Heavenly courageous natureWould have lived again in me.Now, whoeverYou are, fare thee wellBecause I cannot speak any more, this stoneIs a memorial to my brief lifeNo tomb or monument appears to have been erected for this sadly un-mourned child, and no one knows where she is buried although Lincolnshire, near Grimsthorpe is a possibility. She is remembered only from time to time when people examine the death of her mother, who died bringing her into the world.

A related point. You should try to get those cuffs off if you’re planning to escape. (I’m told that breaking your thumb will usually do it.) As a defense attorney I once represented a County Jail inmate who had run away from a work project wearing handcuffs. Not only was he charged with escape, he was charged with theft of county property - the pair of handcuffs he was wearing.