Henry "Box" Brown

          The crate was placed on the floor and everyone gathered quietly around as William Still knelt down beside it. He knocked on the top of the wooden box twice and called out, “All right?” 

          Zammie looked at William quizzically wondering who he was talking to when he heard a man’s voice come from inside the box. “All right, sir!”
           Harriet gasped. Robert and Henry exchanged shocked looks.
           “It can’t be!” said one of the men who had carried the crate.
           William grabbed the small saw that Leonard had brought and he used it to cut open the hickory hoops that were wrapped around the crate. After William sawed through the hoops, Leonard then used the crowbar to pry open the lid. The lid had been nailed down to the box but it was soon yanked off and everyone crowded in closer to see who was inside.
           They heard the man’s voice sing out a short psalm. “Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me.” Then a trembling black hand reached out from inside the crate. William grabbed the hand and helped the man to his feet. “How do you do, gentlemen?” said the man.  He looked around and saw Harriet and Jane. “And ladies?”

           The man’s name was Henry Brown. He had been a slave in Virginia, but had naturally grown sick of it. The time had come when he felt he had to do something -- anything -- to get away from his master and the daily drudgery of enslavement. Virginia had proven to be a very difficult place for slaves to escape from so Henry decided to take a novel approach to gaining his freedom by boxing himself up and having himself forwarded to Philadelphia direct by express. 

From Henry's Freedom Box

          
          He took some salted crackers and a container of water into the box with him, and relied on one of his friends to have the crate addressed and delivered by way of the Adams Express Company. His journey lasted twenty-six hours; twenty-six hours trapped inside a crate that was only three feet long and two feet wide. Several of those hours had passed with the crate actually being stacked upside-down on an overland express wagon. When Henry finally stood up inside the Anti-Slavery office that day in Philadelphia he was soaked with sweat, cramped, and very hungry. But he was free.
            William Still wrote down Henry Brown’s story of escape before a friend of Henry’s came and escorted him further north.

--The arrival of Henry "Box" Brown

from Time Trip #2 (Chapter 25) 

 

"The Resurrection of Henry Box Brown".

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 4

KILLING FOR COUNTRY  

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 1

THE JOURNEY TO ANCIENT GREECE 

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 2

A RIDE ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Available at Amazon.com!

TIME TRIP ADVENTURE 3

WITNESS TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING 

Available at Amazon.com!