| Traveler's Names | "General Andrew Jackson" |
|---|---|
| Age | 27 |
| Description | full-black and a man of extraordinary muscular powers, with coarse hard features, such as showed signs that it would not be safe |
| Alias | – |
| Origin- Town/City | Lewistown |
| Origin- County | Dorchester Co. |
| Origin- State | Maryland |
| Destination | Canada |
| Birthplace | – |
| Slaveowner's Name | Shepherd Houston |
| Chapter Title | Arrival from Hoopesville, Md, 1857 |
| Page Number | 438-439 |
| Other Travelers | James Cain, "General Andrew Jackson" and Anna Perry |
| Other Conductors | – |
| Additional Names | – |
| Method of Travel | – |
| Additional Resources | – |
| Items in Possession | – |
| Full Narrative | " GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON." When the above " article " gave the Committee his name they were amused and thought that he was simply jesting, having done a smart thing in conquering his master by escaping ; but on a fuller investigation they found that he really bore the name, and meant to retain it in Canada. It had been given him when a child, and in Slavery he had been familiarly called "Andy," but since he had achieved his freedom he felt bound to be called by his proper name. General Andrew was about twenty-seven years of age, a full black, and a man of extraordinary muscular powers, with coarse hard features, such as showed signs that it would not be safe* for his master to meddle with him when the General's blood was up. He spoke freely of the man who claimed him as a slave, saying that his name was Shepherd Houston, of Lewistowu, Delaware, and that he owned seven head of " God's poor," whom he compelled to labor on his farm without a cent of pay, a day's schooling, or an hour's freedom ; furthermore, that he was a member of the Ebenezer Methodist Church, a class-leader, and an exhorter, and in outward show passed for a good Christian. But in speaking of his practical dealings with his slaves, General said that he worked them hard, stinted them shamefully for food, and kept them all the time digging. Also when testifying with regard to the " weaker vessel," under whose treatment he had suffered much, the General said that his master's wife had a meaner disposition than he had ; she pretended to belong to church too, said General, but it was nothing but deceit. This severe critic could not read, but he had very clear views on the ethics of his master and mistress, agreeing with Scripture concerning whited sepulchres, etc. The question of Christian slave-holders, for a great while, seriously puzzled the wise and learned, but for the slave it was one of the easiest of solution. All the slaves came to the same conclusion, notwithstanding the teaching of slave-holders on the one idea, that " servants should obey their masters," etc. General had a brother in Baltimore, known by the name of Josephus, also two sisters Anna and Annie; his father was living at Cannon's Ferry. |
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[Author (if known)], Abstracts from William Still's Underground Railroad, [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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