Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

In Virginia, William and Ellen are keenly aware that their dangers are not behind them. Some of the enslaved people riding on the train with William are prodded awake and taken to Lumpkin’s Jail, an infamous prison that held enslaved people before auction. While William and Ellen board a new steamer headed toward Washington, DC, one woman accuses Mr. Johnson of stealing William from her. However, once the woman looks closer at William’s face, she realizes she is mistaken.

Once William and Ellen reach Washington, DC, they will have two more trips: a train ride to Baltimore and then another to Philadelphia. One white man observing William grows irate at the quality of William’s hat and causes a commotion over it. He does not believe William should own such a fine piece of clothing. When the ship lands, William and Ellen race to make their train on time.

Their journey is made more challenging by recent events. In April, 77 enslaved individuals hid on a ship called the Pearl to travel North. Their plot was discovered, and they were returned to the South. Mobs rioted in protest. Despite increased security and tension, William and Ellen safely make it to the train. William helps Mr. Johnson into the first-class car.

At this point in the journey, William and Ellen realize that everyone at home knows they are missing. Four days have passed, meaning that their enslavers have already sent telegraphs demanding their return. Once in Baltimore, William and Ellen must change trains again, but as they approach freedom, security becomes stricter. Once Ellen is secured on the last train, William is stopped and told that he cannot secure passage until his enslaver has provided proof of ownership. Ellen feigns ignorance of the rule and treats the officer with disdain, emulating the behavior of a disgruntled wealthy white person. When others around them grow dissatisfied at the mistreatment of a wealthy person with disabilities, the officer approves William’s passage.

On the last train, Ellen gives William the remaining coins, knowing that she will be a target for pickpocketing as a wealthy person with disabilities. Both William and Ellen fall asleep, an act that nearly destroys their plan. The train takes an unplanned stop due to high waters. Passengers must travel across the river by ferry to board another train. The passengers laugh at Mr. Johnson as he questions what has happened to William. They believe he has fled the naive owner. Ellen sticks to the plan they made should they become separated and continues the journey without William. The carriage cars are attached and ferried across the river to join the new train, and William is inside. After their treacherous journey, William and Ellen arrive in Philadelphia, a free city.

In Georgia, Eliza worries about Ellen and is in disbelief over her departure. The cabinetmaker worries that he will be in legal trouble with William’s enslaver.

The free city of Philadelphia is a new world for William and Ellen, but it is not without its own problems. William learned of a hotel for Black travelers while on the train, so the couple locates the hotel and secures a private room. There, Ellen removes her men’s outfit and returns in women’s clothing, shocking the landlord. Although Philadelphia was a hub for abolitionist activism, the landlord explains that the city is more dangerous for fugitives from slavery than it used to be. He connects the couple with William Still, an active abolitionist and member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.

Still recognizes that William and Ellen are still vulnerable under the Fugitive Slave Act and that it is not safe for them to remain in the city. The couple decides to head to Boston rather than Canada.

Still connects William and Ellen with Robert Purvis, a wealthy Black activist and president of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. William and Ellen visit Purvis in his new home 12 miles north of Philadelphia. At the time of the couple’s arrival, Purvis is feeling overwhelmed and fed up with the multiple battles he is fighting and the unyielding nature of racism. To make his guests feel comfortable, Purvis and his family host the couple in a secret space underground. Purvis assures William and Ellen that he is here to help.

After the strenuous and stressful journey, Ellen becomes ill. The story of William and Ellen’s journey spreads rapidly, and a Quaker named Barclay Ivins invites the couple to join his family on their farm to rest before taking the next steps of their journey. Ellen carefully packs her trunk. Among her belongings are a child’s pair of shoes and some toys, believed to belong to the child William and Ellen lost.

Upon their arrival at Quaker Barclay Ivins home, Ellen is unsure whether they should go in. She had not realized that Ivins and his family were white, and history has taught her not to trust white people. Barclay’s wife, Mary, puts Ellen at ease and assures her that she would send her own children into slavery before jeopardizing Willian and Ellen’s livelihood. After dinner, the Ivins family gives William and Ellen reading lessons, and Ellen soon learns to write her name. They stay with the Ivins for several days, and Ellen is happy among her new friends, where she begins fulfilling a lifelong dream to read and write.

William Wells Brown, an anti-slavery public speaker and singer, developed a name for himself in the lecture circuit. Like William and Ellen, Brown escaped slavery by traveling to Ohio and finding a Quaker who could help him. When Brown hears of a story of a young couple who escaped slavery by traveling in plain sight, he travels out of his way to meet the couple and encourage them to join him as an abolitionist activist. Despite their plans to travel to Boston, William and Ellen are inspired by Brown’s story and agree to help him. This brave decision would put William and Ellen at the center of the public eye and in open defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act.