When I made my first trip to Freedom, I went to 
Pennslyvania. I was able to work washing clothes, 
and for the first time in my life, I was paid for 
my work. I never got money before. I made a lot 
of money for my master, but I never got paid till 
I was free.  I told some friends that I  planned 
to get my family free. They took me to some other 
people who helped  out slaves a lot.  There were 
some of those Quaker people who said they were 
part of the Society of Friends.

When I was in Philadelphia I heard about the new 
law, called the Fugitive Slave Law. That law said 
that escaped slaves would not be free even in 
states like Pennsylvania that were free states.  
I new that I had to get my people free, and far 
away, I had to learn how to get them to Canada.  
I went back more than once from Philadelphia.

Then I heard that my father was going to be sold 
because he helped some people get free. I got 
some people to write some passes for them. They 
were old and could not walk the journey. I had 
some money now and took the train south back to 
get my parents.  This time, I had two tickets for 
them, and some passes that somebody wrote for me. 
I had an old buggey not far from the plantation 
waiting for them. 

I then went right away to the train station. I 
took the tickets and we got ready to get on when 
somebody called out to us. "Stop where are you 
going?" said a rough cold voice. I did the 
talking. "We are going to our master in New 
York," I said. I showed him the two letters that 
my friends from Philadelphia and New York wrote 
for me. He said, they looked ok, and I took my 
parents to freedom. I did not get out till we 
got to St. Catherine's, Canada. A little while 
later, I took them to Auburn, New York, where I 
had bought a little piece of land.