On March 29, 1849, a slave mailed himself to freedom.
Henry Brown was a slave in Richmond, Virginia. He was married with three children, but his master broke his promise and sold his family away to the deep South. After that, he would pray to God and one day God responded, counseling him to “go and get a box and put yourself in it.” In 1849, he had the plantation carpenter build him a box similar to a shipping crate. He poked some air holes in it and had it labeled “This side up with care” on the top. Then he got inside with a “bladder” of water and some crackers. He arranged for the box to be brought to the local express station with it addressed to a group of abolitionists in Philadelphia. The box was thrown in the corner upside down, but soon it was loaded onto a baggage car right-side up. But when the box was transferred to a steamboat, it was again put upside down. For over an hour, he rode on his head. It caused excruciating pain, but he was determined to be free. Finally, the steamboat voyage ended and a wagon took Henry to the Philadelphia post office where the crate was thrown down, almost breaking his neck. He had traveled 350 miles in 27 hours. He was soon picked up by the abolitionists and became famous as Henry “Box” Brown. After that, he traveled throughout the North lecturing and showing slides of slave life. He moved to England after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.
– maroon 114 / Bath 2 pp. 305-307
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