ABSTRACT
William Anderson was a slave in Virginia. When about twenty-five years old, he concluded to “try if he could not do something for himself;” as he remarked to me, when I inquired of him what was the cause of his leaving Virginia. To try this experiment, he left his master, and went to Philadelphia with two of his fellow-servants. After he had been absent a few months, the master “sold them, running,” (a common term in the slave States,) to a certain Joseph Ennells, who was in the practice of speculating in slaves. This man repaired to Philadelphia, in search of his newly-acquired property. He procured a warrant, engaged a constable, and started in pursuit of the fugitives. It was on a Seventh-day of the week, and they went to the horse-market, where many people congregated. They had not been there long, before Ennells espied the three men standing together in the crowd, and immediately made an attempt to pounce upon them; but happily for them, they saw the marauders coming, and quickly mingled with the multitude, and escaped.
