ABSTRACT
William Wright, a fugitive from the State of Maryland, informed me that he was a slave at an institution, belonging to the Catholics, called St. Josephs. He was treated with more lenity than usually fell to the lot of persons in his situation, yet he felt the injustice of being held in bondage, and obliged to labor all his life for others, receiving only food and clothing, and that, too, of a very coarse kind. I believe he was about thirty years old when he formed the determination to better his condition if possible, and for that purpose left his oppressors, and went to Philadelphia, about the year 1808. He an his wife hired themselves, as servants, to a Captain Many, of that city. His wife was a free woman; but whether he brought her from Maryland with him, or married her soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, I do not now remember. They were sober, industrious people, and soon conciliated the favor of their employers. After remaining in this situation a considerable time, having acquired some money, William called upon me, and made known his circumstances. He solicited me to endeavor to purchase his freedom; saying that he was in constant dread of being discovered, and conveyed back to Maryland. If that should be the case, he said, he was sure he should not be retained there, but would be sold to the speculators, and taken to the South. His mind was evidently much depressed. I readily agreed to do what I could for him. He left me with sixty dollars towards paying for his freedom, provided those having the ownership would agree to manumit him, upon receiving a moderate sum as a compensation.
