In 1806 in Caroline County, an enslaved mother named Sydney Still was forced to choose between trying to save either her two young sons or her two little daughters from enslavement. Her freed husband, Levin Still of Greensboro, had moved to New Jersey and wanted his family to join him. Levin and Sydney had four children, all enslaved and under the age of eight. Sydney had earlier escaped to New Jersey with all four children, but a slave catcher brought them back, after which she was locked in a nearby garret for months and then closely watched. Knowing she would be immediately pursued and could not successfully take all four children, she fled with the two girls, hoping the boys might escape in adulthood. As the boys slept, she tearfully kissed each goodbye. The next day, when her escape was discovered, the owner of Edmondson's Reserve immediately sold the two boys down South. Sydney was never recaptured. After settling with her husband in another part of New Jersey, she changed her name to Charity, had nine more children including author William Still, and at age 74 was reunited with her long-lost son Peter Still after his 44 years of enslavement in the South. Her story's ultimate legacy included two nonfiction books of major importance to the history of enslavement and the Underground Railroad in the U.S.