Escape!

Men, women, and children risked their lives to flee slavery by reaching and crossing the Roanoke River. In a narrative from circa 1838, James Williams recalled that the fear of being made a slave again and suffering the horrible punishment of a runaway restrained him as he lay in the woods all day without food. The next evening he found a large pile of excellent apples, and the following evening he reached Halifax Court House, where he knew he was near Virginia. On October 7, he came to the Roanoke and crossed it during a violent storm of rain and thunder. The current ran so furiously that he was carried downstream and, with great difficulty and in a state of complete exhaustion, reached the opposite shore.

Halifax, North Carolina · United States