n of
him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his
family to Philadelphia.

"I have a vague recollection of the Staffords' family, not enough to
describe. They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part
bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm
property. Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the
purpose of Mr. Stafford's living--raising and training blood hounds. I
have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as
many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times. Mr. Stafford had about 50
slaves on his farm. He had an original method in training young blood
hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end,
the slave would climb a tree. The younger dogs led by an old dog,
sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they
reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who
had charge of the dogs.

"Mr. Stafford's dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves. He
would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured. His
dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides
being used in Maryland. I have been told that when a slave was captured,
besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the
slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.

"There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable
slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much
sought after by the people in Southern Maryland. This slave could elude
the best blood hounds in the State. It was always said that slaves, when
they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she
could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried,
sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave,
and would howl and return home.

"Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to
run away as he had done on several previous occasions. He was known by
some as the herb doctor and healer. He would not be punished on any
condition nor would he work unless he was paid something. It was said
that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.
He was charged with aiding a girl to flee. He was to be whipped by the
sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away. He heard of
it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the