ass, whom the public are ignorant of, than merely
to give special prominence to John and his relatives as individuals,
that these letters are given.

ESCAPE OF JOHN HENRY HILL FROM THE SLAVE AUCTION IN RICHMOND, ON THE
FIRST DAY OF JANUARY, 1853.

JOHN HENRY at that time, was a little turned of twenty-five years of
age, full six feet high, and remarkably well proportioned in every
respect. He was rather of a brown color, with marked intellectual
features. John was by trade, a carpenter, and was considered a competent
workman. The year previous to his escape, he hired his time, for which
he paid his owner $150. This amount John had fully settled up the last
day of the year. As he was a young man of steady habits, a husband and
father, and withal an ardent lover of Liberty; his owner, John Mitchell,
evidently observed these traits in his character, and concluded that he
was a dangerous piece of property to keep; that his worth in money could
be more easily managed than the man. Consequently, his master
unceremoniously, without intimating in any way to John, that he was to
be sold, took him to Richmond, on the first day of January (the great
annual sale day), and directly to the slave-auction. Just as John was
being taken into the building, he was invited to submit to hand-cuffs.
As the thought flashed upon his mind that he was about to be sold on the
auction-block, he grew terribly desperate. "Liberty or death" was the
watchword of that awful moment. In the twinkling of an eye, he turned on
his enemies, with his fist, knife, and feet, so tiger-like, that he
actually put four or five men to flight, his master among the number.
His enemies thus suddenly baffled, John wheeled, and, as if assisted by
an angel, strange as it may appear, was soon out of sight of his
pursuers, and securely hid away. This was the last hour of John Henry's
slave life, but not, however, of his struggles and sufferings for
freedom, for before a final chance to escape presented itself, nine
months elapsed. The mystery as to where, and how he fared, the following
account, in his own words, must explain--

Nine months I was trying to get away. I was secreted for a long
time in a kitchen of a merchant near the corner of Franklyn and
7th streets, at Richmond, where I was well taken care of, by a
lady friend of my mother. When I got Tired of staying in that
place, I wrote myself a pass to pass myself to Petersburg, here