food, and material aid, and sped on to Canada.  Notes taken at that time were very brief; it was evidently deemed prudent in those days, not to keep as full reports as had been the wont of the secretary, prior to 1859.  The capture of John Brown’s papers and letters, with names and plans in full, admonished us that such papers and correspondence as had been preserved concerning the Underground Rail Road, might perchance be captured by a pro-slavery mob.  For a year or more after the Harper’s Ferry battle, as many will remember, the mob spirit of the times was very violent in all the principal northern cities, as well as southern ("to save the Union.”) Even in Boston, Abolition meetings were fiercely assailed by the mob.  During this period, the writer omitted some of the most important particulars in the escapes and narratives of fugitives.  Books and papers were sent away for a long time, and during this time the records were kept simply on loose slips of paper.

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ARRIVAL FROM MARYLAND, 1860.

JERRY MILLS, AND WIFE, DIANA, SON, CORNELIUS, AND TWO DAUGHTERS, MARGARET, AND SUSAN.

The father of this family was sixty-five years of age, and his working days were apparently well nigh completed.  The mother was fifty-seven years of age; son twenty-seven; daughters seventeen and fifteen years of age.

The old man was smart for his years, but bore evidence that much hard labor had been wrung out of him by Slavery.  Diana said that she had been the mother of twelve children; five had escaped to Canada, three were in their graves, and three accompanied her; one was left in Maryland.  They had seen hard times, according to the testimony of the old man and his companion, especially under David Snively, who, however, had been “removed by the Lord” a number of years prior to their escape; but the change proved no advantage to them, as they found Slavery no better under their mistress, the widow, than under their master.  Mistress Snively was said to be close and stingy, and always unfriendly to the slave.  “She never thought you were doing enough.”  For her hardness of heart they were sure she would repent some time, but not while she could hold slaves.  The belief was pretty generally entertained with the slaves that the slaveholder would have to answer for his evil doings in another world.

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TWELVE MONTHS IN THE WOODS, 1860.

HENRY COTTON.

As a slave, subjected to the whims and passions of his master, Henry made up his mind that he could not stand it longer.  The man who mastered it over him was called Nathaniel Dixon, and lived in Somerset Co., near Newtown.  This Dixon was not content with his right to flog and abuse Henry as he saw fit, but he threatened to sell him, as he would sell a hog.