| Traveler's Names | Thomas Jervis Gooseberry |
|---|---|
| Age | 19 |
| Description | Quite dark, and stammered somewhat |
| Alias | – |
| Origin- Town/City | Chestertown |
| Origin- County | Kent |
| Origin- State | Maryland |
| Destination | Canada |
| Birthplace | – |
| Slaveowner's Name | Sarah Maria Perkins |
| Chapter Title | Part of the arrivals in December, 1855 |
| Page Number | 339 |
| Other Travelers | Thomas Jervis Gooseberry and William Thomas Freeman,Ezekiel Chambers, Henry Hooper, Jacob Hall and wife Henrietta and child, two men from near Chestertown, Md, Fenton Jones, Mary Curtis, William Brown, Charles Henry Brown, Oliver Purnell , Isaac Fidget |
| Other Conductors | – |
| Additional Names | – |
| Method of Travel | Carriages |
| Additional Resources | letter |
| Items in Possession | – |
| Full Narrative | SCHUYLKILL, llth Mo., 29th, 1855. WILLIAM STILL : DEAR FRIEND : ? Those boys will be along by the last Norristown train to-morrow evening. I think the train leaves Norristown at 6 o'clock, but of this inform thyself. The boys will be sent to a friend at Norristown, with instructions to assist them in getting seats in the last train that leaves Norristown to-morrow evening. They are two of the eleven who left some time since, and took with them some of their master's horses ; I have told them to remain in the cars at Green street until somebody meets them. E. F. PENNYPACKER. Having arrived safely, by the way and manner indicated in E. F. Pennypacker's note, as they were found to be only sixteen and seventeen years of age, considerable interest was felt by the Acting Committee to hear their story. They were closely questioned in the usual manner. They proved to be quite intelligent, considering how young they were, and how the harrow of Slavery had been upon them from infancy. They escaped from Chestertown, Md., in company with nine others (they being a portion of the eleven who arrived in Wilmington, with two carriages, etc., noticed on page 302), but, for prudential reasons they were separated while traveling. Some were sent on, but the boys had to be retained with friends in the country. Many such separations were inevitable. In this respect a great deal of care and trouble had to be endured for the sake of the cause. THOMAS JERVIS, the elder boy, was quite dark, and stammered somewhat, yet he was active and smart. ?He stated that Sarah Maria Perkins was his mistress in Maryland. He was disposed to speak rather favorably of her, at least he said that she was "tolerably kind" to her servants. She, however, was in the habit of hiring out, to reap a greater revenue for them, and did not always get them places where they were treated as well as she herself treated them. Tom left his father, Thomas Gooseberry, and three sisters, Julia Ann, Mary Ellen, and Katie Bright, all slaves. |
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[Author (if known)], Abstracts from William Still's Underground Railroad, [Date (if known)], Enduring Connections: Exploring Delmarva’s Black History, Nabb Research Center, Salisbury University.
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