John Smith was born into slavery in Virginia in 1809. Little was recorded about Smith’s early life. By the time he was 40, he was a railroad engineer and “had entire charge of the Locomotive on the Winchester & Harper’s Ferry [sic: Potomac] Railroad for five years.” Smith drove trains between his home in Winchester to Harpers Ferry. As the engineer Smith was second only to the conductor.
An enslaved man operating the locomotive was a rarity. Generally, Black workers (free or enslaved) were given menial jobs. After the Civil War this job segregation was strictly enforced by White labor unions. After about six years in his post, Smith was replaced on the Winchester & Potomac Railroad by a White engineer.
$1050 for Freedom
How and when did John Smith raise the $1050 to free his family? This isn’t entirely clear, but some reasonable guesses can be made. Enslavers sometimes leased out the people they enslaved to work for others and kept the enslaved person's wages as extra income for themselves. Many Southern railroad companies rented enslaved people to build their lines. It is possible that Smith kept some of his wages earned while driving the trains.
When Freedom Came for the Smith Family
When and how did John Smith free himself and his family? There are a few clues to unravel. John was married to a woman named Mary. John and Mary Smith’s oldest child, George, was enslaved at his birth in 1844. A Black child’s freedom or enslavement, depended on the status of their mother. So George's mother Mary must have been enslaved when George was born. The Smith's daughter Fanny, was born free in 1849. This suggests that her mother, Mary, was free at the time. Records show that in 1851 their son George had been emancipated. Why was George emancipated by the man who enslaved him? Did John Smith buy his son's freedom? John Smith's obituary shows that he bought his wife's freedom for $250 and his own freedom for $800. By 1851, the whole family was free and living in Winchester, Virginia.
Move to Liberia
Seeking new opportunities, he began corresponding with Rev. Rufus Bailey, an agent of the American Colonization Society. Founded in 1816, the society believed that free Black people could not integrate into American society and that relocation to Africa was their best option. As a result, the colony of Liberia was founded. It declared independence in 1847, though the United States didn’t recognize that independence until 1862. With Bailey’s help, Smith and other free Black men formed a joint-stock company and purchased a steam-powered circular saw. On November 1, 1851 the Smith family boarded the ship Morgan Dix in Baltimore, Maryland, and made their way across the ocean.
The Smiths settled in Buchanan, Liberia, and John quickly went to work establishing the sawmill. The Liberia Saw Mill Company was soon up and running and very quickly “attracting large crowds of spectators daily.”
Word of Smith's Death
Smith’s early success was short-lived. Sometime in January 1853, Smith was working in his mill when “He was accidentally caught by the circular saw, and was so much injured that he died in a few hours.” News of his death reached Virginia, and the Spirit of Jefferson—the Charles Town newspaper—reprinted an obituary first published in the Maryland Colonization Journal.
Although Smith’s life was tragically cut short, his perseverance and accomplishments in the face of overwhelming odds provide a compelling story of Black persistence and determination in a world that set barriers to Black achievement.
Isaac Gilbert
Isaac Gilbert had a mission: to free his enslaved wife and children. Gilbert himself was enslaved by Susan Harding in Harpers Ferry, and his wife and three children were enslaved in the Logie household.
To free his family, Gilbert ventured into illegal territory. He negotiated with Harding to rent himself out and keep a portion of the money he made the rest of what he earned, went to Harding. Against the law, Harding allowed it. Over several years, Gilbert saved $1,500 in gold—enough to purchase his family from the Logie family.
Why didn't Gilbert free himself first and purchase his family later? Buying his children Ruhanna, John, and Isaac's freedom ensured that they would not be sold away. Buying his wife Sarah's freedom as soon as possible meant that any more children born to her would be free too.
A second legal hurdle blocked Gilbert's plan. Although he had enough gold to purchase his family, as an enslaved person, he couldn't legally make the purchase. He needed a free person to make the purchase for him. So he turned to a powerful figure in the town for help: Mayor Fontaine Beckham. Beckham was used to buying and selling people and owned many enslaved people. He agreed to Gilbert’s plan.
Beckham took Gilbert's $1,500 in gold, purchased Gilbert's wife and children, and then held onto the bill of sale. Beckham included in his will that, on his death, Gilbert’s family should be freed.
In a twist of fate, Beckham was killed in John Brown’s raid, which set into motion freedom for the Gilbert family—the only known enslaved people to have been freed by the raid.
Last updated: March 27, 2023
Park footer
Contact Info
Mailing Address:
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
National Park Service
PO Box 65
Harpers Ferry,
WV
25425
