Ellen and William Craft

Ellen and William CraftUnknown author / Public domain

Ellen and William Craft are heroes to me. One winter morning in 1848, Ellen Craft, a light-skinned young slave, disguised herself in men's clothing to walk to a train station in Macon, Georgia. "Tickets for myself and my slave," she said, and magically, the precious tickets, which no slave could buy, were handed to her. Ellen, posing as a white Southern planter, with her husband, William, as her slave, began the dangerous journey which could end in freedom or in death.

Ellen's mother was black, but her father was white, and that's why she was so light-skinned. Since she was a housemaid, she knew how to speak like her mistress. Her mistress didn't like her, though, so her mistress sold her one day to a wealthy merchant. 

Her husband's life was a lot different. He was born to two slaves that already worked on a plantation. He was eventually separated from his parents and then his sister.

Ellen Craft's disguiseWikimedia Commons [Public domain]

Ellen and William ended up at the same place, met, and fell in love. They got married, but they agreed not to have children because of all the separation that goes on in slavery. They were treated "well" by their owners, had their own cottage and everything, but they wanted freedom and they were making plans the whole time about how to escape to the North.

They had it all planned and asked around for things that they needed by going to blacksmiths, etc. The people they were asking for stuff were real suspicious but thought Ellen and William would get caught if they tried something slick. The plan was that Ellen was going to dress up like a man, and William was going to be her slave. Ellen had her disguise - green sunglasses, a bandage for her face, another one for her arm, a hat, and men's clothing.

The exciting thing is they made it to the North, and when they got there William got a good job and made enough money to take care of Ellen. I was so happy they made it because they wanted freedom, like the blacks in the North. This goes to show how there are heroes everywhere and how God was with them the whole time. God brought them through, like he took the slaves out of bondage in Egypt. When Ellen and William got to the North, they dropped on their knees and thanked God for bringing them through.