“As a reward Mr. Stafford took my father to the court house at La Plata, the county seat of Charles County, signed papers for the emancipation of him, my mother, and me, besides giving him money to help him to take his family to Philadelphia.

“I have a vague recollection of the Staffords’ family, not enough to describe.  They lived on a large farm situated in Charles County, a part bounding on the Potomac River and a cove that extends into the farm property.  Much of the farm property was marshy and was suitable for the purpose of Mr. Stafford’s living—­raising and training blood hounds.  I have been told by mother and father on many occasions that there were as many as a hundred dogs on the farm at times.  Mr. Stafford had about 50 slaves on his farm.  He had an original method in training young blood hounds, he would make one of the slaves traverse a course, at the end, the slave would climb a tree.  The younger dogs led by an old dog, sometimes by several older dogs, would trail the slave until they reached the tree, then they would bark until taken away by the men who had charge of the dogs.

“Mr. Stafford’s dogs were often sought to apprehend runaway slaves.  He would charge according to the value and worth of the slave captured.  His dogs were often taken to Virginia, sometimes to North Carolina, besides being used in Maryland.  I have been told that when a slave was captured, besides the reward paid in money, that each dog was supposed to bite the slave to make him anxious to hunt human beings.

“There was a slaveholder in Charles County who had a very valuable slave, an expert carpenter and bricklayer, whose services were much sought after by the people in Southern Maryland.  This slave could elude the best blood hounds in the State.  It was always said that slaves, when they ran away, would try to go through a graveyard and if he or she could get dirt from the grave of some one that had been recently buried, sprinkle it behind them, the dogs could not follow the fleeing slave, and would howl and return home.

“Old Pete the mechanic was working on farm near La Plata, he decided to run away as he had done on several previous occasions.  He was known by some as the herb doctor and healer.  He would not be punished on any condition nor would he work unless he was paid something.  It was said that he would save money and give it to people who wanted to run away.  He was charged with aiding a girl to flee.  He was to be whipped by the sheriff of Charles County for aiding the girl to run away.  He heard of it, left the night before he was to be whipped, he went to the swamp in the cove or about 5 miles from where his master lived.  He eluded the dogs for several weeks, escaped, got to Boston and no one to this day has any idea how he did it; but he did.