George was twenty-three years of age, quite dark, medium size, and bore the marks of a man of considerable pluck.  He was the slave of Mrs. Jane Coultson.  No special complaint of her is recorded on the book.  She might have been a very good mistress, but George was not a very happy and contented piece of property, as was proved by his course in escaping.  The cold North had many more charms for him than the sunny South.

John has been already described in the person of his brother George.  He was not, however, the property of Mrs. Coultson, but was owned by Miss Cox, near Little Georgetown, Berkeley Co., Va.  These three individuals were held as slaves by that class of slave-holders, known in the South as the most kind-hearted and indulgent, yet they seemed just as much delighted with the prospects of freedom as any other passengers.

The next day following the arrival of the party just noticed James Henry Watson reached the Committee.  He was in good condition, the spring weather having been favorable, and the journey made without any serious difficulty.

He was from Snowhill, Worcester county, Md., and had escaped from James Purnell, a farmer of whom he did not speak very favorably.  Yet James admitted that his master was not as hard on his slaves as some others.

For the benefit of James’ kinsfolk, who may still perchance be making searches for him, not having yet learned whither he went or what became of him, we copy the following paragraph as entered on our book April 11th, 1856: 

James Henry is twenty years of age, dark, well-made, modest, and seems fearful of apprehension; was moved to escape in order to obtain his freedom.  He had heard of others who had run away and thus secured their freedom; he thought he could do the same.  He left his father, mother, three brothers and five sisters owned by Purnell.  His father’s name was Ephraim, his mother’s name Mahala.  The names of his sisters and brothers were as follows:  Hetty, Betsy, Dinah, Catharine and Harriet; Homer, William and James.

Zebulon Green was the next traveler.  He arrived from Duck Creek, Md.  John Appleton, a farmer, was chargeable with having deprived Zeb of his rights.  But, as Zeb was only about eighteen years of age when he made his exit, Mr. Appleton did not get much the start of him.  In answer to the question as to the cause of his escape, he replied “bad usage.”  He was smart, and quite dark.  In traveling, he changed his name to Samuel Hill.  The Committee endeavored to impress him thoroughly, with the idea that he could do much good in the world for himself and fellow-men, by using his best endeavors to acquire education, etc., and forwarded him on to Canada.