1. Harriet, how did you feel when John had another wife?
Answer: John wouldn’t go with me to be free. He stayed with his new wife. And he lived there ‘till he was murdered.
2. Did the weight stop you from freedom?
Answer: I endured seizures, severe headaches, and narcoleptic episodes. I also experienced intense dream states. This continued for the rest of my life. They even said I might have endured temporal lobe epilepsy.
3. Were you scared when you were first sold?
Answer: I was hired by a woman named Miss Susan. I had to take care of her baby. If that baby cried I would be whipped. One day she whipped me five times before breakfast.
4. Were you scared of John when he said he would report you if you ran away?
Answer: John didn’t understand why wanted to be free. John said something that frightened me. He was going to report me if I left.
5. How did you feel about leaving your mom and dad?
Answer: I felt homesick when I was free. I thought of my parents especially my mother. That is why I returned for them.
6. Did you know the Underground Railroad wasn’t underground or a railroad?
Answer: I didn’t know it wasn’t a railroad. I didn’t even know it wasn’t underground. All I knew was that people helped.
7. How did it feel when you were first free?
Answer: When I crossed into Pennsylvania, I felt relief and awe. “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold threw the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”
8. Did you like having to threaten slaves?
Answer: I hated having to threaten slaves. I did it to protect the other slaves. They would tell their owners.
9. Were you sad you did not free your brothers?
Answer: I was sad. Ben went back for his wife, who he thought was having a baby. They went back, forcing me to go with them.
10. What were your thoughts when you crossed over to Canada?
Answer: The other slaves and me sang. The one slave that wanted to go back cried and sang along. We were fully free.
Answer: John wouldn’t go with me to be free. He stayed with his new wife. And he lived there ‘till he was murdered.
2. Did the weight stop you from freedom?
Answer: I endured seizures, severe headaches, and narcoleptic episodes. I also experienced intense dream states. This continued for the rest of my life. They even said I might have endured temporal lobe epilepsy.
3. Were you scared when you were first sold?
Answer: I was hired by a woman named Miss Susan. I had to take care of her baby. If that baby cried I would be whipped. One day she whipped me five times before breakfast.
4. Were you scared of John when he said he would report you if you ran away?
Answer: John didn’t understand why wanted to be free. John said something that frightened me. He was going to report me if I left.
5. How did you feel about leaving your mom and dad?
Answer: I felt homesick when I was free. I thought of my parents especially my mother. That is why I returned for them.
6. Did you know the Underground Railroad wasn’t underground or a railroad?
Answer: I didn’t know it wasn’t a railroad. I didn’t even know it wasn’t underground. All I knew was that people helped.
7. How did it feel when you were first free?
Answer: When I crossed into Pennsylvania, I felt relief and awe. “When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything; the sun came like gold threw the trees, and over the fields, and I felt like I was in Heaven.”
8. Did you like having to threaten slaves?
Answer: I hated having to threaten slaves. I did it to protect the other slaves. They would tell their owners.
9. Were you sad you did not free your brothers?
Answer: I was sad. Ben went back for his wife, who he thought was having a baby. They went back, forcing me to go with them.
10. What were your thoughts when you crossed over to Canada?
Answer: The other slaves and me sang. The one slave that wanted to go back cried and sang along. We were fully free.