St. James AME Zion Church

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I am Minnie Barnes from Stantonsburg, North Carolina. I reckon I am about thirty now. One day, around ten years ago, I took a leap of faith to leave Master Thomas, after he had beat me for God knows what. After hours of cooking his food, I served it to him.

“Here you go, suh,” I said.

He spit it out.

“This is how you serve me?”

“But sir, I made it just how you like it,” I said, my voice trembling.

He slapped me so hard this time. My face stung as tears poured down my face. His wife sat at the dinner table and continued to eat the food I’d prepared for her. She behaved as if nothing was happening.

Master Thomas grabbed my arm and dragged me out to the field. He whipped me in front of the other slaves. “Crack! Crack! Crack!” I cried out in pain! I saw my friend Toby watching me, but I knew he couldn’t help me. Toby kept picking the cotton, but I could through my tears see the pained expression on his face. After he gave me about ten licks, my back was dripping with blood. I fell to the ground. While I laid on the field writhing in pain, I decided that I had had enough. I knew that I could not be under his power anymore. My master was the cruelest of all, even though he was my father.

Months later, at the end of September, I followed the North Star and kept running. I escaped with my friend Eliza. We ran at night and hid during the day. We found safe houses in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. When we were traveling from Maryland to Pennsylvania, we were caught by two bounty hunters who intended to sell us down south. Each bounty hunter grabbed us, but I punched and kicked until the man left go of me. Eliza freed herself from the chokehold of the other bounty hunter by biting him hard, and we both ran as fast as we could. Finally, by daylight, we made it. We crossed the line to Pennsylvania. We were free! I remember that day clearly now, we couldn’t believe it. Only a slave could understand the joy we felt at that moment.

Eliza and I continued traveling to New York. Once we reached the state, Eliza stayed with her cousin just north of New York City. She begged me to stay with them, but I decided to keep going. Her cousin told me to keep traveling until I reached St. James Church in a town called Ithaca, and from there I could keep on going until I reached Canada. She knew people who were heading to Elmira, which was another town up there. I tried to remember these new names by saying them over and over.

I was sweating when I opened the door of the church in Ithaca. I swore that a white man recognized me, so I ran to the church. A tall dark-skinned man, who looked around fifty, heard the door open and got up from his seat near the pulpit.

“Hello, how you doin’?” he asked.

I struggled to catch my breath.

“I’m exhausted. I was traveling from the South with my friend, but I left her closer to the city and . . .”

“Well, it’s nice to see you. I’m John Williams, the minister of this Church. What state you from down there?”

“I’m from North Carolina.”

He guided me into the church.

“Come on in girl. You look tired.” We sat down in the nave.

“Are you waitin’ for the train?” he asked quietly.

“Yes, sir,” I said, nodding my head.

“Who was your owner?” he asked.

“Master Barnes, and my name is Minnie,” I replied.

“Ah, okay. We had one man named Tom from there. You escaped from an evil man.”

“Is there any chance that he could find me here?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He shook his head.

“Don’t worry about that right now. Go on back and get cleaned up. We have clothes for you back there. You will be safe here.”

I walked to the washroom, and I met a woman named Jane, a mulatto woman, who greeted me with a big smile.

“You made it. I am so proud of you! Go on and wash up.”

I cleaned myself and put on the fresh clothes. I remember they were white and dark pink. After I got dressed, the woman and I walked back out to the minister. My body was tense, and my heart was still beating fast. The minister began to show me where I would be sleeping.

“See those stairs. They go up to the bell tower. There’s a couple of others up there too, some from Maryland, and one is from North Carolina.”

He walked me to the narrow staircase, and I went up. I saw three fugitives laying on cots. There were two women and one man. They all looked tired and worn out, just like I was. He showed me to my cot, and I fell asleep hard. It felt as though I was beginning a new chapter in my life.

The next morning, I woke up in the cot to the sound of voices. The minister spoke with the lady that had given me the clothes. Once he saw that I was awake, he looked at me with a gentle smile.

“How d’you sleep?” he asked.

“Pretty good, the bed was very comfortable,” I responded.

“I’m glad that you got some rest after that long journey. Look, I could tell that you was nervous yesterday, but everything will be alright Miss Minnie. Many people don’t come huntin’ for runaways around here. And on my watch, nobody has ever been recaptured, even when I was working in New York City, and that city is filled with slave catchers!” he exclaimed.

He smiled again.

“Now, go on and get dressed. I’ll be in the nave waiting for you. Today will be a good day!”

I stretched in my bed, and I noticed that my body was less tense than the day before. I smiled as I thought about how kind Minister Williams was. I got dressed and walked over to the nave. The minister asked me if there was anything I wanted to do now that I was free.

“I always wanted to have my mother’s name,” I declared.

“What is it?” he replied.

“Mavis, sir,” I said proudly.

I remember how good that felt! For once, I could make a big decision by myself. I no longer belonged to anyone. The minister nodded his approval of my new name.

“I also know how stressful it can be to find employment in a new place, so I got you a job as a housekeeper with Mrs. Smith,” he said.

“Thank you, sir. I am so grateful, but who is Mrs. Smith?” I asked.

“She’s a white woman who colored people can trust. I am sure you will take a liking to her. Mrs. Smith is from one of the wealthiest families in the county, and she often donates to anti-slavery causes. You will meet her tonight at the committee meeting,” he explained.

The minister and I continued to talk. He told me that he was the head of a vigilance committee in town that assisted runaways by giving them food and shelter. The committee also helped fugitives travel to Canada where slavery didn’t exist. After we spoke for a while, the sweet lady who gave me clothes brought us a plate of food. We continued to talk, and before I knew it, the church was packed.

The Church contained around one hundred people. I couldn’t believe my eyes, for I saw about ten white faces in the nave! Minister Williams started the meeting by thanking everyone for coming. After he made some opening remarks, many of the committee members stood up to speak. I was captivated by everyone’s words. One dark-skinned speaker exclaimed, “Slavery is the most evil institution there is, and we must fight to end it!” I had goosebumps, and I, along with the whole Church, gave this man a standing ovation. Once Minister Williams made his closing remarks, I knew that I would somehow help to fight against slavery, as I despised it more than anything in the world.

Many remained in the Church to converse with one another after the meeting ended. The minister came down from the pulpit and walked towards me with a middle-aged white woman.

“Mavis, let me introduce you to Mrs. Smith!” he grinned.

She shook my hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you Mavis!”

She called me by my mother’s name. While shaking her hand, I responded, “Thank you for giving me work Mrs. Smith. I truly appreciate it.”

“Oh, don’t think about it twice,” she giggled. “It’s the least I can do. And please, just call me Anna. There is no need to be so formal with me!”

The next day, I began working for Mrs. Smith in her home. I helped to cook and clean, and she was kind enough to allow me to stay in her guest room. After a couple of months of living with her, Anna, she became a dear friend to me. She opened up to me about her personal life. She told me that her husband passed away one year before I began my working there. And although she had a son, she was still quite lonely because he was away studying at college.

One day, I asked her why she joined the cause for abolition. She told me that it always pained her to know that there were people who were being treated like property, like animals. After seeing a colored man in New York City kidnapped in broad daylight, she could no longer continue to do nothing.

Working for Anna helped me, but I also knew that I had a duty to help end slavery. During the week, I worked for her, but on the weekends, I went to the church to help raise money for the committee. I and many other women collected as many coins as we could to support fugitives like I had been. This may seem like a small act, but this money helped provide fugitives with all that I had received: shelter, food, and clothing. The money also allowed for the committee to collect funds to take fugitives to Canada.

For years, I balanced working for Anna and the committee, so I never thought much about finding love. However, one weekend, I met a nice man while raising money for the committee. We eventually married, and I moved from Anna’s house to live with him, but I continued to help Anna for three days a week. My husband and I started a family, and I was so thankful that my children would not be born enslaved on a plantation. For this, I am forever grateful.