Fayette County, most down to Lexington. Fse looking forde mules; Massa Hawkins’ mules am run off.” When we started along he put his hat on, then snatching it off again, he said, “Please, master, do you live down to Louisville?” I answered, “No; why do you wish to know ?” “ Cause,” said he, “my boy Tom was sold down de river, and I hear he cook on steamboat, and come to Louisville sometimes. His old mother wants to hear if he is alive.” As we did not live in Louisville, we could give the old man no news to carrv to Tom’s mother. Whether the old woman ever heard about Tom going ashore near Louisville and getting lost, and not finding his way back again, I do not know, but that such was his fate I have no doubt, nor am I quite sure that his arrival in Canada can be justly credited to the U. G. R. R., for he “paddled his own canoe” and engineered his own train on independent principles.
On the 15th of the present month (September, 1868), I met on the steamboat between Mayville and Jamestown, Dr. C——, a gentleman with whom I had some business transactions in Canada more than twenty years ago. He was then a merchant, and carried on an extensive distillery and ashery at a village some eight or ten miles from St. David’s. We did not recognize each other at first, until he incidentally mentioned the name of Hon. Hamilton Merritt, whose wife was the daughter of Mr. P——, one of the first settlers in Jamestown. Recollecting that Mr. Merritt lived in Canada, I asked the gentleman if he had lived there. He answered that he had, and we soon renewed our acquaintance. One of our party asked him if he was acquainted with any of the fugitives who went there. He said he had employed several of them, one of whom was the strongest man he had ever seen. His name was Jack. One day Jack drove to the ashery with a load of wood, and came to the house and
