Ron MacArthur’s history columns are great, keep them coming. MacArthur’s recent column, which focused on the Nanticoke River, recounts the trip up the Nanticoke River by Capt. John Smith during the early 1600s. The article omitted another momentous trip up the Nanticoke River – that of Harriet Tubman in 1856 – the Rescue of Tilly.
The Seaford Historical Society Museum has recently significantly expanded its curation of this important event, titled “The Tilly Escape: A Daring Adventure over Water and Land,” with a video on its webpage.
About a decade ago, a historical marker was installed in Seaford titled "Gateway to Freedom: The Tilly Escape.”
The marker tells the story of Harriet Tubman and Tilly:
“In October 1856, famed Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman organized what is considered by Tubman scholars to be ‘one of her most complicated and clever escape attempts.’ Working at the request of a fiancé who had escaped to Canada, Tubman located a slave named Tilly in Baltimore. Believing a steamship voyage to Philadelphia too dangerous and expensive, Tubman decided she and Tilly would travel by steamboat to Seaford, first sailing south down the Chesapeake Bay then up the Nanticoke River. Upon landing, most likely at the present-day Riverwalk, Tubman and Tilly spent the night at a hotel located atop the hill – now home to Gateway Park. Nearly arrested by slave traders the following morning, accounts note that the hotel landlord intervened on behalf of the two women. Thanks to Tubman’s letter of passage which identified her as a free African American woman from Philadelphia, she and Tilly obtained passes to safely travel north, first by train to Camden, then by carriage to Thomas Garrett in Wilmington. A well-known abolitionist and leader in the Underground Railroad movement, Garrett documented the story in a letter dated Oct. 27, 1856. Addressed to Eliza Wigham in Scotland and written three days after the Tilly escape, the letter vividly recounts what Garrett deemed a ‘remarkable’ trip and one which ‘manifested great shrewdness.’ Tilly’s story is the only documented escape led by Harriet Tubman at the headwaters of the Nanticoke, which border her home county of Dorchester, Md. The Tilly escape site was included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom by the National Park Service in September 2013.”
Again, thank you, Mr. MacArthur and Cape Gazette. Everyone should learn about the great Harriet Tubman and Tilly – “one of her most complicated and clever” rescues.
-
A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.
To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.
