Southwest Waterfront in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Escape from Slavery
River Farms to Urban Towers
— Southwest Heritage Trail —
Before the Civil War, Washington was a slave-holding city. But many of its citizens–especially free blacks and abolitionists–assisted freedom seekers at locations known as stops on the Underground Railroad.
The largest attempted slave escape began the evening of April 15, 1848. In the gathering dark, 77 men and women slipped aboard the Pearl, waiting ½ mile down river from this sign. Captain Daniel Drayton had agreed to sail them down the Potomac and then north to freedom. But bad weather forced the Pearl to anchor just short of the Chesapeake Bay. Meanwhile someone – many said the jilted suitor of Escapee Emily Edmonston – tipped off the slave owners.
The Pearl was apprehended and brought back here. Its passengers were marched in chains to jail near Judiciary Square as mobs jeered. Drayton later wrote, “it seems as if the time for the lynching had come.” Enraged whites rioted for three days, attacking offices of the National Era , an abolitionist newspaper. Unharmed, the slaves were all sold South. Edmonson’s father raised the money to buy the freedom of Emily and her sister Mary, who went on to work for abolition. Emily eventually returned to the DC area, where her descendants still live.
Also nearby were the home and church of Anthony Bowen, a free black minister and Patent Office clerk. Oral tradition says he met escaping slaves and helped them on their way north. In 1853 Bowen founded the nation’s first YMCA for African Americans in his home on E Street between Ninth and Tenth, as well as St. Paul AME Church in 1856.
Erected by Cultural Tourism DC. (Marker Number 10.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Notable Events • Waterways & Vessels. In addition, it is included in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, and the Southwest Heritage Trail series lists. A significant historical date for this entry is April 15, 1802.
Location. Marker has been reported missing. It was located near 38° 52.7′ N, 77° 1.399′ W. Marker was in Southwest Washington in Washington, District of Columbia. It was in Southwest Waterfront. Marker was at the intersection of 7th Street Southwest and Maine Avenue Southwest, in the median on 7th Street Southwest. Marker is south of Maine Avenue Southwest, at the west end of the median in the 7th Street Southwest crosswalk. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 965 7th Street Southwest, Washington DC 20024, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location. District Morgue (a few steps from this marker); The Pearl (within shouting distance of this marker); Washington Channel (within shouting distance of this marker); Lewis Jefferson (within shouting distance of this marker); Hogate's Rum Bun (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historic Water Street (about 300 feet away); Denvel D. Adams (about 300 feet away); Stone from First Baptist Church in America (about 300 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Southwest Washington.
More about this marker.
Captions:
Photo, upper left: Emily and Mary Edmonson, wearing plaid shawls, appeared at a New York abolitionist convention with Frederick Douglass in 1850. (Madison County {New York} Historical Society)
Photo, lower left: Until 1850, slaves were openly traded here, and sights like this were common. Washington’s slaves were emancipated in 1862. “A Slave-Coffle passing the Capitol.” (Library of Congress.)
Map and portrait, near center of marker: This map shows how far the Pearl sailed before it was stopped near Point Lookout. Captain Daniel Drayton, top, served four years for slave stealing before receiving a presidential pardon. (Library of Congress)
Portrait, lower center: Anthony Bowen, AME minister, politician, government clerk, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. (Kautz Family Archives, YMCA of the USA.)
Newspaper clipping, center right: A writer for the National Era describes the angry mob that surrounded his office on Seventh Street, NW:
All we have to say is, we stand by the freedom of the press, whatever the result.
Wednesday morning, 8 o’clock. The mob dispersed last night about 12 o’clock–thanks to the efficient conduct of Captain Goddard and the rest of the police. The rumor that the office of the National Era was concerned in the escape of the slaves in the Pearl, is utterly groundless–this its originators know, but they are willing to use it to inflame popular feeling against our Press. Whatever we do, we do openly. We cherish an instinctive abhorrence of any movement which would involve us in the necessity of concealment, strategy, or trickery of any kind.
No! No! We understand this outrage. It is aimed at the Freedom of the Press. We own and edit a paper which is as free as the winds of heaven. It bows neither to slavery nor to the mob. We stand upon our rights as a man, and as an American citizen, and will use these rights, in speaking and writing freely upon any subject we please, despite all threats or violence.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 28, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,903 times since then and 19 times this year. Last updated on January 9, 2018, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos: 1. submitted on June 28, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 2. submitted on February 21, 2020, by J. Makali Bruton of Accra, Ghana. 3. submitted on June 28, 2009, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.