Henry "Box" Brown
Henry Brown was born and raised a slave in Louisa County, Virginia. He was hired out to work in the tobacco factories in Richmond, Virginia, where he met a northern sympathizer, Samuel Smith, who owned a shoemaker's shop. Through a small portion of his pay that he was allowed to keep he managed to hire his wife, also a slave and they set up a house with their children.
This very satisfactory family arrangement abruptly ended when Brown's wife and children were sold south never to be seen again. This proved to be the catalyst that motivated Brown to escape in the most ingenious of ways. He persuaded a carpenter friend to construct a wooden box that corresponded to the specifications of the local railroad company. With a small amount of money in a pig's bladder and a few biscuits he climbed into his 3-foot long, 2-foot deep, and 2-foot wide parcel that would transport him to Philadelphia, he made his escape from Richmond, Va. The 28-hour trip by rail and steamboat ended with a number of the underground railroad, including William Still, receiving and opening the parcel to welcome Henry Brown to freedom in the office of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.
Details of Brown's escape, whereby he he had himself shipped via Adams Express from Richmond to Philadelphia, were widely publicized in a narrative of his ordeal published under his own name in 1819. The box itself became an abolitionist metaphor for the inhumanity and spiritual suffocation of slavery. It was shown in an undated broadside published in Boston. Try sitting in the replica box and imagine.
Topics.
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Location. 38° 19.319′ N, 77° 30.509′ W. Marker is in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It can be reached from Gordon W Shelton Boulevard 0.7 miles north of Willow Lane, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6500 Gordon W Shelton Blvd, Fredericksburg VA 22401, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Washington Metropolitan Area and in Northern Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Quest For Knowledge (here,
Also see . . . Abandoned National Slavery Museum. Atlas Obscura article (Submitted on June 28, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.)
Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 28, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 459 times since then and 11 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 28, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
