Description
"The Kansas Narrative of John Doy of Lawrence, Kansas - A Plain, Unvarnished Tale" - - (Researcher's note: Due to the numerous references to Platte County, only selected excerpts have been indexed.)
Chapter XIV Removal to St. Joseph, p. 81-83 - - The next morning about 8 o’clock, several of the citizens came to the (Platte City) jail to see us ironed and taken off. We were chained together - Gen. (George P.) Dorris kindly furnishing the sheriff with the strongest shackles he had, for that purpose - and led out to a four-horse carriage.
Among our mounted escort of six or eight, were the sheriff and Gen. Dorris; the latter rode by the side of the carriage, and frequently attempted to open a conversation with me.
After a ride of 7 miles we reached Weston, in the centre of which town we were kept about half an hour on exhibition to the crowd, who insulted us as usual, told us we were on our way to the penitentiary to get our deserts, and finally invited us to take a glass of grog, which we declined.
About half way to St. Joseph we stopped at a plantation, where were a great number of slaves of every shade of color, and there we were allowed to get out for dinner. My wife walked between us from the carriage to the house, to carry our chains when needed, and when at table cut our food for us. Several persons present were moved at the sight, and said that if she was a sample of the wives and mothers of Kansas the secret was out; that was the reason why Kansas was free.
Gen. Dorris, being always on the look-out for business, no doubt seized this opportunity, as well as every other that presented itself, to inquire if any of the neighbors were selling out, and we had to listen to a long conversation upon the state of the slave-market, prices of negroes, prospects of a rise, etc., etc.
(Researcher's note: In January 1859 abolitionist John Doy agreed to take a group of 13 African American Kansans north to Iowa on one leg of the Underground Railroad. Dr. Doy and his group were then captured 12 miles north of Lawrence by a group of Missouri slave hunters which included Weston Mayor Benjamin Wood. Doy and his 21 year old son, Charles, were transported back to Weston, Missouri and placed in jail. He was later transferred to the Platte City jail and then to the St. Joseph, Missouri, jail. Along the way they were displayed in the streets and hounded, beaten and nearly hanged. He was charged with a federal offense of "slave stealing” and awaited a sentence of hard labor or death. In jail after a second trial that found him guilty, ten men went from Lawrence to St. Joseph in July 1859 and broke Doy out of jail. He returned to Kansas and later wrote a 137-page narrative describing in detail his experiences in Platte County, Missouri.)Date(s) of Creation
1/1/1860
