The Post-Star from Glens Falls, New York • 16

B10 GuncJdy, tb 23, 1992 The Post-Star, Clons Falls, Local History sold into slavery never gave tip on freedom a.k.a. "Piatt," was. Rensselaer County, in the 1 700s, he "'7 it 11 Ml 7 Solomon Northrup's reunion twelve years in slavery. as a fiddler at area dances. They picked up stakes in 1834 and moved to Saratoga Springs, where Solomon got a job driving a hack (horse-drawn taxi) at one of the hotels, where they both worked in the hotels in the summer seasons, and Solomon worked for a time on construction of the Troy and Saratoga Railroad.

By the spring of 1841, when his travail commenced, the couple had three children, Elizabeth, 10, Margaret, 8, and Alonzo, 5. The children were staying with family friends, and Anne was in Sandy Hill, when Solomon fell into conversation met with the governor. "But inasmuch as it gave no definite information as to my probable locality, it was not deemed advisable to institute measures for my liberation," Solomon Northup later wrote. Solomon Northup, renamed "Piatt," worked for a succession of masters, kind and cruel, in the Red River area of the Mississippi, some 200 miles north of New Orleans. His accounts of how he was treated the whippings which were often part of everyday life, the long hours of labor are matter-of-fact and remarkably dispassionate.

In 1 852, Solomon was put to work as a carpenter, since he had experience. He came to trust a Canadian named Bass, one of the carpenters on the house construction job. Bass agreed to write Judge Marvin, Northup's former employer in Saratoga Springs, and friends William Perry and Cephas Parker, seeking his release. "I was taken sick in Washington City when I recovered my reason, I was robbed of my free-papers, and in irons on my way to this State, and have never been able to get anyone to write for me until now the letter concluded. Bass successfully mailed the letters, which Parker and Perry forwarded to Solomon's wife Anne, then a cook in Carpenter's Hotel in Glens Falls.

She asked lawyer Henry B. Northup's help. It took him some time to assemble necessary proofs, but by Nov. 23, the governor had formally appointed Henry B. Northup agent to effect Solomon's rescue.

He stopped en route in Washington, D.C., seeking additional support From the secretary of war and Louisiana Sen. Pierre Soule. Northup arrived in Marksville (the postmark on the letters), and started searching. By happy chance, he encountered Bass, who could tell him Crime Journal columns are true accounts of crimes from the early years of the century. They are based on the best available documentation.

In some cases, the names of victims and of alleged criminals have been changed to protect their families. Crime Journal columnist John Burch is a sergeant with the Glens Falls Police Department. 3 ESI COUPON VSSM Award Winning Buffalo Style if VsllllrfVCII VII 13 IT I II I nica Eat-InTake Out With this coupon buy 3 dozen wings get 1 dozen FREE! kiftkAn 4t4 in tnA A rrt i mg sir I Co Corner of Broad St ft South St, Gin 761-754 TKe a track can be dangerous j'1 1 1 14 I VI av A. -V Drawing courtesy of Dover Preti with his wife and children after with a couple of men who offered him a job playing fiddle for a circus. Expecting to be away only a short time, he didn't send word to Anne of his trip.

It was 12 years before he returned home. I le traveled as far as Washington, D.C., with the men, where he was drugged and handed over to a slave dealer. It took a couple of beatings before he stopped protesting he was a freeborn black from New York state. I le was part of a group shipped to a slave dealer in New Orleans. He succeeded in smuggling one written note to Henry B.

Northup, of Sandy Hill. The letter reached Northup, who walked to the nearest farmhouse, a mile down the road. There were no lights on at the house, so young Fred crawled into a shed and covered himself with hay to stay warm. He watched the house for five hours until a light came on. Seeing the light, he walked to the house.

As he knocked on thedoor, the men who were searching for him appeared. Fie was taken inside and treated by Dr. Edward Allen. Mrs. Flelen Buxston, the home owner, offered to let the boy stay until he recovered.

He was treated for exposure. The next day, young Fred was taken to his grandmother's home to live. He lost his family, but displayed remarkable courage by walking over a mile in the cold weather, while soaking wet, to save himself. SUNDAY CHAMPAGNE BRUNCH You Can Eat 18.95 Freth: carved meiU, fruit, breads pasinca. Salad bar, pacta, seafood, hub benedict and omelen made to order.

Complimentary tlaaa of VSuunpagne, Mimosa or Bloody MaryJ lh30.m.'Sp.m. i Sunday Dinner Buffet 4:00 pm pm (Q All You Can Eat liuuwn Served from Alt Mmna renin litt mt i i men. 21 i. iix cj ri. m-mi i.iI,.ar:V;i.l14.ii,,i.iS.Hl..

A.M. 2:00 P.M. itckiu'i III 4. Legal papers were drawn up, but not before rumors had begun to float around the area that some stranger was after one of I pps' (Northrup's master) slaves. Northup did in fact rescue Solomon, the slave holder acknowledged that Solomon was free, and lawyer and laborer headed homeward.

They stopped in Washington, DC, to file suit against the slave dealer, James H. Burch, for kidnapping and selling Solomon into slavery. The court dismissed the suit, and Burch in turn brought suit against Solomon for conspiring with the men who had brought him to Washington to defraud Burch, Nothing came of that suit, either. Henry B. Northup and Solomon Northup arrived in Sandy Hill on Jan.

21, 1853, and the next day, Solomon was reunited with his wife and family. Very soon after his return, working with a Washington County lawyer and author, David Wilson, Solomon Northup wrote the account of his captivity. The book became, for the time, a runaway best-seller, and with part of the proceeds, he bought some property in Glens Falls near his married daughter's home. By 1856, more than 30,000 copies had been printed. Solomon went back to work as a carpenter.

What historians don't know yet is the rest of the story. He died sometime around 1863 or 1864, but his resting place is unknown. The book has been reprinted by Dover Press, and more recently, in an edition edited by scholars Sue Eakin and Joseph Logsdon, published by the Louisiana State University Press, "Library of Southern Civilization" scries. This edition is on sale at the Fort Fiouse Museum, Fort Edward. International Culture Inc.

Learn about and experience the cultures of the world with lACA's programs. Open 11-5 793-2773 Prima Kb ft ai I al irisa icjj I' Chicken -n A. I Eiscoits 7.95 jj (All above served with a Tossed Salad) Maitnunui ao11.Sun.4BI0 Rt 9 Saratoga Rd So -79J-177e 'S Sunday Lakeside Buffet Brunch featuring: Waffles Omletes made to much more! $10.95 Restaurant and Lounga Corinth Road West Glens Falls 790-0002 (Ssnis cr Issser vaSus) brought along several slaves, including Mintus, Solomon's father. was customary for slaves to adopt their owners' surnames. Mintus was declared free in Northup's will.

Other Northups settled in Washington County, in the Granville, Hartford and Hebron areas. A Her gaining his freedom, Mintus Northup married and moved to Minerva, Essex County, where Solomon was born in I80H. He later returned to Washington County, where he worked on several of the Northup farms. Mintus, his wife and two sons, Joseph and Solomon, moved to a farm just north of Sandy Hill village, and another east of Fort Edward, where Mintus died in 1829. Mintus was buried in Sandy Hill, possibly in the Baker cemetery.

There is some speculation that Solomon, whose burial site is not known, may also be buried there. Solomon ended his narrative, "Thankful to that good Being through whose mercy I had been restored to happiness and liberty, I hope henceforward to lead an upright though lowly life, and rest at last in the church yard where my father sleeps." Solomon and Anne Hampton, a young black woman who worked as servant and cook for area families and hotels, were married Dec. 25, 1829, in Fort Edward. Their first home was the present Old Fort Fiouse Museum on lower Broadway. Northup worked as a laborer on the Champlain Canal, and, buying a pair of horses, went into business for himself, towing lumber rafts from Lake Champlain to Troy.

The couple lived a couple of years in Sandy Hill on the farm his family had earlier farmed. Anne worked as a hotel cook during court sessions in Sandy Hill, and Solomon picked up extra money back of bravery by protecting the week's groceries. Traveling down the Pawlet-Danby road, just east of Pawlet, Fred somehow lost control of his truck. The truck crossed the left side of the highway and went over a snowbank. The truck continued down an eight-foot embankment and overturned in brook.

As might be expected, the canvas top did little to protect the truck's occupants. It could not support the weight of the overturned truck. The three passengers in the truck were trapped inside with their heads being held under the water of the shallow brook. All three drowned. Robert Montgomery, another Pawlet resident, drove by the accident scene shortly after the incident occurred.

Montgomery saw tracks leaving the highway and decided to investigate. He located the truck but could do nothing to save its occupants. Fie immediately NOW SERVING COMPLETE SUNDAY A DINNERS I 7.93 A choice of three entrees served with tossed salad, Villa bread, dessert and glass of house win. The five-category system of the voluntary film industry rating program is as follows: Gi General Audience, all ages admitted. PG: Parental Guidance is suggested.

Some material may not be suitable for children. PG-1 3: Parents are strongly cautioned to give special guidance for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children. Rl Restricted, under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian. FIC-1 7: No children under 17 admitted.

iJ aFJj DINNER Froaty aakad Pa Senior Citizen's Eimur Special 'i rm i RNE ITALIAN DINING rvd! 99 Warn-n St 73? fiW liil By Joan Patton Correspondent Solomon Northtip was tree black, a tanner, canal rathnan and fiddler when he was sold into slavery in IS4I. Never mind that New York state laws had been passed in 1840 making it illegal to kidnap or entice any black out of the state with the intent of selling him into slavery, and making it illegal to sell any black into slavery. Northtip was lured away from Saratoga Springs with the promise of a job as a fiddler. Me spent 10 years as a slave on plantations in the Mississippi bayou country before a Washington County lawyer, Henry B. Northtip.

was successful in finding and getting him freed. Soon alter his release and return to the Glens Falls area, Solomon Northtip, with the help of a local lawyer, David Wilson, wrote a narrative of his experiences, "Twelve Years a Slave, Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1 84 1 and Rescued in 1 853, from a Cotton Plantation Near the Red River in Louisiana." Students of American slavery have praised the account's historical value. Even at the time, his account, one of dozens of accounts written by former slaves, drew the attention of people such as I larriet Beecher Stowe, who noted in "The Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" the parallels between Northup's true account and her description of Uncle Tom, "the singular coincidence that this man was carried to a plantation in the Red River country, that same region where the scene of Tom's captivity was laid." Solomon Northup's story begins with Capt. Henry Northup, descendant of English immigrants who settled in Rhode Island. When Capt.

Northup settled in Floosie, Riding in In 1940, pickup trucks were scarce. Often, when someone wanted a small truck, they would convert a roadster. When this was done, the top of the truck was usually made of canvas. While these machines worked well, they were inherently unsafe. In 1940, Fred Ricketts was 38 years old.

He lived in Pawlet, with his 24-year-old wife, Beatrice. The Rickets had two children, 6-year-old Fred Jr. and 4-year-old Charles. The elder Fred had a roadster that he converted into a truck. On Dec.

8, 1940, Ricketts and his family drove to Granville to do their weekly shopping. It was a family outing for them. After loading their truck with groceries, they headed home. Young Charles rode in the front with his parents. Fred Jr.

chose to ride in the back of the truck. Despite the chilly weather, the young man wanted to show his I It- ii fKi' i'i'li Uj'J (P0) llfluunK i.n a.ac THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (R) FINAL ANALYSIS (R ottit GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (gi eussv mi tmm BEAUTY THE BEAST gi 1P.AX0 CANYON mt 9:30 ONLY I WAYNE'S WORLD ipgis UU1" MEDICINEMAN ira-ia "35 FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (pg-isi Mlts SUNDAY L'WNLK SfLClALS tout Pork Utn tf Shrinra Cacdatort Ter Unynlnf SS.9S lUast PriaM Rib a Joi $9 VS Iter Battered Haddock SO SirJoin Steak wShrinrp Scajpia.9l Chicken Ejrxslant ParntlcLJUt7 It a a tv John Durch Crime Journal contacted the Vermont1 State Police. Investigating troopers removed the bodies from the overturned truck. After checking with relatives, troopers leaned that Fred Jr. was with his parents, at the time of the accident.

Officials began an extensive search of the area for the missing boy. They were unable to locate him. When his father's truck went down the embankment, young Fred was thrown from the truck into the stream. Soaking wet, he climbed back up the embankment and Route 9. Wilton.

NOW SERVING SUNDAYS 4-9 Full Course Dinners 1 -WW" it 1 Restaurant Now open Friday, Saturday Sunday Serving Lunch, Dinner BUFFET SUNDAY BRUNCH 4 Kurosaka Lane, Lake George Village 668-2875 or 4644 I $10.95 SeafooiJ mm TIRED OF THE IT'S TIME TO FIGHT to punciiASE f.IEAL AT THE REGULAR PRICE AIID EVERY SUNDAY IS FAMILY DAY! BRUNCH BUFFET GET THE SECO'lD HEAL AT FROM 11:00 12. wm 0NLY ALL YOU CAN EAT. fdttX Drink Specials OFFER GOOD SUNDAY 223 THRU TKUItS. 227 (Xot Good With Any Other Specials Being Cfferei!) CLOSED MONDAYS WE ACCEPT: VISA MASTER CHARGE CIDERS CLUB DISCOVERY SPAGHETTI GARLIC BREAD (FROM 2PMTO9 PM) ONLY ALL YOU CAN EAT EAT FREE! (Ag 10 Under Limit Of 2 Children Per Adult) Quaker Plaza. Queenshurv 791-389 i aCMtatet aa..