National Post from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • A13

nationalpost.com A13 NATIONAL POST, SATurdAy, MAy 25, 2019 Bas per so na va lue ys tem wa ahead of its time, says Leon Tarver, a retired university administrator in Baton rouge whose great uncle, Claude Hudson, was great grandson. living with a black woman, has a child by her, and then he crowns it all off by helping Solomon Northup to achieve his freedom just Sitting in his kitchen in front of a binder filled with newspaper clippings and Ancestry.com printouts, Tarver gushes with pride knowing Hudson, who died in 1989, was one of the founding members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). at the incredible contribution that great grandson made to After getting his freedom in 1853, Northup tried but failed to bring his kidnappers to trial. Birch, the d.C. slave trader, was charged but acquitted.

Within months, Northup pub lis hed his autob io gr ap hy ith he help of a ghostwriter and hit the speaking circuit. A letter published in the Green-Mountain Freeman newspaper in Vermont in 1856 noted that Northup held his audience in silence for nearly two after which they collected about $10 for him. He always get a warm re cep tio n. A few years ago, the historical society in Streetsville, Ont. (now part of Mississauga), got a tip that Northup had visited the local town hall.

The society turned to a local librarian, who dug up an article in the Streetsville review from August 1857. Headlined dASTArd Ly the article said talk had been disrupted by a of young who heckled the friendless with the bloody they yelled. Northup reportedly locked himself in a room and cancelled the talk. was an Irish group, the Townline Blazers, who frequently came to Streetsville looking for trouble, so the scenes like the one which confronted poor Solomon Northup were unfortunately not says Malcolm Byard, the president. What became of Northup after that is a mystery.

Like a ship in the fog, he simply vanished. There have been rumours he died in Canada or was sold back into slavery. But some have dismissed the theory, suggesting Northup been too old to be useful as a slave. family life appeared to have fractured though. Census data after 1855 suggest Northup and his wife, Anne, were no longer living together.

believe, truthfully, no one can go through that experience (of being enslaved) and not be says Melissa Howell, a Northup descendant in Seneca Falls, N.y., and founder of the Solomon Northup Legacy, another group dedicated to preserving his story. know if he reconnected with his family in the way he wanted to or hoped In a blog post last year titled Mystery: What Happened to Solomon david Fiske, a historian in Ballston Spa, N.y., wrote there was evidence Northup may have returned to his farming roots or spent time in Vermont helping slaves escape to Canada via the a network of safe houses. Some articles suggest Northup may have fallen on hard times. In 1875, the census lists Anne as a widow. When she died the following year, an obituary in the daily Albany Argus noted her husband had become a But Fiske convinced.

any person, he may have had short-fallings that possibly resulted in an inglorious end to his he said in an email. given his tendency to boldness and reasoned solutions to problems, there may have been impressive accomplishments that we simply do not know As the search for answers continues, so does the work of ensuring the legacies of Northup and Bass fade away. The cities of Auburn and Glens Falls in upstate New york recently proclaimed a Solomon Northup Freedom day and a Solomon Northup Homecoming day. Looking to expand their knowledge of Bass, Howell and another Northup descendant, rebecca Bicksler, travelled to Ontario last year. They visited childhood home, now overgrown with trees and brush, and his gravesite.

what keeps us hinged filling in the gaps, verifying every lead that there is in the hopes there will be a Howell says. On the edge of the popular French Quarter in New Orleans, a historical marker was installed last year on a quiet, tree-lined boulevard. It informs visitors the city was once of the domestic slave trade. A historical marker was also erected last year outside the courthouse in Marksville where Northup received his freedom papers. It credits Bass, an carpenter and native of with saving him.

way we try to keep (the story) alive is very much on the positive side; we accentuate on says Wilbert Carmouche, executive director of the Avoyelles Commission of Tourism. The commission has also updated the a guide to landmarks where Northup spent time while enslaved. One stop on the map is the campus of Louisiana State university of Alexandria where you can find the restored Creole cottage Northup and Bass had built for Epps. Louisiana is actively reckoning with its past, we are reckoning with the deleterious effects of slavery, and we are hoping to move forward with healing in the form of descendants come here and have made unlikely and beautiful says Michelle riggs, a library archivist on campus. But more than just about making friends, says Jackson.

It is vital to keep talking about Northup and Bass, as part of a broader dialogue on race relations in America. come a long way praise the Lord on that but you can see how the climate is now. so much more that we need to seriously think she says. knowledge needs to be out there so history National Post Twitter: dougquan I lIe, tthfully, no one can thro that xpI- ence (of eIng nslad) and not chand. I no If econnect Ith Is amIl In ay want to or hope to.

dOuGLAS QuAN NATIONAL POST Leon Tarver, a retired university administrator at his Baton Rouge home. His great uncle, Claude Hudson, was a descendant of Samuel Bass, the Ontario carpenter who rescued Solomon Northup. NOWPREVIEWING LIVEAUCTIONOFIMPORTANTCANADIANART th GardinerMuseum Saturday-11amto5pm Sunday-11amto5pm Monday-9amto5pm Tuesday-9amto12noon CATALOGUEAVAILABLE at CONSIGNORGALLERY 326DundasStreetWest EmilyCarr, ForestInterior CONSIGNORCANADIANFINEART AUCTIONEERS APPRAISERS CONSIGNOR.CA 326 DUNDASSTREETWESTTORONTOONTARIO INFO CONSIGNOR.CA 1 866 931 8415 torontoauctionpreview DesignExchange(ExhibitionHall) liveauction may 29,2019 DesignExchange(HistoricTradingFloor) ET ET detail HeffelfineartauctionHouse www heffel com 18888186505 com He elGalleryLimited Henrimatisse Femmeassisesurunbalcon EsTimaTE 5,800,000 Databreacheshappen. MogoProtectyourselffrom potentialidentityfraud. withthepromocodebelow.

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