Elizabeth "Lizzie" Amby
(b. 1829 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8038
Fled from slavery, Dorchester County, Maryland, 1857
Biography:
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Amby, along with her husband Nat, ran from Dorchester County as a part of the massive exodus in October, 1857. Her owner, Alexander Bayly, was a wealthy physician in Cambridge. Amby would have been one of roughly 28 African-Americans that Bailey enslaved as of her escape.1 Nat was also owned by a prosperous farmer named John Muir, who had held up to 31 slaves in recent years.2 Her husband's situation seems to have been the driving factor in their decision to escape. When Muir's wife died, Nat Amby felt that he was in danger of being "sold away to Georgia", as two sisters and a brother had been. Lizzie was about 28 years old when they fled the area with thirteen other freedom seekers.3
It is likely that someone in the group had received directions from Harriet Tubman or one of her associates. Tubman had been venturing back to Dorchester since 1851, unbeknownst to local planters, in order to rescue enslaved friends and family. Her exploits had become well known among the free and bonded of the local African-American community. Armed with "a good pistol and a big knife," and presumably some instructions, Lizzie and Nat Amby made their way to Philadelphia. The group, which also included Daniel Stanley and Hannah Peters, were welcomed to the city by the black abolitionist William Still. Unfortunately, Still's account provides little detail about the journey or Lizzie's life in Maryland. He did remark:
"observing that Lizzie(Nat's wife) looked pretty decided
and resolute, a member of the committee remarked, 'Would your wife
fight for freedom?'
'I have heard her say she would
wade through blood and tears for her freedom,'
said Nat, in the most serious mood."4
Lizzie and Nat would have also been furnished with money and supplies before Still forwarded the group further north, using other Underground Railroad operatives. In the meantime, Alexander Bayly had placed an advertisement in the Cambridge Democrat on November 4, offering $300 reward for the female runaway. He described her as "dark complexion, good-looking, with a rather down look. When spoken to, replies quickly." Bayly also recognized that she had escaped with her husband, but he provided no clue as to their destination nor is there any evidence that he pursued Lizzie any further. The pair apparently settled in Auburn, New York, where several of Tubman's white abolitionist allies lived. She also established her home there, her family forming a significant portion of the small black community in the area.
The Ambys informed William Still of their location while attempting to contact relatives living in Baltimore. As it was 1858 and the pair were still considered fugitives, they had to use such indirect channels to communicate.5 In the letter Nat requested that Still write to "Affey White in strawberry alley in Baltimore city," who would then get information to his mother and brothers, Joseph and Henry. He seems to suggest that these two had fled recently as well, though the wording is ambiguous. He wanted his mother "sichy Ambie" to know that "I am well and doing well and state to her that I perform my Relissius dutys." Any information was to be sent to "P.R. Freeman Auburn City Cayuga County New York," a mulatto man who had been one of the first African-Americans to settle in the area.6,7 However, there is no definitive record of the Ambys living in New York or other northern communities after the letter dated June 10, 1858. Their fate is unknown.
Footnotes -
2. Ancestry.com. 1840 United States Federal Census, Dorchester County, Maryland, District 4, pp. 9-10.3. Broadside - "300 Reward." Cambridge Democrat, 19 October 1857. (via Enoch Pratt Free Library).
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census, Cayuga County, New York, Auburn Ward 3, p. 12.
Researched and Written by David Armenti, 2012.
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