James Henry Watson (b. 1836 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8409
Fled from Slavery, Worcester County, Maryland 1856

Biography:

At the age of twenty, James Henry Watson successfully escaped from slavery in Worcester County, Maryland in 1856.  He fled Snowhill where he was owned by James Purnell, a farmer. In his attempt to gain freedom, he left his parents, five sisters, and three brothers in Maryland.  His parents, Ephraim and Mahala, and his siblings, Hetty, Betsy, Dinah, Catharine, Harriet, Homer, William, and James, remained the property of Purnell.  Little has yet been recovered about Watson's life after slavery, although he is known to have reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was aided there by individuals connected with the Underground Railroad.

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