Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Lucinda Wilkins (b. 1838 - d. ?)
MSA SC 5496-8661
Fled from Slavery, Cecil County, Maryland 1859

Biography:

Lucinda Wilkins successfully escaped from Cecil County, Maryland, in 1859, at the age of twenty-one.  She fled with her husband, James, and son, Charles.  She was owned by George Ford and his Methodist wife, who allowed her to visit her husband twice a week.  She ran away after being "threatened with the auction-block,"1 leaving behind her father, Moses Edgar Wright, and two brothers.  One brother was owned by "Francis Crookshanks", while the other was owned by Captain Jim Mitchell, both of Cecil County.  Lucinda's mother, Betsy Wright, had escaped slavery when Lucinda was just seven years old, and so Lucinda hoped to find her mother in Canada.

Though little information has been recovered regarding her life after her escape, Lucinda is known to have reached Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was aided there by individuals connected to the Underground Railroad.  

1Still, William. Underground Rail Road: A Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, etc. Philadelphia, PA, Porter & Coales, Publishers. 1872. 505.

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