![]() ![]() Edwin was frustrated when he was confronted by the fact that Solomon was a free man with a wife and children. Tracing Solomon Northup was hard since he was known by the slave name Platt. In 1853, he arrived in Marksville with the help of Senator Pierre Soule. Henry went to Edwin Epps plantation with the Sheriff of Marksville to enforce the law that allowed kidnapped free slaves to be released from slavery. Henry traced Bass in Louisiana and Bass gave up the location of Solomon since the letters did not clearly show where he was being held. The Governor took up the case and appointed the attorney general as his legal agent. Henry got in contact with Washington Hunt who was the New York Governor then. Northup who had made Solomon’s father a free slave. One of the men forwarded the letters to Anne who made contact with attorney Henry B. Some of the letter Solomon Northup wrote reached Cephas Parker and William Perry who knew him. His help succeeded when the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 was passed. He mailed Solomon’s letters and provided details that he was being held at Bayou Boeuf. Samuel was an abolitionist, so Solomon confided in him and told him that he was born a free man but was kidnapped into slavery. In 1852, Solomon met Canadian carpenter Samuel Bass who had come to do some work for Edwin. This abuse made his wife even angrier, and she let loose her anger on slaves. Epps was a cruel slave master who whipped slaves and also sexually abused an enslaved woman by the name Patsey. Edwin held Solomon as a slave for almost ten years. Solomon Northup stayed with Ford for four days and was later hired to another planter called Eldret. John tried to kill him two other times, but he defended himself and later on escaped and returned to Ford. John in anger paid some men to hang and lynch him before they could hang him, they were chased from the scene by Chapin and later he was cut down by Ford. ![]() This angered Solomon, and so he fought back ending up injuring John severely. He was once beaten because John did not like the type of nails he was using. Under John, he was treated with cruelty and was treated like a lesser being. In 1842, Solomon Northup was sold to John M. Later his slave master started experiencing financial difficulties and was left with no other choice but to sell eighteen slaves to settle his debts. As a slave, he was beneficial to his slave master since he used his carpentry skills to build looms and his work impressed his owner. In New Orleans, he was sold as a slave to William Prince Ford who was a preacher and farmer who had a farm in Red River, Northern Louisiana. He was later shipped to New Orleans in the company of other slaves. Solomon was presented as a fugitive slave from Georgia. Solomon Northup was later drugged by Brown and Hamilton and sold to James H. He processed his documents to show that he was a free man and then went with them since in Washington slavery was still legal. After they performed in New York, the men persuaded him to go with them to Washington DC for another performance, and they promised him a higher pay. He left with the two men without notifying his wife Anne who was at the time working in Sandy Hill. In 1841, Solomon Northup met Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton who claimed to be members of a circus company, and they gave him a job as a fiddler for several performances in New York. Mintus died on November 22, 1829, and was buried at Hudson Falls Baker Cemetery. He also received an education to the level considered necessary for black folks at that time. When he was young, Solomon Northup worked at his father’s farm together with his brother. His father was also among some of the black men who were allowed to vote at that time. His father was a farmer, and he owned his land hence he was considered fully free and independent. Solomon was brought up alongside his brother, Joseph. He was born to Mintus who was a freed slave and his wife who was a free woman of color. Solomon Northup was born on July 10, 1807, in Minerva, Essex County in New York. He died in 1863 at the age of fifty-seven. ![]() In 1853, he regained his freedom after he was helped by a Canadian who sorted his family in New York and the New York authorities also helped facilitate his liberty. He was a slave for a planter in Louisiana for twelve years. In 1841, he went to Washington DC where he was kidnapped and drugged and then sold as a slave against his will. Solomon Northup was an African American who was the son of free slaves. He is also the author of the memoir ‘Twelve Years a Slave.’ He was born a freeborn in New York. Solomon Northup was born on July 10, 1807. ![]()
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