It was after a particularly demanding twelve-hour day working the cotton fields under a blazing hot July sun with bare and bloodied hands, that Smokey’s journey began. As the three of them trudged back to their slave cabin, they were greeted by cries of anguish coming from the slave cabins which were next to each other in a large semi-circle, barely any room between them. The slaves, all of whom were clearly agitated and distraught had gathered in the centre. Best could be deciphered through the shouting was that the Colonel was planning to sell several of them in order to recoup the losses incurred by the weevil infestation. While separating families was not an infrequent occurrence, it never failed to emotionally destroy the families involved. They remained permanently affected with deep voids in their lives. Something Ginny was all too familiar with. She had suffered such a trauma when she was just 10 years old and her master had sent her to the Lady Belle with her family remaining behind. She mourned her loss each and every day.
That night, fearful of the family being separated, James and a very pregnant Ginny packed their meagre belongings along with whatever food they and their neighbours could provide and escaped to the nearby woods. They had often discussed doing this but never had the courage to follow through. The possibility of losing one’s child can be powerful motivation.
They were well aware of the risk they were taking. If they were caught and returned to the Colonel, the punishment he would impose would be minor compared to that inflicted on them by the “slave chasers” who were sadistic and merciless. Gouged out eyes and tongueless returnees were examples of their sadism.
They hid out until early the next morning when they were able to make contact with a “conductor”. These were staunchly abolitionist individuals who helped escaping slaves in their journey northward. They were part of an organisation called the “Underground Railroad”, a network of people, whites and free blacks who helped runaway slaves escape and travel to northern states and Canada. It’s estimated they eventually helped guide over one hundred thousand slaves to freedom.
The “Underground Railway” was aptly named. Those who hid runaways as they moved from place to place were called “conductors” and the shelters they used were referred to as “stations”. Individuals who provided the actual hiding places were station masters, runaway fugitives were “passengers” and those waiting in safe houses were termed “cargo”.
The Robinsons travelled on the “Railroad” from Georgia through South and North Carolina to Virginia, where no doubt, due to the stress, Ginny suffered a miscarriage. They finally made their way to New York where along with hundreds of other escapees they settled in Brooklyn. On Pitkin Avenue. Some say that this may have been the actual area that inspired Hoagy Carmichael to pen “Georgia on My Mind”. No one spoke publicly about their journey, fearful perhaps of jeopardizing those who were to follow. They lived in cold water flats which were too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter, but the benefits far outweighed the negatives. The housing was inexpensive and absentee landlords didn’t care how many tenants shared each flat. There were often several families in each, all of whom paid separate rents.
