Henry "Box" Brown

 I was watching one of those "Someone has talent" shows on Youtube the other night when I saw this magician.  He spoke about a man from the 19th century who influenced him.  A man who began life as a slave and ended as a well known magician.

Henry Brown was born a slave on a plantation in Virginia around 1815.  He saw his family sold off and vowed to escape slavery for life as a free man but that would not happen for many years.

When he turned 15, he went to Richmond to work in a tobacco factory.  Over time, he married a slave at the next plantation and had four children but in 1848, his family was all sold off to another plantation in North Carolina.  His wife was expecting their fourth child when he had to watch his family walk away while in chains.  This act made him more determined to escape.  One year later, with the help of two of Henry's friends and for a fee a white man arranged the actual shipping, he enclosed himself in a wooden box and was shipped to Philadelphia because Pennsylvania was a state where he could be free.

The box Henry travel in, was 3 feet by 2 feet 8 inches by 2 feet and had been labeled as "dry goods".  It was lined with a course cloth, had one hole for air, and had another label saying "This side up".  Henry carried one bladder of water and a few biscuits for the whole trip. It traveled by a variety of conveyances until he arrived safely by wagon at the Anti-Slavery headquarters in Philadelphia, just before daybreak.  The 27 hour journey was quite hard but he arrived safely.

Soon, Henry was touring the area, speaking to anti-slavery groups, sharing his life and his story.  In addition,  a Boston publisher took the step of publishing his biography.  Although published back before the Civil War, it is still considered one of the best known narratives written by a slave.  In 1850, he opened a stage show on the evils of slavery but as soon as the Fugitive Slave Act passed in October of the same year, he left the United States for England and took his show with him.  He also published a British edition of his book to share his experiences.

While in England, he married again in 1859 and had a daughter even though people stated he should have tried to purchase the freedom of his first wife and children.  This criticism caused him to leave the abolition circuit and pursue other avenues of entertainment, eventually becoming a magician. In 1875, he returned to the United States, he continued entertaining audiences as a magician and mesmerizer,  and as part of the act, he popped out of the original box, he'd used to get to freedom.

According to what historians have been able to find out, he performed last in 1889 in Ontario, Canada.  Although some say he disappeared from history, one scholar is said to have found a record in Toronto stating he died on June 15, 1897 and was buried in the Necropolis Cemetery there.  I'd never heard of this man before the show but this young man said Henry "Box" Brown influenced his choice in becoming a magician.  Over a 100 years later and he has not been forgotten either for the unique way he escaped nor for being a magician.

By the way, the white man who helped Henry escaped tried to mail other slaves to freedom but was caught and sentenced to six and a half years in jail.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.