From NKAA, Notable Kentucky African Americans Database (main entry)
Slaughter, Harry
(born: March 18, 1818 - died: June 13, 1906)*This entry was suggested by both Yvonne Giles and Mikael Levin. They each also provided copies of newspaper articles, death certificates, and other public documents that support this entry.
Harry Slaughter said that he was the "last survivor of the Negro insurrection of 1849." But no one knows what became of those from the escape who were never recaptured. The event is referred to as "The Great Slave Escape of 1848." According to the 1897 newspaper report, Slaughter had been enslaved to Miss Sidney Edminson and was her dining room man. Slaughter told the newspaper that he was captured and accused of being the leader of the escaping Africans, and he was later allowed to by his freedom and marry.
The newspaper report in 1848, mentions that Harry Slaughter was enslaved to Richard Pindell. Slaughter had been pardoned by Kentucky Governor William Owsley. Petitions were forwarded to the Governor to pardon Shadrach and Presly, two of the enslaved men who had been recaptured during the escape attempt. Both men had been sentenced to death by Judge Walker Reid of the Bracken County Circuit Court. The 1848 article was reprinted in The Louisville Morning Glory and The Western Citizen.
In another 1897 newspaper article is a brief biography of Harry Slaughter. He was born enslaved to Captain John C. Graves in Fayette County, KY. When the Judge's business failed, Harry Slaughter was sold to Richard Pindell who loaned Harry to his aunt, Miss Sidney Edminson. Harry Slaughter did not complain about his treatment. Sidney Edminson had handpicked the large, enslaved African men who were her house servants. Harry Slaughter was said to be about six feet tall and was of a solid muscular build.
He was the slave who took care of serving the meals and dishes at Miss Sidney Edminson's home. But what Harry Slaughter wanted was his freedom and to get married. Patrick Doyle, a white man, promised that he could lead Harry Slaughter over the Ohio River to freedom for $100. In August of 1848, Slaughter and 44 other armed, enslaved Africans made their escape from Lexington heading down Russell Cave Pike.
The group had been on the move for a couple of days when they were seen by two young white boys who raised the alarm. A group of white men were quickly formed and came after the escapees. There was an exchange of gunfire and lots of threats and the white men retreated. No one was hurt. The escaping Africans scattered in different directions and Patrick Doyle abandoned the group. About 20 or so Africans regrouped and chose Harry Slaughter to lead them. He tried to get them to the Ohio River, but the alarm had gone out and they encountered an armed posse in Bracken County, Kentucky.
Harry Slaughter and the escaping Africans were scattered again. Most of the escaping slaves were recaptured and jailed, along with Patrick Doyle. Doyle was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor in the state penitentiary, and the slaves were returned to their owners. Harry Slaughter and Shadrach were captured after crossing the Licking River. Maury Pindell, a brother to Richard Pindell, Harry's slave owner, had posted a $500 reward for Harry Slaughter to be returned alive and intact. Slaughter said that he put up a fight and would rather have died than been taken back into slavery. If not for the reward stipulations, Harry said that he would have been killed.
He could not fight all of his captures and was finally convinced to go with the men to Brooksville, KY, where he was put in jail. Harry was then transferred to Pulliam's Negro Jail in Lexington, KY. The jailer, who intended to sell Harry for his own profit, invited a slave trader to come have a look at Harry Slaughter. But Harry refused to show the man his teeth and his body. The jailer tried unsuccessfully to whip Harry. The Pindell family got wind of what was happening at the jail.
Miss Sidney Edminson wanted her slave back. She sent a note to the jailer to send Harry Slaughter home. At Miss Edminson's house, Harry was questioned as to why he wanted to run away from what Miss Edminson saw as a perfect life. Harry told her that he wanted his freedom. It was agreed that he could buy his freedom. Harry cobbled together the money that he had saved and acquired loans from Miss Edminson and other persons that he had met while serving them meals at Miss Edminson's house.
Harry Slaughter was able to gather enough money to buy his freedom. He married Susan Taylor. After five and a half years, he paid off all of the loans with interest for a total of $987. He had earned the money working as a painter and a paper hanger, he worked in the hemp factory, and he was a weaver who made bags.
Harry and Susan Taylor Slaughter had five children. The family was enumerated as free in the U.S. Census records from 1860-1900. Susan T. Slaughter was born in Jessamine County, KY, and she died July 22, 1903, in Lexington, KY. Harry Slaughter was born on March 18, 1818, and he died on June 13, 1906, in Lexington, KY. He is buried in Auxiliary Cemetery. Harry was the son of Richard and Alcy Slaughter, and he had four siblings: Charles, Lucy, Louisa, and Mima. This information comes from Harry Slaughter's 1874 account with the U.S. Freedman's Bank in Lexington, KY (Ancestry).
Sources: "The Fayette Slaves Again," The Louisville Morning Courier, 09/25/1848, front page; "The Fayette Slaves Again," The Western Citizen, 10/06/1848, p.3; The [Kentucky] Executive Journal, 09/06/1848, p.235; D. T. Baxter. "A Remarkable Negro," The Morning Herald, 07/20/1897, p.8; "Last Survivor: old Lexington darkey who tells an entertaining life history," Owensboro Weekly Messenger, 08/14/1897, p.2; "He sought liberty," The Waterbury Democrat, 08/26/1897, p.7; "Funeral of Harry Slaughter," Lexington Leader, 06/13/1906, p.4; 1903 Kentucky Death Certificate for Susan Slaughter, #6919 (Ancestry); 1906 Kentucky Death Certificate for Harry Slaughter, #420 (Ancestry); "Slave Stampedes on the Southern Borderlands by the National Park Service Network to Freedom // House Divided Project at Dickinson College.