Social Studies | anna.miller

Tell the Story

I lived in Kentucky U.S.A. It was brutal. I worked as a tobacco collector and I also shucked corn. Sometimes my owner wants me to pick the worms and caterpillars off the plants and if I missed one I would have to eat them and that is my worst job that I have I have. The hardest part of being a slave was escaping. The number of people that did it successfully 100,000 at the most I think. Even the free countries were after you and they did it for the reward. So you are not safe anywhere. And when you grow up with your fake parents. You grow up in confusion. You are always wondering who your real parents are.

I decided to flee because I wanted to be able to read and write and be able to go around without my owner. I hitchhiked and hopped on trains. I found people that would want to come with me. I found my way by a map and a compass the compass stopped working so we had to use our brain to figure out where we were. We boiled our water clean and hunted for our food with hand made tools. I felt scared and confused but relieved because I might succeed.

We came across good people and bad people. The good people gave us fresh water and food and showed us the best ways to go and the safest. They threw a riot and had a sign saying something that was supporting the U.R.R. And they would carry around a paper and people would tally on what they thought about the U.R.R then they would go to show it to the owner of the plantation. A lot of the times they got kicked out and reported to the police but one or two times it worked with the owner. It is at least a try right?

One day Mr. Fetterhoff and I were on a boat from Germany to America. We went there because of warfare. Everyone else called Mr. Fetterhoff Mr. Fetterhoff. But my brother and I got the special privilege to call him John. When we got off of the big, horrifying, poor, sick barging boat. We had to get examined. When we got down Mrs. Fetterhoff came down too, John’s wife. They had to check for head lice and other diseases. It was bad because Mrs. Fetterhoff, we called her Martha, had a bad cough and cold and a fever of 104. So then Martha got sent back to Germany. So now it was John, Luke and me, Anna. But then something terrible happened. John got separated from Luke and I. It was a terrible rain storm and John could not see what was going on and he just walked off. He could not hear our terrified voices calling for him. It seemed like the rain was a boulder over our voices it just crushed them. Suddenly Luke and I lost all hope. Our hearts just melted. What could we do? We would have to go and find a willing family to take care of us. But we went from door to door but no one had room for us. It was getting dark. The thunder roaring like a lion. We decided to get some rest and maybe a shop or some place would have room for two extra workers. So we went to sleep on the streets. They were still. Just the mice sniffing for the crumbs people had dropped that day. The next day we looked for a shop and then something got Luke’s eye. It was a bakery with a sign saying, “Now hiring!” We ran inside and asked if we could work there and told him our story. The man’s face was dead no expression. But when we were done he smiled then bursted out laughing. And said it out of his laughter, “You? In my bakery?!?! You wouldn’t make it a day! Now get out of here before I call the police!” Luke and I just walked out of the bakery no questions asked. Then I remembered John’s words he had said to us when we got on the boat. “Anna, Luke. We need to stay together. We need a meeting place. I have been here before so I know where to go. We need to meet in by the bakery. 5th Avenue Bakery.” Then I saw him John walking towards the bakery. My heart jumped. We ran over to him and we were happy again no more sleeping on the streets. Then we went to go find a job that John could get. Luke worked in a church he made their music for the services. I worked as a messenger on horseback. And John worked as a Librarian of Congress. And soon we could go to the market and get lots of food. We could get water and not worry about our money situation and Luke and I could go to school. And our life seemed like it was a fantasy.That was how my trip to Ellis Island happened. Good things come out of things that seem like you have no hope left.