James L. Smith: From Enslavement to Freedom

Featured in Norwich Magazine, February 2021

“I thought very strongly in reference to freedom, liberty; the precious goal which I almost grasped. I pursued daily my humble duties waiting with patience till I could perceive some opening in the dense dark cloud that enveloped my fate in the hidden future.” These words written by James L. Smith in 1881 reflect the thoughts which flooded his mind before he made a decision that would change his life forever. February is Black History Month, and this month we look at the life of James L. Smith, a man who was born a slave in Northern Neck, VA who made a daring escape from his enslavement in 1838. His escape came with great risk, and if he failed, there was no telling what terrible fate would have awaited him.

Growing up in northern Virginia, James L. Smith never knew what it felt like to be free. Under the laws of the land he was property, and was treated as such. His parents Charles and Rachel died when he was very young and were buried in unmarked graves. As a young boy on a Virginia plantation, Smith suffered a severe injury to his knee when carrying a large piece of lumber which left him partially disabled and unable to perform field work. Instead, Smith learned the skill of shoemaking from his master’s uncle, John Langsdon. The cruelty of slavery was ever-present around him and he described several instances of how he and other slaves were beaten. On one occasion Smith witnessed a beating of a slave at the hands of his owners. He wrote, “One cold morning…they took this doomed slave down to this tree, and stripped him entirely naked; then they threw a rope across a limb and tied him by his wrists and drew him up so that his feet cleared the ground. They then applied the lash to his bare back till the blood streamed and reddened the ground…”

By about the age of twenty-two, James L. Smith determined to seek his freedom by any means necessary. He worked with two other enslaved friends of his, Zip and Lorenzo, and on May 6, 1838, made their plan to escape to Newcastle, Delaware. They traveled on land by horse as well as by canoe and the journey quickly took its toll on Smith. His childhood injury prevented him from moving quickly and ultimately he was left behind. Incredibly, Smith continued on his journey and made it to Newcastle and subsequently, Philadelphia. Not having the privilege of knowing people in the North, Smith relied on his instincts in speaking with strangers to find where this journey would bring him next. While in Philadelphia, Smith met an African American man by the name of Simpson who directed him to New York where he could find a man by the name of David Ruggles. Ruggles was born a free African American in Norwich and was a prominent conductor of the Underground Railroad where he led hundreds of escaped slaves to freedom including Frederick Douglass. Smith eventually found Ruggles in New York again through the assistance of a stranger, and for the next two years he lived his life as a free man in Hartford as well as Springfield and Wilbraham, MA. He received an education, preached the gospel, taught Sunday School, and spoke to audiences of New England abolitionists. In 1842 he married Emeline Minerva Platt and shortly thereafter relocated to Norwich, CT.

Smith lived in Norwich for the remainder of his life and had three daughters and a son: Louie, Emma, Sarah, and James. He also established a business in downtown Norwich near Franklin Square doing what he did best: shoemaking. His daughters Louie and Emma were admitted to Norwich Free Academy, and according to Smith, went on to become teachers in Washington DC. Sarah graduated from the Normal Grammar School, and his son James apprenticed to him as a shoemaker. In 1881, James L. Smith penned an autobiography detailing his harrowing life as a slave in Heathsville, VA as well as his miraculous escape to the North. He passed away shortly after publishing his autobiography and is buried in Yantic Cemetery in Norwich. His home on School Street in Norwich still stands, and his life and legacy are featured on the Freedom Trail, part of the Norwich Historical Society’s Walk Norwich initiative. From being enslaved, to escaping to freedom, to settling down with a family and business of his own, the life of James L. Smith in a way is the very definition of the “American Dream.” In his autobiography, Smith tells the reader, “With these thoughts I leave, asking you to give your hearts to wisdom, restraining yourselves from selfishness, and living for the good of others.”

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