When and where were Ellen and William born?

Ellen was born in Clinton, GA about 1826 to an enslaved mother, Maria and their slaveholder, Colonel James Smith. William was born enslaved on September 25, 1824 in Macon, GA.

 

Were Ellen and William enslaved on the same plantation in Georgia?

No.  Ellen lived in a house with her slaveholder since she was 11—her paternal white half-sister, Eliza Smith Collins.  After William’s family had been split and sold by his previous slaveholder to pay-off a debt, his next slaveholder “loaned” him out as an enslaved apprentice to a cabinetmaker.

 

When did Ellen and William leave to escape enslavement in Georgia?

December 21, 1848 is the day they left in disguise. They arrived in Philadelphia and went on to Boston where they stayed for two years.

 

When did Ellen and William arrive in the U.K. ?

December 1850, after having fled from Boston through Canada to avoid slave catchers seeking to arrest them and to bring them back to bondage in Georgia, based on the draconian Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

 

When did Ellen and William return to the U.S. ?

They returned in 1869—over twenty years after they first escaped from Georgia.

 

How many children did William and Ellen have?

They had six children: five born in England and one in the U.S. None were born enslaved. Unfortunately, their youngest daughter died as a toddler.

 

Is it true that the Crafts have descendants that are British citizens?

Yes. Their second oldest son, William Ivens Craft, returned back to the U.K. after having stayed with them in in the U.S.. His descendants still live in the U.K.