 |
| Stateline Rd Nottingham PA |
I live a few miles
south of the Mason Dixon line, the perimeter that served as a resolution in the
border dispute between Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania in the mid 1700’s. Later the line became the boundary that separated
freedom from slavery, the imaginary divider that caused very real division
between North and South, between brothers.
Many of the markers originally placed between 1763 and 1767 have
disappeared, but in certain places the original stone monument-esque markers remain
standing. Aside from these reminders
which were originally placed every 5th mile along the line there was
no physical barrier, no wall, that kept anyone or anything from crossing to the
other side. Yet being born on the
northern side of the line meant freedom for many. It meant a different view of humanity.
In a small settlement,
located north of the line, called Nottingham lived two sisters with the last
name of Parker. Their first names were
Rachel and Elizabeth. They were African
American and they were free, but a slave catcher, named Thomas McCreary,
without an eye for detail and a hunger for money would soon change that. He would claim that they both were runaway
slaves and he would drag them across that imaginary divider, the one that had for
the previous two generations before them, kept their family safe.
Both young ladies
were employed as domestic servants for neighboring farmers and their family was
known by locals and even the slave catcher knew of them as his primary job had
him delivering mail to the area. Elizabeth was only 10
and with the cooperation of her crooked employer, she was boxed up and sent to
Baltimore to be sold into to slavery for the price of $1,000. In contrast, Rachel, age 16, was defended by
her lady employer, Rebecca Miller.
After the mailman/slave catcher requested to speak with Rebecca,
McCreary entered the home at Rachel’s invite. After being welcomed into the home, he
forcibly grabbed Rachel as Rebecca tried to fight him off and her four children
gathered in the room screaming for the release of the young girl they had most
likely known for their entire lives. Joseph Miller, the man of the house, hearing
the screams ran as fast as he could from the other end of the property to see
what was going on, but the undoubtedly frightened Rachel was already loaded on
the wagon and McCreary was wielding a knife.
Joseph attempted again to rescue the girl with the assistance of a
neighbor who blocked their getaway with his farm wagon, but both men backed off
when McCreary and his accomplice again brandished weapons.
Joseph and four of
his neighbors continued the pursuit on horseback as they rushed to the closest
train station, located in Perryville, Maryland, 16 miles away. The train had already departed before they
reached the tracks, but by the sovereign grace of God, two friends of the
Millers, Eli Haines and a young man named Wiley, who were on their way to
Philadelphia recognized Rachel and quickly switched trains to Baltimore to keep
an eye on her and the captors. They knew their neighbors well and that a search
party would be on the way to rescue the girl. They planned to keep track of the
young lady and assist by giving the rescuers directions to her whereabouts upon
their arrival. I would like to think
that the gentleman’s familiar faces and presence on the train was noticed by
Rachel and that it brought her a sense of strength and hope for what was to
come. The very next train brought the rescue party and with the help of Eli, Wiley,
and a local Quaker Friend they quickly formed a plan to rescue her from her
newest reality, a slave pen, the temporary holding grounds where slaves were
kept before being sold. The Quaker was
well acquainted with Campbell, the owner of the slave pen, and when approached
by the team he willingly released Rachel into the hands of her grateful
rescuers. As pragmatic men and believers
in justice, they took Rachel to the jail house for her safety and to await the
hearing of her case, with hopes her release would be imminent. With nothing more for the men to do at the
jailhouse and with optimism running high they went to the Quaker’s house for a
celebratory dinner.
The Quaker Friend
knew the men would be targets for the angry slavery advocates and he devised a
route for them to safely arrive at the train station under the cover of
darkness. The rescue team was warned to
not leave the group at any moment, but with a false sense of security, Miller
left the group before the train pulled out to smoke a cigar on the busy train
platform and he disappeared. The rescue
party’s feelings of hope and happiness soon turned to panic and fear. Young Wiley, being the least known in the
matter at hand, ventured throughout the cars in search of Miller but he
returned without finding him.
 |
| Grave of Joseph Miller Freemont Rd. Nottingham PA |
Joseph
Miller was found several days later hanging in a tree, declared suicide by
Maryland newspapers. His friends and
family did not believe such a preposterous claim and went to Baltimore to bring
his body home. Upon arrival, they were
directed to a 2-foot deep grave where Miller was interred in a primitive box
that allowed dirt to fall around his dead body.
His friends had a proper coffin made and traveled home with his body via
train. Miller did not Rest in Peace
though, as his body was exhumed several times thereafter to perform
autopsies. Miller’s death was no
suicide, his body bore the marks of manacles around his wrists and ankles, he
had rope burns around his waist, signs of a torture device being hooked to his
nose, he was drenched in arsenic, explaining why his bowels and stomach were
completely empty of the earlier celebratory meal; he had retched everything up. Lastly, he was hung from a tree, a message
that spoke loud and clear to the abolitionists of the North.
The story of the
Parker sisters’ kidnapping is horrific.
I cried more than I care to admit learning about and imagining this
story, not only for the betrayed Elizabeth and the terrified Rachel; children
ripped from all they had ever known and taken to a “land” that believed them
somehow to be less-than-human. I also
cried for the frightened fighters mustering courage to do what was right in the
face of evil; the mama, Rebecca Miller, pounding dainty fists on the post man,
the Miller children raising their voices in opposition to their friend being
drug from their own home, the neighbor who tried to stop a reckless wagon, the travelers
who changed their plans to be the eyes of the rescuers they had faith would
come, the Quaker Friend who used his connections and his hospitality which
later earned a brutal beating by pro-slavery thugs, Joseph Miller and his
friends who didn’t know what to expect but knew they had to do something. All that God required of every one of them
was to do what was right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. I cried because I wondered if I could do the
same.
Micah 6 asks:
“What can we bring to
the Lord? What kind of offering should
we bring him? Should we bow before God
with offerings of yearling calves?
Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive
oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn
children to pay for our sins? No, O
people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this what he requires of
you: to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with God.”
He requires it.
This is what is
good.
As a believer, this
is what I have to do, all other worship and offering is like giving God whipped
cream. It tastes good and looks good,
but it’s a topping, not a dessert. It accentuates the flavor, makes it sweeter,
but the good stuff that makes it a dessert for someone other than 5-year-olds,
is a big ol’ slice of pie, a large serving of justice, mercy and humility as we
walk through life with God. I’ve been
giving God a lot of whipped cream, sometimes I sprinkle colored sugar on top. Joseph Miller gave God an entire pie with the
sacrifice of his life. My heart says, I want
to live beyond myself like the courageous folks surrounding the Parker girls. There are more slaves in 2016 than any other
time in history, an estimated 20.9 million people being forced to work in the
sex and labor industries. I want to be a
pie lady for God; I want to not only recognize what is right, I want to do it;
I want to ooze compassion and forgiveness; I want a humble God-stride, to give
him credit for every step I take. Yeah,
I really want that life, but if I could be transparent for a moment, Joseph
Miller’s death scares me. Like really,
really scares me. I want to think that
if I am serving up pie to God that I get a guarantee of safety, that my pie
serving days will continue to until I’m old and gray, but with Christ, safety
is not guaranteed.
In fact, Jesus says
in Luke 9:23-24, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from
your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will
lose it. But if you give up your life
for my sake you will save it.”
Walking with
God does not equate our safety; walking with God equates furthering His
Kingdom.
There is a Mexican proverb that
I love, it says, “They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” Joseph Miller’s death in 1852 was tragic and assuredly
devastated his family, but his death sprouted up a garden of bravery in the
face of injustice as 79 men and women from his local area traveled more than 50
miles across an imaginary line into a hostile environment to testify on behalf
of Elizabeth and Rachel Parker. Justice
prevailed and the girls returned home to their mother. Miller’s death also spurred the abolitionists
of the North to pursue their fight with even more fervor, the stakes were
higher than ever and they knew that freedom would not come without a price,
they knew that the line dividing freedom and slavery must become a thing of the
past, that along with justice, mercy, and a humble walk with God, they needed
unity. They faced fear head on and with
courage they took the risk that if they did what was required, no matter the
outcome, there would be gardens for the future to enjoy not lines of division.
This is what is required of us.
The fascinating story of the Parker sisters and Joseph Miller can be found in detail at the links below:
Also in this book (not an affiliate link): Stealing Freedom Along the Mason Dixon Line by Milt Diggins
