Driven toward Madness

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Nikki M. Taylor. Driven toward Madness

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DRIVEN TOWARD MADNESS

SERIES EDITORS: PAUL FINKELMAN AND L. DIANE BARNES

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During his Christmas visit with Peggy’s relatives, young Simon had familiarized himself with the exact location of the home at Sixth and Mill Streets. He remained with the Kites for two days and even enjoyed a Christmas play before meeting up with Thomas Marshall to make the journey back to Richwood. That visit ensured him that they had a destination and capable support on the other side of the river and allowed him to finalize the family’s plans to flee.

Young Simon might have claimed his own freedom then, based on his stay in Ohio. State laws protected black freedom for those legally on its soil. According to the 1841 State v. Farr ruling, an enslaved person brought into Ohio willingly by his or her owner, even with the intention of simply passing through it, was considered free.15 He could have taken advantage of Thomas’s mistake of bringing him into the state and boldly claimed his freedom in a court of law and won. Joseph Kite’s abolitionist attorney, John Jolliffe, would have made certain of that. Moreover, had young Simon absconded then, he could have easily put himself into the capable hands of Underground Railroad agents—never to return to bondage or Boone County. Instead, he made the selfless, but ill-fated, decision not to pursue freedom without his family, so he returned to Kentucky with Thomas Marshall.16

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