1855 Richmond VA Stampede (October)

On Saturday night, October 27, 1855, seven enslaved people broke open a locked door and escaped from the slave pen of Jones & Slater in Richmond, Virginia. Three of the freedom seekers had been arrested previously, after attempting to escape from Bath county, Virginia. They were slated to be sold south. One of the freedom seekers, who was named Lee, was reportedly "so nearly white" that authorities suspected he would attempt to "pass himself off as the owner of the other six refugees."