$200 Reward Handbill

On View

Dated1844

DescriptionDozens of men, women, and children enslaved by David Brogden in Maryland saw their lives upended as his debts mounted. Many were sold or seized by his creditors, their families torn apart. Brothers Wilson and John escaped the brutality of Brodgen’s plantation in a bold bid for freedom that led them to Daniel and Hannah Gibbons’ farm in Lancaster County. Brogden pursued them relentlessly, posting printed reward notices from Baltimore to Lancaster. We now know their names because they carried one of these handbills with them when they arrived at the relative safety of the Gibbons farm. This paper—created to bring them back into bondage—now bears witness to Wilson and John’s courageous flight toward freedom.