Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 6 · column 5 of 9 · from the scan, no model involved
Samuel Maddox, Peter Glas’ cock, John Smith and ' Charles McGuin, described by the paper as “still lower in degredation” than Finnegan.
The “peaceful and happy family” taken from Pennsylvania’s haven back to enslavement in Rappahannock “perhaps are now consigned to the tender mercies of the overseers of the cotton plantations of Georgia or the Carolinas,” the Compiler concluded.
The kidnapping outraged the people of Pennsylvania. At least three newspapers covered the story from the day Kitty and her children were taken until Finnegan was brought back for trial a year later on charges that the indictment gave as kidnapping a free mulatto woman and her children.
The tragedy inspired a fictional account as well. Mahlbacker was visiting the descendants of Samuel Maddox who now live in Linden—Maddox’ 80-some year old great-great granddaughter, her daughter and granddaughter. They showed him a slip of paper they’d found in the family Bible, a notation that meant nothing to them but a piece of information that grabbed the historical sleuth’s attention.
The note read “Kitty Payne and children kidnapped from North’s farm” and mentioned the name of an author of Civil War novels.
Mahlbacker knew that Kitty was taken by the slave catchers from Pennsylvania but he also knew that Aubrey Noth’s property is the old Maddox home place. His curiosity aroused, he found a copy of the book by the author named in the Maddox Bible note. A fictional work written in, 1933, it still appears to be based on the true story of Kitty Payne. It tells of a female slave and her children stolen and brought through Gettysburg: “ ‘It’s Finnegan’s gang!’ shouted a dozen voices. ‘Slave catch?ers’.’ Men leaped to their saddles, knowing that it was in vain. . .’ It’s Mrs. Cook’s (read Maddox’s) woman’. . . ‘Goodbye to her, poor soul’. . . Curses on them’, (to the slave catchers)’. . . The negress laid like a sack of meal across the saddle, two others each with a negro child. Everybody that had a horse went after them.” But in the book, as in the real life tragedy, the townspeople never caught up with the kidnappers. Later, however, in May of 1846, the Quakers turned in Finnegan and he was arrested for kidnappping. His trial took place at the same time as Kitty took her case for freedom to court in Rappahannock. The results of those two legal proceedings
94.4%