Henry Parker

Henry Parker

Headline text

Henry Parker was born into slavery. He was a slave of Benjamin Cooper. When he was 27, he went blind.

Escaping

Henry parker was born in 1835. He started as a slave to Benjamin Cooper until he was 24 years old. While he was with Benjamin Cooper, his two brothers were sold to other slave owners. His mother and sisters stayed with Benjamin.

On a Saturday night, in October, 1859, Henry decided that he and his mothers were going to escape from Benjamin Cooper. He knew that he would be found if they were going to be anywhere in the United States. So he decided that they would escape to Canada.

When they escaped they went through what’s called the “Underground Railroad.” They also had to cross two rivers when they were escaping to Canada. One was called The Big Hocking, and the other the Little Hocking. Henry had to carry his mother and two sisters across the rivers separately. He continuously said to his family, “Travel on believers! We will get to heaven by and by.”

Going blind On the morning of June 12th, Henry’s eyes were feeling very hot and heavy. But he still went around doing his daily work and chores. By night, he could not see his own way. He had heard about a good eye doctor in Cincinnati, so he decided that he would make his way there with the little money that he had, and by begging. He sent his mother and sisters to a friend’s house to stay and be taken care of. On his way to Cincinnati, he would beg at the train stations. And at one of the stations, a man wanted to help him. So he tried to get everyone on the train to give Henry fifty cents, so then he could make it to Cincinnati without having to stop again. This plan worked for a while, but then one man said, “I would rather see all the god damn niggers in hell than give this darky one cent, but if it was a white man, I would give him five dollars.”

He finally made it to Cincinnati and to the doctor. The doctor told him that he would never be able to see again, and that he would not be accepted to any of the Blind asylum’s because of his color. But he told him that if he found friends that would keep him at their house, then he would treat him free of charge. After three years, his eyes were healthy again, but he still could not see. Yet he still had to work to stay with the family. This shows his strong determination to keep afloat.

All information was found at [http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/parkerh/parkerh.html The Auto biography of Henry Parker]