Daphne Paine - Fled Enslavement on The Pearl but was Captured (Written by Scarlett Bunting)
Daphne was born around 1825. Her place of birth and early life are unknown. By 1848 court records note her as enslaved by Alexander Hunter, a DC Marshal and the owner of several properties, including, Abingdon Plantation and Spring Hill, in Virginia, as well as a home at 3rd and C Streets in Washington. It is unclear at which property Daphne would have been enslaved. She is not listed in an 1850 estate inventory of Abingdon Plantation, which was undertaken after the death of Alexander Hunter the previous year. Nor is she listed in Louisa Hunter’s household (his widow) on the 1850 Slave Schedule.Two years earlier, in April of 1848, Daphne and her child (name and gender are unknown) were involved in a famous attempt to escape enslavement called the Pearl Incident. Seventy-seven enslaved people from Washington and Alexandria, 38 men, 26 women, and 13 children, attempted to flee to New Jersey and freedom aboard the schooner, Pearl. The dramatic incident began in the early morning hours of April 15 when the Pearl set sail from “the steamboat wharf below Long Bridge”*. Aided by white abolitionists, Edward Sayers and Daniel Drayton, the fugitives headed south along the Potomac towards the Chesapeake Bay. Despite a large lead time, the schooner was delayed by slow winds and running aground. A pursuing steam-engine ship captured the escapees over 100 miles away at Point Lookout, Maryland.
After many days in the District’s “Blue Jug” Jail, many of the enslaved people were “sold south” by slave traders as punishment for their attempted escape. Daphne and her child, also jailed, were among those whose enslavers eventually chose to retain their bondsmen and women.
Daphne and her child were not the only enslaved people from Arlington to attempt to flee slavery on the Pearl. Frank and Joe, enslaved by Andew Hoover (Rosslyn) were on the Pearl as was Joe, enslaved by John M. Young (Glebe Road and South 8th Street). Both Hoover and Young had homes in the District of Columbia and Arlington, like the Hunter’s. The Dodge family, who owned the steamship that captured the Pearl, also had enslaved men and women on the schooner, though their names are unavailable. Allen Dodge owned a large farm at the foot of Long Bridge.
At the time of the Pearl Incident, Daphne was married to William Johnson, a free Black man once enslaved by Senator Daniel Webster. Their child was a product of the union. Webster attempted to buy Daphne from Louisa Hunter several times but was refused. After Webster’s death, Daphne’s freedom was finally obtained for $800. Over a dozen individuals and groups who opposed slavery raised the large amount for her manumission. At last, Daphne and William and their children could enjoy life as a united family.
Many years pass and we find Daphne listed in an 1874 Washington DC Directory as a laundress and the widow of William Johnson living at 6th and 4 1/2 Street, NW. In her later years, at age 55, Daphne is listed in the 1880 census of Washington, DC, as a “Mother” living with her son, Todd Johnson, age 25 and his wife, Maria, age 23, and their two young children. Despite enduring the hardship of enslavement and widowhood, Daphne was at last living with one of her beloved children and her grandchildren.
*Pearl St SW on the present-day southwest waterfront is named after this schooner