#fleming

Harriet Tubman's Auburn Home (Auburn, New York)

“For the decade following her escape to freedom, Harriet Tubman devoted her energy to helping her friends and family attain their own emancipation. As the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, she was almost constantly on the move between Canada and Maryland. In that time, she rarely had an opportunity to establish a home base for herself. Realizing that a Civil War was imminent, Tubman found a haven for her family in the pastoral village of Fleming, New York, just outside the city of Auburn.

Auburn, NY was a hub for abolitionists in the mid-1800s and had ties to Philadelphia, PA where Harriet Tubman lived immediately after she escaped from slavery in Maryland. While in Philadelphia, Harriet met many influential abolitionists, including William Still, the African American Purvis extended family, Lucretia Coffin Mott, and Frederick Douglass. William Still would keep records of freedom seekers passing through Philadelphia and he interviewed Harriet and her brothers on one of her trips. Harriet’s allies in Philadelphia would aid her greatly in leading her family and friends north. Harriet had to change hiding places frequently to avoid detection and Philadelphia abolitionists would open their houses and provided aid to make the passage as safe as possible. After the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 passed, aiding any person escaping from slavery was illegal and subject to criminal punishments. These wealthy and powerful, mostly white, abolitionists would be risking much to aid freedom seekers like Harriet Tubman, but by the same token would have more protection through their status in society.

Harriet Tubman used her connections to finally secure a place where she could have her own home and determine the course of her life in freedom. Lucretia’s sister, Martha Coffin Wright, lived in Auburn, NY in the 1850s and would become friends and colleagues with Harriet Tubman. Martha’s husband David was in a law practice with William Seward. Seward’s wife, Frances Miller Seward, Harriet, and Martha all worked to provide support for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad in Auburn, NY.

Harriet Tubman purchased her 7-acre parcel from  Frances Seward in the late winter or early spring of 1859. A limited Women’s Married Property Act had been passed in NY in 1848 which allowed Frances Seward to inherit land from her father under certain conditions. The transfer of land to a self-emancipated person was illegal under the Fugitive Slave Act. Frances Seward was breaking the law and taking a large risk to help Harriet Tubman have her own land. Frances rightly thought that since her husband, William Seward, was a powerful politician in New York State that no action would be taken against them.

In the wooden home already on the property, Harriet Tubman’s parents, brothers, nieces, and nephews would be protected by her powerful abolitionist friends during the Civil War. Here they could build a life among the familiar rhythms of the seasons and connect with other families from the eastern shore of Maryland in the free black community of “New Guinea.” Harriet Tubman would start her returns to Maryland in 1850, only a year after she escaped. She would return 13 times and rescue about 70 people by 1860. Harriet rescued her brothers, James, John, and William and some of their family members in 1854 when she received word that they might be sold. Harriet had already lost three sisters after they were sold down south and she would never be able to find them. Harriet had gone back to rescue her sister, Rachel and Rachel’s children, but is unable to. She learns Rachel has died in 1859 and Rachel’s young son and daughter are left behind. Instead, she will rescue other friends and relatives. Her family would travel between St. Catharines and Auburn depending on which was safest for them at the time.

Canada had outlawed slavery by this time and becomes a haven for African American freedom seekers. Her brothers would settle in St. Catharines in Canada in a community of other Black freedom seekers. It was common for freedom seekers to change their name to avoid detection or to start a new life with a name they chose. Harriet and her brothers’ surname had been Ross. Upon escaping Harriet’s brothers, adopted the surname of Stewart after a powerful white family in Dorchester County, Maryland where they were from and changed their first names. Harriet herself had changed her name when she married from Araminta to Harriet after her mother. The Tubman part of her name was from her first husband, John Tubman. John was born a free Black man and after Harriet escaped in 1849, she came back to rescue John two years later. Harriet was heartbroken when not only did John refuse to come with her, but he had also moved on and married another woman. She would be successful in rescuing her elderly parents, Ben and Rit, and bringing them to Canada after they were facing prosecution for helping others escape.

Mound Towns.

jessie fleming x reader

when jessie makes the to move to portland, you were the only thing on her mind. yet still somehow. you make the biggest move of your relationship.

“i missed you.” the brunette girl you had missed so passionately whispered against the soft skin of your neck. your arms going and wrapping over jessie’s shoulders as you kept the door open with your foot.

“i missed you more jay”

there was a few bags behind the girl; knowing the the rest were getting flown out later in time. jessie and you had spent months (years) going back and forth over the idea of her making the move back to the states from west london. she had always fallen homesick, missing being so close to her parents and longtime girlfriend.

even while at ucla; jessie causally saw her family and friends. either making the trip up to london, ontario on school breaks or her family flying down on their long weekends to spend time with their girl. jessie and her family were thick as thieves. and she’d been telling anyone who asked that, that very reason was why she wanted to come back.

but she had also missed you. and she had just started subconsciously thinking of you as family.

but long distance had been extremely hard on you as a pair. and after you secured a job that was somewhere you felt like settling down at; at least for a while. you started not being able to take off nearly as much time as you could while finishing your masters and working a small restaurant job.

so once she did decide on coming back to the states, she wasted no time in coming home. and by that she meant you. and your high rise apartment that she loved dearly.

“there’s never been a longer plane ride a day in my life.”

jessie and you had met in a shared 3rd year kinetics and transport in material engineering class. it was one of the hardest classes you both had to face in the first 3 years at ucla. that was until you both had ended up in a group of 6 for your midterm final.

you had obviously known who jessie was, everyone did at ucla. but you also knew you had no chance at the gorgeous girl; subsequently leading to never letting you set yourself up for failure by even starting a conversation.

keeping your head down and your eyes away from the soccer stars vicinity allowed you to miraculously never end up in a position to gain a further crush on her. for three years at that! but once you were placed in the same group as her for your midterm, there was absolutely no point in trying.

“do you think anyone else is actually going to show up for this?” presley asked, is hands on his hips as he looked out the door. “it’s only 5:51, just sit down and relax”

he turned and squinted his eyes, causing you to crack a laugh from your friend. “i hate you.”

“no you don’t.”

“i showed up?” presley’s friend piped off; looking up from his computer to now watch the door. “we knew you would canonn, thank you for being early.” presley rolled his eyes before looking back out into the hall. “oo! jenny is here!”

“jenny?” you questioned.

“short blonde who sits front row? always has a question no matter the situation or subject?”

“ah jenny..” you mumbled. well let’s hope she’s useful. or at least more useful than you and some good ole google.

as the time ticked on further until 6’o clock; you found yourself letting out a small sigh of relief. as frustrating as it may be to have to carry the weight of one person in a group you couldn’t help but find a positive of jessie not being there. you didn’t have to face her. that gorgeous gorgeous face.

it was a matter of time. you knew you’d have to come face to face with the brunette who didn’t even know you existed; but you had felt a small amount of relief at it not being today.

but even without the girl your group started hitting the ground running; you working on your computer as the others gave you the information to type down onto the shared slides. the group had been mostly focused on creating an easily accessible but slightly complex introduction to a prototype for the project.

“-i am so sorry! is this group 3 for dr. kimmich’s class?” your eyes shot up from your computer, only to lock with your forever-far away crush. you knew your lips parted, no words coming out but parted as you stared at the beautiful girl. “yes it is! glad you could join us!” presley shot up from his seat, is coffee in hand as he quickly made his way to the brunette.

the last open seat was placed directly infront of you, so as presley ushered the girl in. you were shitting bricks.

the group picked up right where it left off. and jessie ended up being more useful than anyone else. she was insanely good at any engineering class it seemed; but you had never seen it first hand until now.

you could have caught many flies with the way your lips stayed parted and your eyes fixated on the soccer player. her hair was in a messy bun, wearing a ucla soccer shirt an a pair of grey sweats. she looked other-worldly.

you loved how bright her smile was and how her eyebrows furrowed inwards when she didn’t completely understand something. presley has landed multiple kicks to your shin, giving you the crazy eyes and mumbling under his breath everytime for you to stop staring.

you never really could.

“come on, let’s get your stuff inside” you pulled away from her embrace, stealing a peck from her lips and pushing her off to the side. stuggling but managing to pick up the few (four) duffle bags off of the ground and bringing them into your apartment.

“you say let’s and then bring them all in yourself”

“don’t want my pretty girl to hurt herself”

pushing through your bedroom door and placing them on the foot of your bed. jessie found her way behind you; wrapping her arms around your torso as you quickly unzipped one of her bags.

you were prepared to unpack her things, wanting to set up home base for her to make her feel more peaceful with the big change. and you shamelessly knew she’d find a way to wrap her arms around you as you did such. you both had spent 100’s of trips doing the small motions; and this one felt better as you knew it would one of the last.

pulling out all of her shirts and shorts as she laid kisses on the inside of your neck; whispering her ‘i miss you’s’ on the soft skin. having to resist your girlfriend as she continued even through your groans and teasing comments about her being a horny boy.

actually; that probably was one of the traits of jessie’s. she could easily be found herself getting lost in your neck any second possible; even in very public settings or terrible timed events.

“mm jess, get some hangers please” you pushed her away from you, you hand pressing against her hip and tapping for her to move. “fine.” she placed another soft kiss to your neck before scurrying off.

a small smile coming across your face as you continued pulling out her clothes. laying out the shirts flat on the bed and unfolding her pants/sweats only to refold them in a way that would make hanging them up on the hangers easier.

“where did your clothes go?” jessie questioned as she came out of the closet, arms filled with hangers.

of course she noticed right away.

“they are packed up” you rolled your eyes at your girlfriend, she had never been known for her abilities to pick up on subtle details. but she had to pick on this one?

“going on a trip? for what? a month?” she joked; sighing deeply as you grabbed the hangers out of her hands and started hanging up her shirts. a small smile coming across your lips as you caught the end of a portland jersey inbetween your fingertips. “more so months.”

portland has always loved their canadians; and jessie was absolutely no exception to that. so when she got the offer, there was absolutely no way she was going to decline it.

and trust, you understood why portland loved canadians so much. just look at yours?!

“baby what’s going on? there’s a lot of things missing?”

you swallowed your heartbeat down, feeling the anxiety of the impending implications coming faster than expected. you had secretly prayed that she wouldn’t have started questioning things until maybe a few days in.

you had cleared out space in your shower caddie for her own products, a little space on your bedside table for her things to take up. you had even set up an extra key ring by your door for her to be able to hang her keys up on; a brand new key to your apartment occupied it currently. one that she didn’t even know existed.

you watched as her head started looking through the room, her eyes going from the closet to you, to the bathroom door, the nightstand, under the bed, and moving to go to your armoire.

you placed your hand on the soft skin of her forearm, drawing her attention back to you; stopping her from moving around the room to see what else is missing.

taking a deep breath before you even looked at the brunette-girl eyes. “i love you jess, i have since our first group project junior year..” her right arm going around your waist, holding you as your hand gripped on the other girls forearm.

“..you’ve chased ever dream you’ve ever wanted and truthfully got them. making them more and your own in the process. you’ve shown me incredible elegance and composure in some of the hardest times of our relationship and i truly don’t see myself living this life with anyone else..” jessie’s grip found its way to somehow thighten; holding you almost flush against her as you stared up into her eyes.

your eyes watered at the look of complete awe she happened to hold in her beautiful face, incomparable to any 7 wonder or model you’ve ever seen. “..you’ve made the biggest move; the riskiest move of your career to come and make us work. and i would hate myself for not at least asking. so. will you move in with me?”

her smile reflected the same one you given her the day you said yes to her when she asked you on your first date. her hands now both coming up to hold your face as she looked at you; as if she was completely infatuated with you now.

“no way did you just ask me that?”

growing slightly shy at her gaze , you feel your own cheeks heat up in the hold of the girls rough palms. one of your own hands coming up and lightly clasping around her left wrist. a small nod coming from you as you felt embarrassment start to creep up. the lack of anwser made your brain run wild. “if you feel like it’s too soon or too much change at one time i completely un-“

“too soon? i tried countless times to have you move to england with me. i had hoped to quietly make myself at home but this is even better.” she shook her head at your self doubt. almost in amazement that you could even imagine something of the sort. “yes y/n. id love to move in with you.”

“really?”

New fatt season in black and white???

comm for @sqydliminal