reward on them or kidnapped and 

 sold them back into slavery in an- 

 other Southern port. 



The experience of Peter and the 

 two Quaker oystermen with whom 

 he collaborated illustrated the intri- 

 cate planning required to reach a 

 ship. Peter belonged to an elite corps 

 of black pilots on whom much of 

 coastal transport had relied since the 

 Colonial era. His master, a prominent 

 merchant in town, allowed Peter to 

 work by himself, to manage his own 

 affairs within bounds and to solicit 

 jobs freely in the harbor in exchange 

 for most if not all of his piloting 

 fees. This practice, a version of 

 "hiring out," was a controversial but 

 common arrangement in coastal 

 ports for skilled slaves with a profit- 

 able trade requiring a high measure 

 of autonomy. 



Despite the terrible risks, Peter 

 put his watercraft skills and indepen- 

 dence at the disposal of fugitive 

 slaves. He worked closely with the 

 two Quaker abolitionists Samuel 

 Fuller and "Mr. Elliot," piloting 

 their oyster sloop through local 

 bays and sounds. Deeply enmeshed 

 in harbor life, the three watermen 

 could identify mariners who might 

 convey escaping slaves away from 

 Wilmington. 



Free black sailors, in particular, 

 proved to be key collaborators. 



"They are of course," wrote the 

 Wilmington Aurora editor, "all of 

 them, from the very nature of their 

 position, abolitionists, and have the 

 best opportunity to inculcate the 

 slaves with their notions." 



Runaways contacted the trio 

 through Peter, who was well-known 

 among local blacks and was readily 

 approached in the wharf district, or 

 through the many other black 

 watermen, stevedores, ships' artisans 

 or hawkers with whom they dealt in 

 their oyster business. 



The success of Peter and his co- 

 conspirators hinged less on their own 

 unique skills than on more general 



qualities of maritime slavery in North 

 Carolina. The harsh restrictions en- 

 forced on plantation labor gangs broke 

 down in a maritime economy so 

 thoroughly reliant on slave watermen 

 for travel, trade and communication. 

 Close supervision or regular surveil- 

 lance proved impractical: too many 

 slave watermen performed too many 

 important jobs over too wide and 

 remote a coastline. And the methods 

 used to exact slave productivity on 

 land did not stand up well before the 

 unpredictable forces of wind and tide. 



Continued 



After concealing herself in an Edenton house for seven years, 

 Harriet Jacobs escaped with the help of a free black friend 



for a substantial sum paid to the ship captain who 

 transported her to Philadelphia. Drawing by Keith White; 



photograph from the N.C. Division of Archives and History. 



COASTWATCH 1 7 



