On a spring morning in 1819, seventeen people loaded two wagons with their luggage, tools, and provisions. They left their Rockfish plantation in Nelson County and travelled over Jarman’s Gap and into the Shenandoah Valley.

Their destination? Illinois. 800 miles away.

But first they had to stop in Pennsylvania to meet up with their slaveholder Edward Coles. Yes, the traveling band of men, women, and children were slaves. And Coles planned to free them.