Summary: The letters "S.S.," for Slave Stealer, were branded on the hand of abolitionist Captain Walker as punishment for attempting to assist seven escaped slaves to freedom by sailing them from Florida to the WEST INDIES. During the voyage, Captain Walker became ill. His crew was untrained in sailing and navigational procedures and, as a result, they were captured by a proslavery wrecking sloop and returned to Florida. The enslaved Africans were returned to the Slavers, and Walker was arrested. He was convicted and sentenced in a federal court, spent one year in solitary confinement, and was fined $600. It was at this time that his right palm was branded with the letters "S.S."2 ------------------- Join The Gist of Freedom tonight at 8pm as we listen to and discuss excerpts from William Still's Underground Railroad book, (1872) and the story of Seth Conklin, the white abolitionists who was captured and murdered while trying to rescue William Still's enslaved in-laws, his newly freed brother Peter Gist-Still's family. Tonight our guest is Darnell Brown, Underground Railroad Historian!
