Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

William and Ellen arrive in Savannah as Mr. Johnson and his enslaved companion. Ellen follows the crowd headed toward Charleston in an omnibus. When passengers stop for refreshments, Ellen stays on the omnibus under the guise of illness. The bus takes the couple to a steamer ship called the General Clinch, a vessel that will provide William and Ellen with new challenges and take them to Charleston, the next stop on their journey.

Ellen is familiar with Charleston and the city’s layout. Early in Eliza’s marriage to Robert Collins, the family lived briefly in Charleston. When the family returned to Macon, Ellen met William. She was 15, and he was 18. Ellen was resistant to the idea of marrying because she had seen the horrors of families ripped apart. William and Ellen married, but they were determined not to have children until they had devised their means of escape. Marrying William was its own challenge. Collins was not supportive of Ellen marrying someone outside of his own charge, but Eliza insisted.

Now boarding the steamer ship, Ellen and William recognize that they will be watched more closely than ever. Their love for each other must appear to others as an idealized bond between enslaver and enslaved.