for information about the slaves
that belonged to the Reel family. Someone in the church knew that Fred
Fowler was living in Washington, D.C. The letter was forwarded to him
and from it he learned that these sisters had been taken to Columbia,
Tennessee and were still living. A meeting soon followed.

When Fred was twenty years old, young Reel, who was about to move to
Springfield, Illinois, sold him privately for $1,000 to Dr. Willis who
lived in New Market, Frederick County, Maryland. That was a high
price for the time and place. Fowler was with Dr. Willis for three or
four years as a farmhand. The Doctor was the physician for the
notorious inter-state slave traders B. M. and W. L. Campbell. They had
a large jail in Baltimore for their purchases in Maryland. In New
Orleans they had another, where most of their sales were made. The
Doctor went to Baltimore once or twice a week to examine and prescribe
for the Campbell slaves. In the farming season, when there was need of
extra labor, he would bring some of them out to work for him.

Mrs. Salmon, a Quaker, told Fowler that Dr. Willis contemplated
selling him the following winter, probably because some less valuable
slave could do the work. All slaves dreaded being sold, for, if young
and strong, it usually meant being "sold South." So in the spring of
1858 Fowler made up his mind to run away. He and another slave started
one Saturday night and safely walked to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania by
the early morning.

Promptly on Monday Dr. Willis issued a handbill offering $200 reward
for the recovery of his runaway. Fowler knew no details of this until
perhaps thirty or forty years later, when a son of Dr. Willis gave him
one of the handbills. It was shown about 1905 to the present writer
who had it carefully typewritten as to the lines and capitalization,
but the size of the letters could not be reproduced. The original was
duly returned to Fowler, but unfortunately he subsequently lost or
mislaid it. It was tiny for a handbill--only about six inches long and
four inches wide and was worded and lined thus:--

"$200 REWARD!

Ranaway from the subscriber, living at New Market, Frederick Co.,
Md., ON SATURDAY NIGHT, THE 8TH. OF MAY inst., a Negro Man, named
FRED FOWLER, aged about 26 years, five feet ten or eleven inches
high, stout made, dark copper color, round full eye, upper teeth
full and even, has a down look when