of them seemed very
much impressed, and labored hard to convince his host that he was a good
master and would treat his men well. Finally one of the party asked
William Wright to produce the men. He replied that he would not do that,
that they might search his premises if they wished to, but they could
not compel him to bring forth the fugitives. Seeing that they had been
duped, they became very angry and proceeded forthwith to search the
house and all the outhouses immediately around it, without, however,
finding those whom they sought. As they left the house and went toward
the barn, William Wright, waving his hand toward the former, said, "You
see they are not anywhere there." They then went to the barn and gave it
a thorough search. Between it and the house, a little away from the
path, but in plain sight, stood the carriage-house, _which they passed
by without seeming to notice_. After they had gone, poor Tom was found
in this very house, curled up under the seats of the old-fashioned
family carriage. He had never come to the house at all, but had heard
the voices of his hunters from his hiding-place, during their whole
search. About two o'clock in the morning, Fenton was found by William
Wright out in the field. He had run along the bed of a small water
course, dry at that time of year, until he came to a rye field amid
whose high grain he hid himself until he thought the danger was past.
From William Wright's the slave-catchers went to Joel Wierman's, where,
despite all that could be done, they got poor Sam, took him off to
Maryland and sold him to the traders to be taken far south.

In 1856 William Wright was a delegate from Adams county to the
Convention at Philadelphia which nominated John C. Fremont for President
of the United States. As the counties were called in alphabetical order,
he responded first among the Pennsylvania delegation. It is thought that
he helped away during his whole life, nearly one thousand slaves. During
his latter years, he was aided in the good work by his children, who
never hesitated to sacrifice their own pleasure in order to help away
fugitives.

His convictions on the subject of slavery seem to have been born with
him, to have grown with his growth, and strengthened with his strength.
He could not remember when he first became interested in the subject.

William Wright closed his long and useful life on the 25th of October,
1865. More fortunate than his co-laborer, Daniel Gibb