"Leonard A.Grimes"(1815-1873)

A free African American,after saving enough money by his earnings,he purchased a

hack and horses,and operated a carriage business-similar to today's tax service-in Washington,D.C. in the 1830s.He could not resist the appeals of the bondmen for aid in making their escape to a land of freedom,and consequently was among the first to take stock in the Underground Railroad.During this time he never lost sight of the slave,and there is no telling how many he put on the road to Canada.A poor woman and her seven children were in the midst of being carried away to the far south by a slave-trader.Her husband,a free African American sought out Leonard,and appealed to his humanity,and not in vain;for less than forty-eight hours,the Hackman,penetrated thirty miles into Virginia,and,under cover of night,brought out the family.The husband,wife,and little ones,a few days after,breathered the free air of Canada.He carried off the rescue with a hitch.He was spotted by Harriet Hardy,the daughter of William Hardy,who kept a coach stop on the Georgiatown and Leedsburg Turnpike at Dranesville.Ann Farr,a friend of Harriet's,later claimed that Harriet said she saw Leonard and his carriage approaching around dusk one day in late October.Assuming he would stop as usual to give his passengers rest and refreshment,Harriet ordered the candles lit in the front room.To her surprise,he continued past,and Ann claimed Harriet "distinctly saw the head of a person,with a hat on,Through the small side light in the curtain of the barouche." At the time,Harriet is said to have presumed that the passenger preferred another stop further down the road,later she suspected that Leonard was transporting fugitive slaves.It was rumored that the family of refuges made it to Freedom in Canada.Eventually  Meade heard that Leonard was rumored to have assisted the runaways.On January 20,1