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Your Story: The Princess Susanna Hoax |
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Meanwhile, Sarah's former owner, Mr. Devall, who had paid a considerable sum for her, had been trying hard to find his escaped slave, and eventually came to hear about this travelling 'princess'. He knew from the description that it was Sarah Wilson. So, in the autumn of 1773, he circulated an advertisement saying that the supposed princess was in fact his escaped servant girl, and that whoever caught her would receive five pistols and all expenses as a reward. He also sent one of his employees, Michael Dalton, to find her.
Dalton tracked her down to a plantation in Charlestown, but she had left before he arrived; he eventually found her on a neighbouring plantation and brought her back to slavery in Bush Creek at gunpoint.
Another twist
This seemed to be the end of the story, and for a while Sarah worked without incident for Devall. But after two years, she found the opportunity she'd been waiting for to plan her escape. In April 1775, another slave girl named Sarah Wilson arrived in Maryland, and she utilized this coincidence and a further piece of good luck - Devall's departure to fight in the militia in the American War of Independence - to the full. Somehow she was able to exchange the new Sarah Wilson for herself, and escaped northward out of slavery once and for all.
This time Devall gave up the chase.
She later married a William Talbot (or Stirling), a young officer in the Light Dragoons. After the war the couple stayed in America, possibly because she would have been arrested again if she returned to England. Sarah used the money earned from her role as Princess Susanna to set her husband up in business. Her wandering days over, they subsequently had a large family and lived very comfortably in the then respectable area of the Bowery, New York.
Words: Brian Haughton
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