By Owen Findsen
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The night was dark. The snow was deep, and the Ohio River was frozen solid. Around 10 o'clock, five slaves slipped away from James Marshall's farm at Richwood Station, 16 miles south of Covington, and met with three others from Archibald Gaines' nearby farm. It was Jan. 28, 1856.

They took two horses and a sleigh and rode to Covington. Leaving the sleigh and team in front of Washington House hotel, they headed for the river, where eight fugitives from two other Boone County plantations had already crossed. They stepped onto Ohio soil near the mouth of the Mill Creek and began searching for help.

The leader of the group was Simon Garner, who brought his father, also named Simon, and his mother, Mary, with him from the Marshall plantation. The others were Simon's wife, Margaret, who along with her four children, were from Mr. Gaines' farm.

Margaret was about 23 years old, 5 feet tall and had light skin. There were two scars on the left side of her face where, she said, a "white man struck me."

She held Silla, a 9-month-old boy, in her arms. She also had a 3-year-old daughter, Mary, and two sons, Samuel, 5, and Thomas, 6.

The group wandered, knocking on doors, asking for directions to the house of Elijah Kite, once a slave with them, whose father, Joe Kite, had purchased his freedom.

The Kite house was the fourth house below the Mill Creek bridge at Sixth Street. Finding the house, they knocked and were let in.

Mary Kite fed them and made them warm as her husband ran to the store of Levi Coffin at Sixth and Elm. Mr. Coffin, a Quaker, was known as the "president" of the Underground Railroad. His store was the secret "Dispatcher's Office."

The situation was dangerous, Mr. Coffin said. The other group of slaves had gone further west, beyond local jurisdiction, but the site of the Kite house was governed by the U.S. marshal.

Margaret Garner's owner crossed the river early in the morning with neighbor Major Murphy and William Marshall, son of James Marshall, owner of Simon and his parents. Other Kentuckians came with them to join the hunt. U.S. Commissioner James Pendery issued a warrant, under the Fugitive Slave Act, to the U.S. marshal, who formed a posse.

Men from Covington were already on the trail. William Robertson and Mr. Griffith, accompanied by a watchman (police) had discovered the Garner family's destination.

A deputy marshal, John Patterson, arrived and demanded entry. Mary Kite started to let them in, but young Simon told her to refuse. Deputy Patterson then smashed in the door and went in, to face Simon who had a six-shot revolver.

Simon fired. Deputy Patterson retreated with his finger shot off and a wound to his lip. Simon fired three more wild shots before the pistol was taken from him.

In the house, Margaret said, "Mother, before any of my children will be taken back into Kentucky, I will kill every one of them."

Taking a knife, she cut the throat of her 3-year-old daughter. "Mother, help me to kill them," she cried.

Mary Kite ran to her and grabbed the knife, and ran into the bedroom where she crawled under the bed. Margaret retrieved the knife and began slashing at her other children.

"Mother, don't kill me," cried Samuel, struggling in her arms. The posse rushed in, and Margaret grabbed a shovel and tried to fight.

As Margaret was subdued by the posse, the other people in the house were reduced to screams and moans. The men of the posse looked on a scene of horror. All the children bore cuts from her knife and the 3-year-old lay dead in a pool of blood.

The Covington marshal searched for the other eight fugitives, who escaped from the Covington homes of Levi F. Doughertyand John W. Stevenson, but failed to find their "lurking place."

The eight made their way to Canada and freedom, according to Levi Coffin. But in Cincinnati, the Garner family was marched through the town, surrounded by deputies and cheered by a huge crowd of abolitionists and free blacks, to Hammond Street Station and on to the county jail, where they would star in one of the most famous legal cases in the history of the Underground Railroad.

The information in this story came from the Enquirer, editions of Jan. 29 and 30, 1856.