Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom

by Matt Carter

One by one, Thomas lifted twenty chains and neck harnesses that were used on Mr. Bennett’s slave plantation in Richmond, Virginia, then draped each chain over his shoulders, as the crowd helplessly watched. The clanking of the hard metal pierced the ear of every patron in the Great Hall, and it echoed up and down the aisles, bouncing to the ceiling, then back again to the platform. As Thomas added the last chain onto his shoulders, he began to weep. Memories of the whipping post, Ezekiel, and Quentin Ellis flooded his mind. Charles, without thinking, hurried to his feet. He gripped his wooden cane, and although his legs shook under the weight of his body, he continued to stand, fixated on his friend who stood at the front of the platform covered with iron chains. Thomas had never described details of his chains to Charles, and as he had now seen them for the first time, Charles was overwhelmed with reverence. Slowly and quietly, other members of the audience—Old George, Joseph, and a thousand others—rose to their feet. Some hung their head, unable to look at the terrible sight, but others forced themselves to look, so the terrible image of slavery could be forever ingrained in their thoughts, and their hearts never grow stale to the vile institution.