Thus it was that Gaines kept his pledged
word that Margaret should be surrendered upon the requisition
of the Governor of Ohio! On the passage down the Ohio, the
steamboat, in which the slaves were embarked, came in
collision with another boat, and so violently that Margaret
and her child, with many others, were thrown into the water.
About twenty-five persons perished. A colored man seized
Margaret and drew her back to the boat, but her babe was
drowned! "The mother," says a correspondent of the
_Louisville Courier_, "exhibited no other feeling than joy at
the loss of her child." So closed another act of this
terrible tragedy. The slaves were transferred to another
boat, and taken to their destination. (_See_ Mr. Cooper's
letter to Gov. Chase, dated Columbus, March 11, 1856.) Almost
immediately on the above tragic news, followed the tidings
that Gaines had determined to bring Margaret back to
Covington, Kentucky, and hold her subject to the requisition
of the Governor of Ohio.
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