 |
| Charlotta Pyles faced a situation typical of many slave women in 1850. She was married to a free man, Harry Pyles, but she and her twelve children were owned by a Mr. Gordon. Gordon died in the early 1850’s, leaving Charlotta and her children to his daughter in his will with the expectation that she would free them. Miss Gordon freed Charlotta and the children and then due the difficulties facing free people of color, accompanied them north settling in Keokuk, Iowa in 1853. Charlotta went on a speaking tour of the north to raise $3000 to buy freedom for the husbands of two of her daughters and bring them to Iowa. Charlotta was also reported to be very active on the Underground Railroad, assisting many slaves seeking freedom in the Keokuk area. She died in 1880 at age 74. |