A woman’s courage remembered during Black History Month

A woman’s courage remembered
during Black History Month

In May of 1863 five Union prisoners of war escaped from prison in Danville, Va., and began to make their way north to Federal lines. As they passed through Giles County, they stopped early one evening at the cabin of Bertha Johnston, a slave on the plantation of Capt. William Eggleston.

They asked to be taken across the New River, but Bertha told them it was too dangerous because people were searching for them. At great risk to her life, she hid them in the rafters of her house, feeding them on cornbread, buttermilk and a little meat. Before dawn on the third day she
ferried them across the river.

They offered her the only thing they had, a bone ring –probably fashioned during their time in prison. She refused payment because, as she said later, “I wanted no pay for my
trouble.” They insisted, and she finally agreed to take it as a remembrance of their meeting. Nearly fifty years later the ring was presented by a “Mr. Johnston” to a Union veterans organization in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. Mr. Johnston was a resident of Carnegie at that time. The ring has since been lost.

The rest of Bertha’s story is unknown. An 1865 census of freed slaves in Giles County lists a “B. Johnson,” female, aged between 21-30, living on Eggleston’s plantation. Is this Bertha? If it is, she disappears from Giles County records after that date. Was Mr. Johnston her husband, and if so, when did they move to Pennsylvania? Her name does not appear on later census records in the Carnegie area. A brief account of the story was filed away in 1909 in the archives of the Carnegie library, the only testament to one woman’s courage against all odds.

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The Giles County Historical Society works to preserve, interpret and exhibit Giles County’s rich historical and cultural heritage. It provides a repository for Giles County family histories, documents and artifacts, assists genealogical researchers, and supports the preservation
of endangered Giles County artifacts, sites and records. The Giles County Historical Society and
Museum (540-921-1050) are closed during the month of February and will re-open
March 1. Regular hours are Wed-Fri from 12-5 PM and Sat-Sun from 2-5 PM. Admission is free. The Research Office is open on Thursday from 12–5 PM. For more information, visit www.gilescountyhistorical.org.