Voting Station

Henry 'Box' Brown

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Slave

The Resume

    (circa 1815-circa 1889)
    Born in Louisa County, Virginia
    Escaped from slavery by convincing a sympathetic white storeowner to ship him in a box to abolitionist James McKim in Philadelphia (1849)
    Became a speaker for the Anti-Slavery Society
    Moved to England following passage of the Fugitive Slave Law (1850)

Why he might be annoying:

    Frederick Douglass said that he should have stayed quiet so other slaves could use the same method to escape.
    Two months later, Samuel Smith, the storeowner who had sent him north, was caught trying to ship another slave to Philadelphia and was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.
    James C.A. Smith, a free black who had helped him escape, criticized him for not using the money he made on the lecture circuit to try to buy the freedom of his wife and children.
    No longer in demand as an anti-slavery speaker, he moved into show biz as a magician and hypnotist.
    He married an English woman without ever divorcing his first wife.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He decided to escape slavery after his pregnant wife Nancy and their three children were sold off to another plantation in North Carolina.
    He paid Samuel Smith $86 he had earned as a skilled tobacco worker.
    For his escape, he crammed himself into a 3 foot by 2-1/2 foot by 2 foot box for 27 hours.
    During part of the trip, workers ignored the 'This side up' label, with the result 'I felt my eyes swelling as if they would burst from their sockets; and the veins on my temples were dreadfully distended with pressure of blood upon my head.'
    He stayed quiet despite the discomfort, later writing 'I was resolved to conquer or die.'
    A metal replica of his box was installed at Canal Walk in downtown Richmond, Virginia (2001).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 70.59% Annoying