Hayden made plans to escape from slavery with the help of abolitionists Delia Webster and Calvin Fairbank.
Why do you want your freedom?” “Because I’m a man.”
– Lewis Hayden to Calvin Fairbank
”
- Lexington Public Library
Intrigue
Lewis Hayden remarried after the sale of his
fi rst wife. An owner leased him to Lexington
Kentucky’s Phoenix Hotel as a waiter for
the racing season. Expecting to be sold and
separated from family once again, Hayden
planned an escape.
Calvin Fairbank, a ministerial student, hired
a carriage and driver. Lewis and his wife
Harriet posed as servants, “or passed as white
lady and gentleman, veiled and cloaked.”
Harriet’s son hid under a seat. The Haydens
made it to Canada and freedom.
Kentucky Tollhouse
Lewis and Harriet Hayden departed in a carriage on the Maysville Road. Their disguise reportedly included an application of white fl our. On a risky journey thirteen tollhouses separated them from freedom at 5-mile intervals.
- Bullock Photographic Collection, Transylvania University Library
Calvin Fairbank
Calvin Fairbank was sentenced to fifteen years at hard labor for his role in the Hayden’s escape. Lewis raised $650 for his release after four years, ten months, and twenty-four days. Delia Webster received a two-year sentence that was soon commuted. Fairbank wrote a lighthearted account of his time in prison. “My head shaven close, I dressed in stripes and put to sawing stones.”
- University of Kentucky Archives