![]() ![]() ![]() “Slaves were allowed to buy their freedom and that of others. “Virginia never would have tolerated their relationship, but with Louisiana, there was a whisper of a chance,” Smolenyak writes in a blogpost. The couple moved to Louisiana together around 1815 and their first known child was born there around that time. Sophie, meanwhile, was an African American woman from Virginia and her surname is uncertain. ![]() Towns became a private in the Virginia Militia toward the end of the War of 1812 against Britain. He married in 1811 but his wife also died young. President Thomas Jefferson, who features heavily in Hamilton, is believed to have fathered children with Sally Hemings, a slave at Monticello whom he never freed.Īccording to Smolenyak’s research, Towns was born in the late 18th century in Virginia, grew up in North Carolina and lost both parents at a young age. You can’t help, when you read this story, but to be rooting for them.” She added: “All the indications are that it was a genuine match. Every time they thought they were safe, the laws would change and they’d have to move again.” “Once I came across David and Sophie I just became obsessed with them and tried to find out more,” said Smolenyak, consultant on the American version of the TV series Who Do You Think You Are? “Here’s a white fellow and a formerly enslaved woman and they spend their entire lives trying to outrun slavery. ![]()
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