Belmont Mansion

"Hurry up, babe! They're about to start the tour." Kiley said sweetly but urgently to Dominic as he rummaged through the trunk of their car. It was filled with odds and ends. If you named a random object, it probably could be found in the back of that car. Dominic liked to be overly prepared, and that truck was their emergency safety kit. Dominic was always just as prepared in the classroom with his 8th graders.

"I'm looking, sweetie," Dominic responded while pushing his eyeglasses further up his face. "Ah, spare glasses, backpack, Nike's, water," he called out as he tossed each item to the side.

"Got it!" he practically yelled out of excitement. "I'll bring this backpack too to keep our keys and wallets."

Kiley and Dominic made their way up towards the doors to get in line. It was a bright summer's day. The Belmont Mansion was the site of their wedding a year ago. It hosted 50 guests for the ceremony and reception in late July. They discovered that the place wasn't just an outdoor venue but an underground railroad museum inside. A tour was the perfect way to celebrate their first anniversary.

The mansion was a light pastel peach color with white windows and dark evergreen frames. Huge white column panels were on the porch holding up its roofing. The place looked about three stories tall, with a balcony on the top with an American flag flying proudly. Acres of land surrounded the mansion, and there was a shed a few meters away near the water.

"Hello, guests! Today you will get the pleasure of exploring the Belmont Mansion," the host declared. She was wearing a white blouse with a similar shaded ankle-length skirt. Her hair was styled into a fro but tied up into a loose bun. She had on a piece of blue fabric around her neck. Not quite a tie, more like a handkerchief. "My name is Sally, and I will be walking you through our museum today," she added with a friendly smile.

Sally collected each person's ticket, and then the group stood in a semi-circle to listen intently.

"The Belmont Mansion has incredible historical significance here in Philadelphia. It was Richard Peters's home, who was apart of the Board for War for the Revolutionary Army and Congress. During the American Revolution, many founding fathers stayed here, including George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Later on, Peters was apart of the Society for the Abolition of Slavery and opposed the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act." Sally explained. "This site was a safe house for freed folks that were formerly slaves, including Cornelia Wells that lived here with her family in the place across the yard."

"Today, we'll see how this mansion was used as a safe house when the fugitive slave act was passed and see where Peters did his work."

The group walked in a single file line from the front porch into the home. The bright sun that shined outside immediately dimmed once inside. Though there were many windows, it was as if they had a distinct dinge on them left from the early 1800s, although the rest of the home was pretty up to date.

"Our tour will begin upstairs in Peter's study that is famous for hosting meetings with the Society for the Abolition of Slavery," Sally exclaimed. The group followed her upstairs and, in less than 30 minutes, saw everything included with their tickets."

"I'm so sorry, everyone." Sally apologized. "We breezed through this tour quickly. It usually takes the full hour."

"Is there anything else we can take a look at?" Kiley asked. "Perhaps Cornelia's quarters across the property?"

Sally paused for a second. "That usually isn't a part of the tour. The staff doesn't even go down there often aside to clean up periodically."

"I think it would be a great addition! We got to read the letter by Cornelia about how kind Peters was to her and her family. I'd love to learn more about her," Kiley insisted with a smirk. Her persuasion skills from being an attorney were always in her back pocket.

"I agree," Dominic added.

Sally was silent for a few moments with a puzzled expression on her face. You could see the debate happening inside of her head until she finally said "fine" with a sigh.

"This group can use the next 30 minutes to keep looking around here or head down to Cornelia's quarters across the property," Sally added.

"It's hot as hell today! I'm not walking down there," one man shouted in the group.

Murmurs and whispers began until it died down when a petite woman said, "I think it's fine if most of us stay here. That couple can go down there."

Kiley and Dominic both looked at each other, Sally, and then the group. "Fine. Suit yourselves." Kiley responded.

"I have another group at 2:00 pm, but you all can stay until then," Sally announced as the group began to break and head in different directors.

Kiley and Dominic headed out of the large backdoor facing Cornelia's quarters.

"That tour was fine, but I wanted to hear more about Cornelia and less of Peters," Kiley said as they journeyed through the field.

"That's on-brand for you. Enough talk of men! Tell me about the lady of this land," Dominic joked as he mocked her lawyer tone. Kiley smiled.

As they reached Cornelia's cottage, it was apparent how different this home was from the mansion a few meters away. It was the size of a backyard shed, big enough to fit your lawnmower in but not a car.

"She lived here with her daughter? That's what the letter said, right?" Dominic muttered while looking around outside. "Where did they sleep?"

"Let's look inside," Kiley insisted, pushing open the unlocked door.

When they entered the cottage, it indeed looked as if they were in the 1800s. Unlike the mansion that you could tell got an excellent wash often aside from the windows and whose artifacts were kept in great shape, this place looked like it was barely touched. You could see the spider webs hanging in the corners on the walls and the inches of dust resting on each object within eyeshot. The glimmers of sunshine from outside provided them the light to look around. There were no lamps, no candles, and it didn't look like there was any electricity in there at all.

Kiley and Dominic began to look around the small space. There was one twin-size bed in the far left corner of the room. The bed had what probably used to be white but was now light brown sheets tucked on top and one flattened pillow. To the right of the bed was a table full of odds and ends. There was a Black furnace next to the table facing the opposite wall and then a big enough cot for a small person.

"There's not much to look at here, huh?" Dominic said while looking at odds and ends on the table.

"Yeah, it's not much here at all," Kiley replied. "We can head back to the mansion and keep looking around there."

"Wait, I want to look at the furnace. I've never seen one that looks like this," Dominic insisted. He knelt into a squat and opened the furnace door. "There's a .... a book in here," he said.

"A book in a furnace?" Kiley replied as she walked over to him and knelt too. Staring at both of them was a plain black book. There were no words written on the outside of it or any text to clarify what it was.

"Let's grab it and take a look," Kiley said, reaching for it. The couple sat criss-cross applesauce on the floor side by side and opened the book. As they flipped through the pages, it was clear it may have been a journal, but there was only one entry on the first few pages. Dominic began to read the insert aloud:

Cornelia Wells - 1830

I'm so grateful I've been able to learn to read and write. This is my first journal entry. It's all thanks to Mrs. Peters. She's allowed me to pay for tutoring with my little money from being an indentured servant. She's so kind. Mr. Peters wasn't as friendly. When I asked for my daughter to be released from being an indentured servant to follow her truths, he denied the request. He bought us from our owner when she was merely seven years old. She's now 19 and wants to move away from the mansion property. Our exchange for Mr. Peters giving us our freedom was another kind of bondage but with a prettier title. I signed the documents making me an indentured servant. I never wanted this life for my daughter. I didn't sign for her to be a servant too. I want her to be free. Completely free. What good is our current freedom if there's another method to take away your liberties just the same?

We aren't paid much, but I have a way around all that. Mr. Peters liked to gamble. He hid a stash of money on the balcony of the mansion that only I know about. He would have never let the misses know. Only he was allowed up there and sometimes me to sweep the leaves away. Tonight when Lily is ready, I will go up to that roof and take the stash. He's passed on now, so it'll be no one to notice. He could have given us our full freedom when he died, but instead, we belong to Mrs. Peters. She's a kind woman, but I can't allow my daughter to live this way anymore. We'll get away under the cloak of darkness that is the night and will head to Canada. My brother lives there and is entirely free. He even owns his own house. We'll go live with him until we make a way to be on our own.

"Wait, that's where it ends? There's no more?" Dominic said, frantically flipping through the pages. Kiley sat in silence and looked down at the floor.

"What happened? Did they take the money? Did they make it to Canada?" he added.

"Remember the letter that Cornelia supposedly wrote that's hanging up in the mansion?" Kiley asked. "It said she passed in 1830. She wrote this entry in 1830."

"What if someone, Mrs. Peters or a groundskeeper, found this and ...." Dominic's voice trailed off.

"It's only one way to find out. Put the journal in our backpack. We're going up to the roof," Kiley instructed.

The two of them marched back up to the house and slipped through the doors. Sally wasn't back from her office yet, and they still had ten minutes to check the balcony. There wasn't anyone around inside anymore. It looked like the majority of the guests were mingling on the terrace where the weddings were hosted.

"I saw the entrance to the balcony on our tour," Dominic whispered. "Let's go."

The couple hurried up the stairs up to the entrance of the roof. DO NOT ENTER was plastered in red on the door. Kiley pushed the door open, and the couple ducked to ensure the people outside wouldn't see them. They looked around for a few minutes until Dominic noticed a way to lift the box holding the American flag.

"There's a bag tucked under here," Dominic said while reaching for it. He grabbed the bag quickly as Kiley lifted the flag and stuffed it in their backpack. "Let's go," Kiley said in a whisper.

The couple rushed to their car and got in. "How much is in it?" Kiley asked. Dominic silently counted for a few minutes and then said "20,000". "I guess Cornelia and Lily didn't make it to Canada after all," he added. "Then we'll donate this to a social justice organization tomorrow morning for them," Kiley responded.