A guide to freedom

The son of a Virginia slaveholding family, Fairfield was involved in many dangerous ploys to help runaways. Levi Coffin wrote of the time Fairfield helped 28 Kentucky slaves cross the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, IN. They had paid him a small amount of money for his help.

He pretended to be in the area to buy supplies, but all the while he was devising a plan for the escape. He guided them to the River, near a wood yard where several boats were waiting. They boarded three boats and made their way slowly across the river. There were so many people, however, that the boats started taking on water. Fairfield jumped from his boat while it was near the Ohio shore and tried to drag it. The blacks had to pull him out. All of the runaways had to wade through the water to reach the shore. They landed very wet and some without their shoes. Moving quickly toward Cincinnati, they were fighting against the oncoming daylight.

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