The Pearl Escape

Two sisters, a schooner in the dark and one hundred and forty miles of river.

Collection: Washington: More Stories · USA · Open in OpenStreetMap

City notice to the citizens of Washington, April 1848 · District of Columbia government 1848, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons

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How the story begins

Emily Edmonson was thirteen, and her sister Mary was fifteen or sixteen, on the night they walked down to a wharf at the foot of Seventh Street and got aboard a schooner without a sound. Four of their brothers came too. It was April 15, 1848. The boat, the Pearl, was sixty-five feet long and meant to carry seven. Seventy-seven came. Their brother Samuel was one of the organizers.

The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.