Historic Vienna's Annual Spring Meeting

Uncovering Hidden Histories: Finding Escaped Enslaved Sarah Ann Brown

Featuring Annabelle Spencer, a M.A. student in History and Graduate Research Assistant for the Center for Mason Legacies, George Mason University

Sarah Ann's never-been-told story, discovered by Annabelle Spencer, uncovers fascinating history about the underground railroad, abolitionist activities both local and throughout the northeast, the Follin plantation (present site of Our Lady of Good Counsel and surrounding area), their families and their extended relatives.

• Who was she? • How did she escape? • Where could she have gone? • What happened to her children?

Learn about the unsolved mystery of Sarah Ann, an enslaved woman owned by the Follin family who on January 30, 1850, when 23 years-old and pregnant, escaped with her 7-year old daughter.

Pertinent information from historical documents such as wills, property inventories, real estate and census records, legal documents, deeds and contracts, and generational family legacies all add to this newly-uncovered, fascinating story of one missing person right here in Vienna.