This is an IHeart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

Here again to tell another great story is the Jack Miller Center's editorial officer

and historian, Elliot Trago. The Jack Miller Center is a trusted partner of our American

stories and they're a nationwide network of scholars and teachers dedicated to educating

the next generation about America's founding principles and history.

Take it away, Elliot.

In the heart of Philadelphia, our runaway mother desperately held her infant son close

as she matched wits with a ruthless slave catcher.

The mother, born Betsy Galloway, escaped from her enslavement

in Maryland in 1845 with the help of a free man named William Thompson. Galloway soon married

Thompson, changed her name to Catherine Thompson, and eventually settled in Burlington County, New Jersey,

where she gave birth to a son, Joel, in 1847. The Thompson family lived in relative safety in New Jersey, where she gave birth to a son, Joel, in 1847.

The Thompson family lived in relative safety in New Jersey.

Though the thought of her prior enslavement must have haunted her, for black Americans

across the north often fell prey to determined enslavers, ruthless kidnappers, and unflinching

slave catchers.

Catherine Thompson was far from safe.

Two years later, a black man named James Frisbee Price appeared at the Thompson's doorstep,

claiming that he was a lost hunter.

Taking pity on the man, the Thompsons welcomed him into their home and made fast friends with Price.

A few weeks later, Catherine Thompson received an invitation from Price to visit him and his wife

...