by  Harvey Granite

Sue Hengelsberg, Director

Patricia Meek, Producer
 

         The Woman in the Box, a two-act play by Harvey Granite, is based on an historical event in Warsaw, New York, in about 1850, as told by Andrew Young in his History of Warsaw, 1869. Copyright, December 31, 2002.

 "This project is made possible with funds from the Decentraliztion Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Arts Council for Wyoming County."

This is a true story. It is also a mystery story -- not the kind of mystery in which a crime is committed for which we, the audience, must find the perpetrators. The crime was a conspiracy whose perpetrators  must have been known to many people in Warsaw, who ignored it or whispered about it in private moments. The conspiracy was the transporting and sheltering of fugitive slaves contrary to federal law, a deliberate act of defiance against a law enacted by the United States government to support and maintain the institution of slavery. Several people in Warsaw, including town leaders, were a part of this conspiracy and refused to obey the law, the Fugitive Slave Law. Instead they risked prison and heavy fines to help runaway slaves go on to Canada. Probably there were many incidents that took place in Warsaw in the 1840's and 50's, in which slaves were sheltered for a few hours or perhaps a few days before going on to Buffalo or Rochester and freedom in Canada. In this case, however, the runaways were children . Their fugitive mother died shortly after giving birth. The mystery to be solved asks how an entire town apparently joined together to keep this crime a secret.

 Andrew Young, historian of Warsaw and a near-neighbor of the Allen Breck family in Warsaw, states that the escape on which this play is based took place in 1851. He is contradicted, however, by the U. S. Census of 1850, which places two African-American children, seven year-old Eliza and two-month old Charles William, in the village of Warsaw with the Darling family. Their mother, Mary Douglas, or Mary Jones as she was then called, was listed as living next door with the Barnetts, another Warsaw family, when the census was taken on August 17, 1850. Possibly to conceal her true identity, she called herself Anna during that brief period and was so noted by the census-takers. Within two months, however, Mary Jones was dead, the victim of what was then called "rapid consumption," a severe form of tuberculosis. Her children remained with Warsaw families for many years to come.

In 1849-50 the twelfth President of the United States was Zachary Taylor of Kentucky, born in Virginia, owner of nearly one hundred slaves. A leading commander of American armies in the Mexican-American War, 1846-48, Taylor was instrumental in expanding U.S. territory, especially in the southern part of the country. Yet in spite of his position as a slave-holder, Taylor had been standing firm on the Whig position that slavery should not be forced on new states such as California and New Mexico. For reasons which he never explained, Zachary Taylor opposed measures favored by radical Southern planters and their Northern allies to preserve and extend the institution of slavery. It was already illegal for citizens anywhere in the United States to help slaves fleeing from bondage into free states, but the slaveholders wanted stronger laws to punish free citizens who who sheltered fugitive slaves. Several of the leading citizens of Warsaw were willing to risk fines and imprisonment to help fugitives escape to Canada. In the mystery that we are seeking to solve, however, the slaves remained in Warsaw. Why did an entire community, even its lawmen and peace-keepers, apparently unite in breaking the law.

Taylor was to die suddenly in July of 1850, making Vice-President Millard Fillmore of New York, the President of the United States. The Fugitive Slave Law, still in debate in Congress when Taylor died, was signed by President Millard Fillmore on September 19, 1850, making it more dangerous for any fugitive slave to remain in New York State than under previous laws. They had to flee to Canada or risk being returned to their masters or even sold again in the slave markets of the South.

 The events in the play are supported by facts revealed in the U. S. Census records of 1850 and 1860 that the fugitives came to Warsaw in September of 1849. They stopped first at the home of Isaac Phelps on the West Hill and an hour or so later at the home of Allen Breck in Warsaw Village.)
 
 

C A S T

Cast of Characters in order of their appearance. Ages are assigned at the time of their first entrance

Mary Douglas: Afterwards known as Mary Jones and Anna Jones. Escaped from slavery in Washington, D. C. . . . . . . . Jaqueline Hoyt

Isaac Phelps: Farmer and businessman age 40. Lives on the West Hill. Active in town and county government in Warsaw . . . .David Almeter

Cyrus Osborne: Age mid-forties. Greengrocer from Washington, D. C., who brings two female fugitive slaves to Warsaw in defiance of federal laws. . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Kinney

Allen Breck: Merchant, age 42. Lives on Buffalo Street and conducts business in the Warsaw Village . . . . Norman Argulsky

Colonel Charles O. Shepard, 45. Underground Railroad Conductor." Lives in Arcade but is often in Warsaw on business . . . . Jim Kaney

Eliza Jones: Fugitive slave, age seven. The daughter of Mary Jones, who escaped with her from slavery in Washington, D. C.

at ages 7, 8, 14 - Tia Schmieder at ages 18 and 26 Mary Schmieder

Isabella Breck: Wife of Allen Breck, age 41 . . . . Mary Ann Reisdorf

Anelen Breck: Eldest Breck daughter, age 17 . . . ..Crista Grove

Isabella Breck II: Second Breck daughter, age 15 . Kaitlin Bodine

David C. Martin: Neighbor of the Brecks, age 31 . Stanley Janczak

Emaline Martin: Sister of David Martin, age 30 . . .Jane Schmieder

A Bounty-Hunter, nameless, age 35 . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jack Kaney

Joshua Darling, former business partner of Allen Breck, later the founder of the Wyoming County Bank, age 42 . . Paul Gussman

Mrs. Laura Barnett, friend of the Breck's, neighbor to the Darlings, 50 .. . . Dawn Greene

Dr. Augustus Frank, physician, businessman, town patriarch, and leading organizer of Warsaw's anti-slavery movement, 58 . . . . Charles Smith

Elizabeth Breck, a younger daughter of Allen Breck, 9 . Nicole Pavone

Edward Breck, son of Allen & Isabella Breck, age 7 . . . . . Adrian Ross

Mrs. Laura Darling, wife of Joshua Darling (about 30) . Susan Acker

Mrs. Elizabeth Smallwood, wife of Michael Smallwood, helped deliver Mary's baby, Charles William (about 40) . . . . Margaret Gardner

Charles William Martin, adopted son of the Martins

at age 6, David Schmieder . . . . . .. . . . . at age 16, Omar Simmons

Ferdinand C. D. McKay, long-time Warsaw Abolitionist, appointed District Attorney in 1856, and elected in 1858, age 45 . Kevin Kinney

Rev. Edwin Williams, minister of the Warsaw Congregational Church, age 49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hugh Ten Hagen

Seth M. Gates, businessman and former partner of Allen Breck, former anti-slavery Congressman (1838-43), postmaster of Warsaw, age 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. James Edwards

Augustus Frank, junior, son of Dr. Augustus Frank, businessman, first Republican Congressman representing this area (1858-65), introduced the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery, age 40 . . . . . .Charles Smith

William Burghardt, bridegroom of Eliza Jones, a barber who came to Warsaw in the 1850's, age about 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Martin