Clemons Van Forer's Freedom

<p>The story is about an enslaved man named Clemons Van Forer. Joshua the author wrote this story to give to his mother on Juneteenth. His grandmother read the story and felt it was worthy of publication.</p><p><br></p><p>The main character Clemons had heard stories of a man named Tice Davids escaping to freedom from his owner. His owner said that Tice must have escaped through an underground railroad. Clemons dreamed of one day being able to escape with his family. But until that day he found freedom through the love he and his family had for one another.</p><p><br></p><p> The author Joshua Augustus Clemons is eight years old who has been inspired by his parents and grandparents. The glossary of his book reads: Juneteenth is June 19th. Although slavery had ended it marked the end of slavery for enslaved people in Texas. On June 19 1865 Galveston Texas received word that slavery had ended when Abraham Lincoln signed Proclamation of Emancipation freeing enslaved people on September 22 1862. President Joe Biden signed it as a national holiday on June 17 2021. The Underground Railroad was not a train railroad. The Underground Railroad was homes churches and businesses called stations. The people in these stations provided food and a place to hide for runaway enslaved people seeking freedom.</p><p><br></p><p>People who helped enslaved people moved from one station to another were called conductors. Tice Davids was an enslaved person from Kentucky. In 1831 he escaped from his owner crossing the Ohio River. His owner chased him in a rowboat but Tice got to shore before his owner. When his owner got to shore he could not find Tice. When the owner returned home he told people that Tice Davids must have escaped by an underground railroad. It is believed by some people this is how the Underground Railroad got its name.</p><p><br></p>