Virginia Pryor/Mercer Gray’s Family and Associates

Ginnie (Virginia) Mercer: Born into slavery but escapes to become a free woman
Jackson Pryor: Southern slave owner and U. S. Ambassador to Nicaragua
Joellen (“the Bat”) Pryor: Jackson’s wife
Lily: Ginnie’s mother, deceased
Virgil: Ginnie’s father, separated from the family, fate unknown
Willie (“the Cooper”): Ginnie’s lover, father of her oldest child
Etta: Ginnie’s oldest child
Mattie: Ginnie’s older son, fathered by Jackson Pryor
Bennie: Ginnie’s younger son, fathered by Jackson and left behind with Joellen
Suzy: Older slave who cares for Ginnie after her mother’s death

The Quick Family and Associates

Manny (Emmanuel) Quick: Father, landlord of many properties
Della: Manny’s wife, caterer
Rachel/Shelley (Shed Kitchen Woman): Manny’s woman on the side
Aunt Bea: Manny’s younger sister, who drinks away her troubles
Sharkey (Jeremiah): Manny’s brother, stable owner who works with the Underground Railroad
The Tobies: Twins employed by Sharkey
Zilpha: Manny’s older sister, widowed
Roland: Elder son of Manny and Della, now deceased
Harriet Leigh Quick Wilson: Twin daughter of Manny and Della, teacher and abolitionist
Tyree: Twin son of Manny and Della, works with the Underground Railroad, married to his brother’s widow
Blanche: Tyree’s wife, freelance fur seamstress
Abby Ann: Blanche’s childhood friend and blackmailer, lodger at the Quicks’ home
Reverend Ephraim Johns: Episcopal priest, courting Abby Ann
Africana: Daughter of Roland and Blanche
Cyrus: Son of Tyree and Blanche
Gabriel: Father of Manny, Bea, Jeremiah, and Zilpha, husband of Rebecca, seaman, now deceased

Abolitionists and Supporters

Nig-Nag (Wilfred): Ginnie’s first rescuer, lives in alley, suffers from Tourette Syndrome
Jack and Bo-Bo: Gay couple who look after Nig-Nag
George: Nig-Nag’s friend and co-worker, Haitian
William Still: Co-Chairman of Vigilance Committee, born free
Passmore Williamson: Co-Chairman of Vigilance Committee, Caucasian
Glover Trueheart, Robbins Boyd, Zachary Samuel Holloman, Jordan Jones, and S. Whitaker Ince: Five porters who aid Ginnie in her escape from slavery
Mrs. Eugenia Pitts: Mercer’s escort to New York
Mr. Henry: Lawyer for Passmore Williamson
Mr. and Mrs. Brooks: Owners of New York City boarding house where Mercer stays
William Wells Brown: Well-known speaker, ex-slave
Prudence Randall: Woman who encourages Mercer to go on speaker’s circuit
Gertrude Wren: Elderly female Vigilance Committee member
Eliza Ruffin: President of Ladies Anti-Slavery Society, Cousin of Passmore Williamson
Sarah Stern, Mary Sterling, and Prudence Foley: Abolitionists who protect Mercer at William Still’s trial
Wayland Silver: African American speaker whose talks encourage black emigration to Africa