On Friday Garrison and Douglass took a steamer down the Ohio River. They stopped off at New Brighton, a village of about eight hundred people. They spoke in a barn, where, from barrels of flour piled on the beams over their heads, specks sifted down, whitening their clothes. They left aboard a canal boat, in the company of a young Negro named Peck, a future graduate of Rush Medical College at Chicago.
The next stop was Youngstown, where they were the guests of a jovial tavern keeper. He always took in Abolitionist lecturers free of charge. There they spoke three times in a huge grove. By evening Douglass was without voice. His throat was throbbing and he could not speak above a whisper. Garrison carried on. New Lyme, Painesville, Munson, Twinsburg—every town and hamlet on the way—in churches, halls, barns, tents, in groves and on hillsides. Oberlin, which come next, was a milestone for them both.
“You know that from the commencement of the Institution in Oberlin,” Garrison wrote his wife, “I took a lively interest in its welfare, particularly on account of its springing up in a wilderness, only thirteen years since, through the indomitable and sublime spirit of freedom by which the seceding students of Lane Seminary were actuated....
“Oberlin has done much for the relief of the flying fugitives from the Southern prison-house, multitudes of whom have found it a refuge from their pursuers, and been fed, clad, sheltered, comforted, and kindly assisted on their way out of this horrible land to Canada. It has also promoted the cause of emancipation in various ways, and its church refuses to be connected with any slaveholding or pro-slavery church by religious fellowship....
“I think our visit was an important one.... Douglass and I have been hospitably entertained by Hamilton Hill, the Treasurer of the Institution, an English gentleman, who formerly resided in London, and is well acquainted with George Thompson and other antislavery friends.... Among others who called was Miss Lucy Stone, who has just graduated, and who yesterday left for her home in Brookfield, Massachusetts.... She is a very superior young woman, and has a soul as free as air, and is preparing to go forth as a lecturer, particularly in vindication of the rights of woman.... But I must throw down my pen, as the carriage is at the door to take us to Richfield, where we are to have a large meeting today under the Oberlin tent, which is capable of holding four thousand persons.”[10]
It was Garrison who finally broke down.
Their first meeting in Cleveland was held in Advent Chapel. Hundreds were turned away, and in the afternoon they moved out into a grove in order to accommodate the crowd. It sprinkled occasionally during the meeting, but no one seemed to mind. The next morning, however, Garrison opened his eyes in pain. He closed them again and tried to move. He sat up, dizzy and swaying. Douglass, seeing his face, rushed to his side.
The doctor ordered him to stay in bed for a few days. They were scheduled to leave for Buffalo within the hour, and once more Garrison urged Douglass to go on ahead.
“I’ll be along,” he said weakly.
Garrison did not join him at Buffalo. Douglass held the meetings alone and it was the same at Waterloo and West Winfield. By the time he reached Syracuse on September 24, Douglass had begun to worry. There, however, he found word. Garrison had been very ill. He was now recovering and would soon be in Buffalo. Somewhat relieved, Douglass went on to Rochester, where he held large and enthusiastic meetings.