Among the slaves of Bosil and Barbary Trail, of Mont­gomery County, Maryland, on May 23, 1784, was born a colored boy whom they called William. For some unknown reason when the boy was still a little fellow his mistress formed a dislike for him. She would often beat him so unmercifully that little William would hide himself in the field and forests until he was almost starved to death. Many times his master would miss the boy, and, knowing about Mrs. Trail's bitter hatred of the lad, would go in search of his lost property and bring him back. When William was twelve years old his master moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Shortly after the arrival of the Trails in South Carolina, they sold William to a farmer by the name of Blakely, of Lawrence County. Blakely had a son named William, and in order to avoid confusion, he decided that the slave should be called Will. To this attempt to nick-name him William Trail objected vigorously. But the master would have his way, and Will bowed to the inevitable and soon worked his way into the good graces of his new owner. He became practically manager and overseer of the farm, and his master was soon on the way to prosperity. Will realized that the success of the farm and the prosperity of his master were due to his labors and managerial ability; at the same time he was keenly aware of the inadequacy of his food and scanty clothing which the master reluctantly provided. Hence he entered into an agreement with his master whereby he was to work five days a week for his owner, while the time on Saturdays and Sundays was to be his own.

Under this new arrangement Will worked hard and saved his pennies which he earned.   He would even work late at night at odd jobs; and was soon in possession of the "fabulous" sum of forty or fifty dollars. For thirty dollars he purchased a colt from one of his master's sons, and raised it on hay which he pulled in the fields and meadows. When he went out, instead of being on foot, as other colored persons were, he rode on a fine horse. His status now was unusual for a slave; and soon he was an object of suspicion, jealousy, and envy. The suspicion of his master was not without foundation, for Will, having tasted the sweets of liberty, was no longer contented as a slave, but had resolved that some day he would be a free man.

The migration from the South to the Indiana Territory was at flood tide; and from some of the returned migrants to the West, Will learned much about that far off land which fired his imagination and increased his desire for freedom. He began to ask himself the burning questions: "Am I not a man?" "Why should I work five days for another man and but one for myself?" "Did not God make all men? Then why should one man belong to another?" "Ha, it is the law that gave one man the right to own another," said he. "Well, who made such a law? It was man. I had no part in making such a law and God does not require me to obey it."

This was long before the underground railroad system was in full operation to aid runaway slaves. Will began saving his money and planning means of his escape. One of his master's sons did not like the way his father treated Will, and became his trusted and bosom friend. In 1814 his young master and friend gave him a pass as a free Negro. Will mounted his horse and started for the Indiana Territory. He found on the road white men who were going to the same place; and, believing him to be a free Negro, they did not molest him. All went well until he separated from the white men who went in another direction. "When the fugitive reached Lexington, Kentucky, he was suspected as being a runaway slave, and was arrested. The justice of the peace before whom he was arraigned was an orthodox member of the Baptist Church; and when he found that the culprit was of the same faith as himself he openly declared in the presence of the court that he would have nothing to do with him. Will, much to his delight, was released and continued his journey toward the North, firmly convinced that his good fortune had been due to the fact that he was a member of the Baptist Church.

Finally he arrived in the Indiana Territory, and settled down among old acquaintances from South Carolina, at Brookville. This was Will's mistake, for soon word was sent back to South Carolina informing his master of the whereabouts of his runaway slave. James Blakely, his master, came with an agent to Brookville, kidnapped Trail, and started him off for the South and slavery again; but Will managed to free himself before the party was out of Indiana. Foiled in his purpose, Blakely was not to be outdone; so before he left he took the horse and all of Trail's clothes. But Trail gave his master to understand that he would not serve him another day under any kind of circumstances. He made arrangements through an agent whereby he was to purchase his freedom from his master at a cost of three hundred dollars. By hard work and the strictest economy Trail saved his money, and soon paid the three hundred dollars. The agent, however, was aware of the fact that according to the laws of the Territory, Blakely could free his slave, but had no right to sell him. Taking advantage of this technicality in the law, and the ignorance of Trail, the agent failed to send the money to Blakely, but pocketed it for his own use. Angry because he had been cheated in a bargain, again the South Carolinian came to Indiana with a kidnapping party, had Trail arrested and arraigned in court. The runaway slave by this time had made so many friends in Indiana that no man could be induced or even paid to take the stand against him. Hence, Trail was discharged, and the case dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence to prove that he was a former slave.  Thus he had overcome slavery, and years thereafter he assisted others through the underground railroad in doing likewise.

While working to get money with which to purchase his liberty, William Trail cleared away the timber off the first lot in the town of Brownville in Union County. In 1821 Archibald and Mary McCowan moved from Virginia to Rush County, Indiana. William Trail formed the acquaintance and a lasting friendship with this family, and in 1825 he married a daughter of McCowan.  To this union were born seven sons: Archibald, James, William, Jr., Joseph, Barzillai, Daniel and Benjamin. When the Civil War started in 1861, four of these boys answered the call of their country and fought for the preservation of the Union. Three of them never returned; James died in a hospital at Corpus Christi; Benjamin and David were taken prisoners by the enemy and died in a Confederate prison camp.

In 1832 William Trail and his father-in-law purchased a half section of land in Henry County, Indiana, at one dollar and twenty five cents an acre. This vast tract of land was divided between them, each receiving one hundred and sixty acres. About two hundred acres of this land is still in the possession of the grandchildren of these Negro pioneers of the Hoosier State, and is rented out on shares to white farmers in Henry County, Indiana, near the village of Shirley. Before Trail purchased the large tract of land in Henry County, he owned a twenty five acre farm near Cornersville. He was a thrifty and prosperous farmer, and this made the poor whites of the community jealous. In order to ruin him, a political maneuver carried through a proposal to build a new road from Anderson to Knightstown, which would cut his farm in twain. When the surveyor persisted in going ahead with the work over Trail's protest, the latter brought suit against the intruder and won his case. The culprit became bankrupt before he had finished paying the amount of damage done the defendant.

Race prejudice and discrimination kept the Trail children from attending the public schools in the county where they were born, but William Trail knew the value of education, and nothing deterred his efforts at educating his children. He sent his eldest boy to Michigan, where he obtained a liberal education. He returned to Henry County and opened a school for the younger members of the Trail household and for other children of color in the community. When the State Constitution was being revised, and the question of school laws was pending, the whites of the community who opposed public education, would often refer to the Trail children as the best educated in the county, and yet had not cost the state a cent.

In 1845 the Society of Friends in Indiana founded the Union Literary Institute, in Randolph County, for education of Negroes who were not admitted to the white schools of the state.  The grand children of William Trail were educated at this institution.

Trail must have passed on to his posterity something of his liberty loving spirit and a keen appreciation of the value of education. All of his grandchildren are well educated, and a number of them are in the teaching profession. Prof. Arthur C. Holland, at the West Virginia State College, William Holland, vice principal of Jack Yates High School, Houston, Texas, and Miss Lois Holland, on the faculty of Crispus Attucks High School, in Indianapolis, are great grandchildren of this pioneer. Trail died in 1858 at the ripe old age of seventy five, and was laid to rest on his own farm in Henry County. The story of his life should be a source of inspiration to the young Negro of this present generation.