On April 15, 1848, the schooner "Pearl" docked at a Washington wharf. The Edmonson sisters and four of their brothers joined a large group of enslaved people (a total of 77) in an attempt to escape on the "Pearl" to freedom in New Jersey. The escape had been planned by two white abolitionists, William L. Chaplin and Gerrit Smith, and two free black men in Washington, including Paul Jennings. Starting as a modest attempt of escape for seven slaves, the effort had been widely communicated and organized within the communities of free black people and enslaved people, changing it to a major and unified effort, without the knowledge of the white organizers or crew. In 1848 free black people outnumbered enslaved people in the District of Columbia by three to one; the community demonstrated it could act in a unified way. Seventy-seven slaves boarded the "Pearl", which was to sail down the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay to the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, from where they would travel up the Delaware River to freedom in New Jersey, a total of 225 miles. At the time, Emily was 13 years old and Mary was 15 or 16.