Henry "Box" Brown paid a dear price for his nickname.

Born a slave on a Richmond, Virginia plantation, Henry began plotting his escape when his wife and three young children, having been sold to another slave owner, were carried away in chains.

After pondering on it, he had a carpenter build his escape vessel: a wood crate three feet, one inch wide by two feet, six inches high.

At five feet, six inches tall, Henry would have to cramp into the fetal position for the twenty-some hours it would take for the crate to reach the North via railcar.

He lowered himself inside and...