## Charleston and the Custom House
From Savannah they took a steamer to Charleston, South Carolina. This was a longer passage — roughly two days by the route they took. William spent part of the voyage near the ship’s funnel rather than in the passenger areas. The captain, apparently charmed by what he took to be a polite and attentive enslaved servant, reportedly praised William as “a very attentive boy” and counseled “Mr. Johnson” against the dangers of abolitionist influence in the North.
This was the particular quality of their journey: surrounded at almost every moment by people confidently, helpfully offering the framework of the system back at them, treating the disguise as confirmation of everything they expected to see.
In Charleston the crisis was bureaucratic. At the custom house, a clerk demanded that the name of “William Johnson” and the name of his slave be registered before they could continue. This was exactly the kind of signature requirement the sling was designed to address. Ellen explained, in the invalid persona, that her arm prevented her from writing. The clerk was not satisfied.
The situation was resolved by the captain of the steamer they had arrived on, who stepped in and vouched for the “planter” and his slave, signing the register on their behalf. How much the captain understood, and whether his action was deliberate assistance or simply the casual presumption of a white man signing for a white man he had no reason to question, is not recorded. For the Crafts, it didn’t matter. The gate opened.