 He thinks about every possible kind of loose thread that he needs to tie up to give himself a seamless cover. What was life like in New Bedford for him? What was going on at the time? New Bedford was widely known by 1839 as a safe haven for fugitive slaves. By one estimate, as many as 800 to 900 fugitive slaves made their homes in New Bedford in the first half of the 19th century. When John Jacobs arrived, he probably actually knew...