Goliath’s Daughter: The 6’8” Enslaved Woman Who Crushed Her Master’s Skull and Vanished

Legendary Tale of Strength, Resistance, and Escape

In the early hours of August 14, 1827, the stillness of a Charleston rice plantation was shattered by a discovery so brutal that even the most hardened slaveholders stood in disbelief. Plantation owner Josiah Crane, 42, was found lifeless at his mahogany desk, his skull crushed with terrifying force.

The coroner’s report, preserved in Charleston County archives, described the wound as “consistent with compression by hands of extraordinary size and strength.” Bone fragments were found embedded six feet away — a chilling detail that hinted at unimaginable power behind the act.

The prime suspect was not a man but a woman: Sarah Drummond, an enslaved giant known to locals as “Goliath’s Daughter.” Towering at 6 feet 8 inches and weighing over 240 pounds, Sarah was known for her immense strength — often forced to perform the most grueling tasks on the plantation.

Witnesses claimed Sarah had been brutally punished days before the killing, a common cruelty inflicted on enslaved people at the time. On the morning of Crane’s death, she disappeared into the nearby swamps without a trace, sparking one of the largest manhunts in the region’s history.

Rumors spread rapidly — some claimed she joined a secret network of runaways, others believed she died in the marshlands. Her legend grew over generations, becoming both a symbol of terror to some and quiet resistance to others.

Though the official investigation eventually went cold, the story of Sarah Drummond remains preserved in whispers, documents, and folklore — a haunting reminder of the brutality of slavery and the power of a single act of defiance.