 In response to increasing numbers of runaway slaves, a coalition of slave owners in the north central counties and the Bluegrass region of Kentucky organized to recover the runaways.In January of 1846, Francis Giltner's son David Giltner and three others went to Marshall to capture the Crosswhite family.On the morning of January 26, 1847, the slave catchers and a local deputy sheriff were pounding on Adam's door.