tell me the story of jim and winnie shankel. >> jim and winnie shankel were enslaved in mississippi, as sold to a texan and so jim really missed her, and you know, wanted to know where she was. he kind of asked around, found out about where she was. and so he ran away. >> reporter: now a runaway slave, jim was risking his life, dodging police, slave patrols, and professional slave catchers to find winnie. he somehow managed to make it 400 miles on foot across the mississippi river and found his beloved winnie. >> there was a spring a few yards from here, and she was out gathering water, washing clothes. and she heard a call. she was like, that sounds like jim's call. and sure enough, it was jim. >> reporter: jim arranged to be purchased by winnie's owner so that he could stay with her. they eventually had six children of their own. so it's love story? >> yes. >> over 400 miles to find the woman he loved. >> exactly. right, exactly. >> reporter: they were freed from slavery in 1865 as the civil war winded down. with money jim saved up from several post-emancipation jobs along with the