The phrase "slave catchers" refers to people who were hired or appointed to capture and return enslaved individuals who had escaped from their owners. Full definition
With a notoriously relentless slave catcher following close behind, Cora endures another terrifying underground journey, arriving in North Carolina, where the corpses of tortured black people hang on the trees along a road whites call the Freedom Trail. (booklistonline.com)
Nicolas Argenti traces the chilling flight of people in the Northwest Province in 1997 to the flight of their ancestors during slave raids; he writes, «The violence of the paramilitary forces was so acute on this occasion that the population of Oku was forced to flee into the surrounding forest, retracing the steps of their ancestors, who had escaped into the mountains to seek refuge from raiding Chamba slave catchers.» (blog.politics.ox.ac.uk)
Eliza is alone; her brother Ben is missing; and her mother, Leah, was taken along the way by slave catchers. (educationworld.com)