Sketches in the history of the underground railroad, comprising many thrilling incidents of the escape of fugitives from slavery, and the perils of those who aided them

Front matter

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Chapter I

The Slave Coffle at Wheeling, Va.— The Kind Hearted Landlord— The Good Samaritan — The Hunters Misled — The Escape 17

CHAPTER n.

Dan's Trip from Dmikirk— Sees his Master in the Car — R. R. Conductor's Advice — Friends in Need— Safe arrival in Canada. 24

CHAPTER m.

Tom Stowe— His Value to his Master— His Boy Sold and his Wife Dies- He Finds his Boy — His Escape to Pittsburg, and thence to Canada. 27

CHAPTER IV.

Origin of the U. G. ,R. R. — Jo Norton --- -- 34

CHAPTER V.

Jo Norton, continued— Making their way from Washington to Albany- Jo goes to School— Lectures to buy his Wife and Child— Succeeds— The Happy Meeting 'H

VI CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.

Jo Norton, continued — His Quickness at Repartee — Lectures in Villenova— Settles in Syracuse— Enforcing the Fugitive Slave Law — The "Shadrach" Case in Boston — Effect on Syracuse and the Empii-e State. - - - 4t>

CHAPTER VIL

The " Jerry Rescue " — Jo Norton Heads the Party that Rescues Jeny — Exciting Times in Syracuse — Tiie Fugitive Slave Law in Contempt — Jo goes to Canada 5u

CHAPTER VIII.

G-eorge and Clara — They i-each Oberlin— Hotly Pursued — Take Passage with Capt. Titus — Recognized by th^ii' Owner — Capt. Titus' Experience — An Incident of the Burning of the Erie — Escape of the Fugitives - - 60

CHAPTER IX.

An Old-fashioned Democrat — The U. G. R. R. Business a means of PoUtical Conversion (J3

CHAPTER X.

Two Democratic neighbors vote for James K. Polk and have a visit the evening after election — They become U. G. R. R. agents — The escape of Robert _ _ oy

CHAPTER XI.

True Dfemocrats versus Copperheads — The escape of Static and Lila— From Washington, D. C, to Warsaw, N. Y., in a box — Pursuers foiled - 74

CHAPTER XII.

Margaret— Born on a slave ship^Childhood in a kind family— Another master, wicked, cruel, and a coward— Her husband sold and she escapes— Hunted with blood-hounds and rescued by a mastiff — Arrives in New York — Her son, Samuel R. Ward yo

COXTENTS. Vn

CHAPTER XIII.

The Escape of Jim and his Companions — Night Meetings among the Slaves — An Angry Southerner in Fredonia Sit

CHAPTER XIV.

Blacksmith Hemy — Works his way from New Orleans to Baltimore — Writes his own Pass and gets on to Springville, N. Y. — Falls into Good Hands and gets Safely Through— Some Account of his Early Life — A Christian Lady in Kentucky — A Preacher in a Tight Place . St7

CHAPTER XV.

Joe and Rosa— Sold — The Escape — They reach the Southern Terminus of the U. G. R. R. — Danger Signals — The Quaker Friend — The Master on the track — Outwitted by the Quaker — Safe in Wilberforce Colony. . . lOH

CHAPTER XVI.

Cassey Escapes from Baltimore — Returns for her Child — Escapes again in Sailor Costume — Eludes the Slave Catcher, Cathcart— Goes to Canada— Returns to Niagara Falls, N. Y. — The Slave Catcher finds her — A Long Ride and how it came out — An Intelligent Irishman— What Margaret did for him li;i

CHAPTER XVII.

Tom Hawkins — Negroes and Poor Whites in Kentucky — Tom runs his own train — Sells his shirt to pay his fare at the Ferry — Is born into God's free air almost as naked as he was born into Slavery— His Modesty, Industry, Intelligence and Pi'osperity 122

CHAPTER XVIIL

William and Margaret— Seventy Years Old and Determined to be Free — Half Brother to a U. S, Senator — Argument in a R. R. car. 13('i

CHAPTER XIX.

An old time Missionary at the South — Speaks his Mind but Loses his Shirts — The Slaveholder's Penitent Letter lo"!

Viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XX.

Rev. J. W. Loguen— His Trial and Release— Lectures in Chautauqua County — Unexpected Con'oboration 148

CHAPTER XXI.

The Southern U. G. R. R.— It's use during the war— A Union Prisoner's Experience Escaping from Andersonville 14'^

CHAPTER XXII.

Frightened Moses— Expecting to be Killed and Eaten by Abolitionists... 154

CHAPTER XXIII.

Oneda Lackow's Flight from Alabama — Capture and Escape — The Faithful Dog— The Kind-hearted Jailer's Wife— Graduates from a Semmary and goes to England l^''

INTRODUCTORY.

Slavery in the United States after tlie Fugitive Slave law was enacted, assumed its most hideous aspect. Wlien in colonial times it pervaded more or less all the colonies, it was not regarded as a special source of profit, and the value was but little more than nominal. After the adoption of the Constitution, State after State provided for its abolition till it was finally limited to the States south of ilason & Dixon's line and the Ohio river. The invention of the cotton gin and the profitableness of the culture of cane and cotton enhanced the value of slave prox^erty, and so far increased the demand for this kind of labor that the raising of slaves for the Southern market became a large source of income to the northern Slave States. In process of time they were held as mere chattels, without legal rights, and could not make bargains, marriage contracts, or perform any act whatever in which the law granted them any protection. In the eye of the law they were as much property as horses and cattle. This legal ownei'ship enabled the masters to supply the slave auctions with human chattels, and caused great anguish to the poor wretches who were subject to sale and separation of kindi-ed with no legal redress against any cruelty which might be inflicted. In the District of Columbia was a large slave mart, but it was so repugnant to Northern sentiments that finally the traffic was abolished there, but wa-s continued at Alexandria, which was receded to Vrrginia.

At an early date the moral sense of many of the people of the North was aroused to the enormity of the crime of slaveiy and measures were taken foiits abolition. The fir.st slaves brought to this country were sold from a Dutch vessel at Jamestown, Va., in 1619. There were twenty of them. From that time up to 1776 three hundred thousand were imported. In the Continental Congress it was resolved that no more slaves should be brought to this country, but on the adoption of the Constitution, Congress was prohibited from abolishing the slave trade till 1808. In the meantime Anti-Slavery Societies were formed in several States, and Benj. Franklin was Pi-esident of such an organization. The Quakers persistently i^rotested against human bondage, and

X INTRODUCTORY,

petitioned the Convention to provide in the Constitution for its abolition. It was suiDposed at that time that human bondage would cease in a few years. In this philanthropists were disappointed, as its rapid growth will show . In 1790 as seen by the census the slaves numbered 697,897, which was more than double the number at the commencement of the Revolutionary war.

" 1830 " " 2,009,043.

In 1861 the war commenced between the Northern and Southern States, which resulted in the abrogation of all property title to more than four millions of human beings in the United States and territories

As one after another the Northern States abolished slavery, they became . an asylum for fugitives from the institution in the Southern States. On the 4th of July, 1827, all slaves held in the State of New York were set at liberty by an act passed in 1817. Thereafter all the States bordering on the lakes and rivers between the United States and Canada were free States. In all these States were found friends of the oppressed race, who desii'ed their emancipation, and the fugitives from slavery foimd assistance and protection among these philanthi-opists, a large number of whom were Quakers who had always earnestly protested against human bondage. Still the refugees from slavery wei-e not safe in the free States. The Constitution provided foitheir suiTendei', and the U. S. laws designated the manner of proceedure. Rewards were offered for their return, and many people were found who for the pecuniai'y inducements were willing to particiiDate in this business. The fugitives were not secure till they reached the soil of Canada. An effort was made for a treaty with Great Biitain to secui'e their return from Canada, but without success.

After the passage of the fugitive slave law, the danger of captm-e was enhanced and man}' left the free States for greater safety who had long been residents in them.

Notwithstanding the rewards and x^enalties of the law, fugitives still continued to escape, and endured untold suffering in pursuing their trackless course, often through an unbroken wilderness, guided by the north star to the land of freedom beyond the dominion of the stars and stripes.

Foi- some forty years these pilgrims to the land of liberty made their way through the Northern States and across the border. Scattered through the country were humanitai'ian people who beUeved in the " higher law," and

INTKODUCTORY. XI

that the complexion of the individual should not exclude him from the enjoyment of his " inalienable rights." These people protected the fleeing fugitive, secreted him from his pursuers, and conducted him from station to station tUl he was landed in Canada. The secrecy with which they managed the matter and the certainty of the delivery of the passengers on their line, gave by common consent the name of the Underground Railroad. The number of those who escaped is a wonder, in view of the difliciilties encountered. It is estimated by a prominent refugee from Kentucky, who made hi.s escape in 1836, that fully thirty-five tlwusand fugitives have reached Canada from the Slave States. As would be expected, only the shi-ewdest, able bodied and most enterprising would succeed. They secured land in the home of their adoption, became successful farmers and mechanics, and an important acquisition to the Queen's dominions.

The success of the Underground Railroad in transporting colored men to Canada presents a strilcing contrast with that of the African colonization scheme. The Colonization Society was organized in 1S16— many yeai's befoi-e the Undergi'ound Railroad was instituted. From the time of that organization to 1857, a period of forty yeai'S, there were 9,502 emigrants sent to Afi'ica, of whom 3,G7(i were bom free, 326 purchased their own liberty and 5,.5U() were emancipated on condition of being sent to Africa. It will thus be seen that nearly four times as many emigrated to Canada as to Liberia, and in developing the soil, building churches, schoolhouses, manufacturing establishments, and the surroundings of comfortable homes, and the faciUties for the enjoyment of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," the Wilbgrforce Colony ■will compare favorably with Liberia and Sierra Leone, though it is not doubted that African colonization has exerted a beneficial iafluence on the dark shores of the African continent. The Underground Railroad, it will be seen has done much the greatest work in behalf of human liberty.

The conductors on this route were some of the noblest, self sacrificing men the world ever saw. No civil penalties dismayed them. They boldly proclaimed by deeds of moral heroism and self-sacrifice their faith in the higher law, before which human statutes were impotent when human libeity was at stake.

The remarkable exodus now in progress, which thi-eatens to deprive the cotton States of a considerable portion of their laboring population, notwithstanding the suft'erings of the refugees, presents a striking contrast with that imder the management of the Underground Raih-oad. In the present case the philanthropist can exercise his charity toward the suffering, and no law xii ■ INTRODUCTORY.

can interfere with its penalties, while then, as w-ill be seen by the sketches herewith presented, all acts of kindness to the fleeing fugitive, exposed those who aided them to the penalties of the tugitive slave law. The " higher law" has become practically national in its application to the colored people of the country.

The writer of the follo\ving sketches is well known throughout the region where the fugitives found their way to the Lakes, and was one of the most self-sacrificing and efficient of the conductors of the U. G. R. R. He is an earnest laborer for Him who " came to preach deliverance to the captive and to set at Uberty those who are in bonds." In every good work for the benefit of humanity he has always borne a part when opportunity has offered.

The thrilling adventures narrrated mostly occurred on his portion of the route, and within his personal knowledge. Many of the active participants in the service of the great Une of travel from Slavery to Fi-eedom, have ah-eady passed away. The author of these sketches is now in his 78th year, and can look back on a life of usefulness and good will to men far brighter than falls to the usual lot of mankind. The sketches were fii-st published in serial numbei-s at the solicitation of the Editors of the Fredonia Censor, with a view to the perpetuation of the personal recollections of a period in our history which, thanks to the Pi-oclamation of our martyred Pi-esident, can never in the history of this countr}^ be repeated. Knov.ing so well the author, and the entire reliability of the narratives, and the deep interest which was taken in them when they were firet given to the public, we have ventured to give them the permanent form in which they are now presented to the reader. They constitute an incomplete, but interesting record of " the times which tried men's souls." It was some ten years ago that these sketches were written. With othei-s they ai-e now presented to the public in a more enduring form, with th« hope that the respect for the memory of those engaged in the self sacrificing work of befriending fugitives from slavery, may be more highly cherished. Surely when they shall " rest from their labors," and " their works shall follow them," they will be welcomed by Him who said, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, je have done it unto me."

W. McK.

Fredonia, Maj", IST'J.

Preface

In 1619 slaves were introduced into the colony of Virginia—they were Africans of pure bloody et-Ma ck. thicl^ i ip^J|aiyioseS;_flUj,t_feeLajajd..c^^ The Virgin-

ians would have scorned the idea of enslaving a white man or woman, but the time came when the bluest blood of Virginia betrayed itself in the blush on the cheek of beautiful women standing on the auction block in Richmond, Charleston and New Orleans. Beauty of face and of form had a market value ; a beautiful woman would sell for the price of ten able bodied men, and even Christianity was an article of commerce. A man stands upon the block, dignified in manner, serious countenance, and silent. '' Now, gentlemen and ladies," says the auctioneer, " I offer you a first class servant. He is honest and faithful, and moreover he is a Christian; no sham I tell you, but a genuine, conscientious Christian man. He would di'e rather than commit a wrong act or betray his master. How much do you offer for a servant that you can depend on every time ?"

Good men in the Slave States were silent, haying no means of redress ; the -laws and public opinion were on the side of the slave holder. The free States remonstrated and petitioned Congress to adopt measures for emancipation. The South assumed the political doctrine of xiv PREFACE.

State rights, which means that State kivvs are paramount to U. S. laws. Bid 'when the northern States enacted laivs to protect their own citizens against Jcidnappers, it was found that " State Rights'' applied only to slo.ve States. As the free States persisted in protecting their citizens th-e slave States demanded the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law, which was passed in 1850, establishing commissions and courts unknown to the Constitution, and was undoubtedly the most barbarous law enacted by any civilized nation in the 19th century.

The most simple act of charity to a fugitive must be kept a profound secret or a felon's cell was the penalty. The result was a spontaneous combination of multitudes of men and women, extending from Maine to Kansas, with many a station south of Mason & Dixon's line, which on account of its harmony of action, rapid transit and secret operation, came to be known as the " Underground Rail Road."

The Underground R. R., extending from the interior of the slave States to Canada, and to liberty, wherever human liberty could be found, had four main lines across the State of New York, and scores of laterals. It has finished its mission, closed its operations, settled its accounts and divided the proceeds among the passengers. The immense wealth thus accumvdated was invested in the purchase of large tracts of land in Canada, clearing up, stocking and cultivating farms, building dwellings, Imrns, churches and school houses, mills and factories. No institution has ever existed in this country, whose.

PREFACE. XV business was transacted with more perfect fidelity, more profound secrecy, more harmony in the working of its complicated machinery and yet with such tremendous results.

— rt had, like all other rail roads, its offices and stations,- engineers and conductors, ticket agents and train dispatchers, hotels and eating houses. The fugitive slave law passed by Congress in 1850, imposed a penalty of §1,000 fine and imprisonment for selling or giving a meal of victuals to one of the passengers on this road, or for helping them on their way. /Disregarding these penalties, the eating houses were oipen day and night, and well supplied with the best food the country afforded.

The business was conducted in silence and harmony, consequently but few of the employees suffered the aforesaid penalties ; yet some of the noblest and purest men tliat ever sutfered as martyrs were victims of that horrid fugitive slave law. Rev. John Rankin, of Ohio, was fined 11,000 and imprisonment. Wm. L. Chaplin, Esq., of Mass., was imprisoned in Virginia, released on nineteen thousand dollars bail, which was paid by his friends to save his life, and Rev. C. T. Torry died in a Virginia prison.

The managers availed themselves of all manner of facilities for traveling ; rail roads and steam boats, canal boats and ferry boats, stage coaches, gentlemen's carriages and lumber wagons were pressed into active duty when needed. The large rivers were the chief ob stacles in their wav when not bridged with ice. In 1858

XVI PREFACE.

it was asserted that the slave holders had employed Douglass, (not Fred,) to advocate in Congress a bill to abolish the North Star and make it a penal offence for the Ohio river to freeze over. I do not think Douglass ever introduced such a bill, but such a proposition was no more absurd than the indirect attempt to abolish Christianity, bj^ enacting the Fugitive Slave Law.

The writer of these brief sketches of U. G. R. K. histor}^ kept a station and eating house at one of the crossings of the Cattaraugus river, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., though but few of his nearest neighbors knew until the rebellion ended, its usefulness. Being at the junction of six laterals with the main line running through Buffalo, I heard many thrilling accounts from escaping fugitives while they were in my charge, and experienced some exciting times when the slave hounds were almost within striking distance. I have given comparatively few of the many incidents which came under my observation, and these only in outline, yet as giving some conception of the workings of an institution importantly pertaining to a past epoch in our history, the character of which even now this generation can scarcely realize, 1 am persuaded that these chapters may have both value and interest, and they are therefore respectfully submitted in this form to the public. E. M. Pettit.

Fredonia, N. Y., May, 187i).

CHAPTER I.

THE SLAVE COFFLE AT WHEELING, VA. THE KIND- HEARTED LANDLORD THE GOOD SAMARITAN THE

HUNTERS MISLED THE ESCAPE.

Something over twenty years ago, I stopped a few days at the City Hotel in Wheeling, Va. The hotel was located on the southern border of the city, adjoining a small plantation in the rear of the garden. The landlord was a plea.sant, social gentleman, well informed on all topics of interest, and preferred hiring his help rather than be the owner of a human being. Having learned this, I was less guarded in talking about their institutions than I should otherwise have been. Among the guests at the hotel was a family of Quakers on their way from Eastern Virginia to Indiana. One of the young men told me that he had never been outside of the State of Virginia ; had long been disgusted with the wickedness and cruelty of slavery which he could not avoid seeing and hearing every day. The horrors of tlie everyday life on the plantations as described by him exceeded everything related in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and he had sold out, and the family were going to settle in a free State.

I was sitting on the piazza talking with this man, when a coffle < f slaves came in front of the house and were hustled along by the driver ; the men were fine looking fellows, though they wei-e bare-footed, and most of them bare-headed ; they were chained by the right 3

18 SKETCHES OF TKK

wrist to a long bar of iron. The women were not fettered, some of tliem carried infants in their arms, and some children rode on the wagon with the corn on which they all were fed. They soon started toward a steamboat lying at the levee, and were shipped for the New Orleans market. This was the first drove of slaves I had ever seen, and being a little excited, I made a remark to the Quaker which the landlord overheard, and touching my shoulder, he beckoned me to go with him. We went aside, and he said to me, " You are going to Kentucky, and I advise j'ou to beware how you speak of these things. There are men in this place, who, had they heard that remark, would have had you in jail in a hurry. I hope you will heed my advice."

An incident that occurred on the U. G. R. E., not many months after, brought vividly to my remembrance the kind-hearted, unselfish landlord of the City Hotel in Wheeling. It was on a bitter cold day in December that a sleigh was driven into Fredonia, iST. Y. ; the driver had made some inquiries, (for this was his first trip as conductor,) and turned his team down the creek in search of a depot. It was late in the evening, and the road was badly drifted, but the train went through and made connection as usual. The passenger came out from under the driver's seat, shook off the blankets and Buffalo robes that had hid him and kept him warm. Pie was not inclined to talk at first, but a hearty welcome, a warm supper, and the assurance that he was safe from his pursuers, induced him to give a brief account of his adventures. He said :

" I have ahv^ays lived in Loudoun County, Virginia. My mother was the cook, and I worked about the house, and sometimes traveled with master, — went to Washington, Baltimore, Cumberland, and once to Wheeling, on

UNDERGROrXD EAILEOAD. 19

horseback. One day, when mother gave me my dinner, she said, ' Charley, all my children gone but you, and Massa's done gone and sold you, and I'll never see you 'gin.' ' Guess not, mother, he promised you to keep me always ;.' but she said, 'I heard him tell the trader he'll send you to town Monday morning, and he must put you in jail.' Well, I was afraid to tell mother what I would do, because maybe somebody would hear, so I couldn't say good-bye to my poor old mother, but next morning master's best horse and I were 50 miles away towards Wheeling. Hid in the woods all day, at night left the horse loose in the woods and went on as well as I could. Did not go through the towns, went round, then found the road and went on. Found corn in the fields, and some apples, and got to Wheeling in aljout 14 or 15 days, Was almost starved, went into the City Hotel before daylight. The landlord was up, and I asked him for some bread. He looked at me and said, 'You are a runaway.' I began to say ' no,' but he said, ' Go with me! ' We went to the barn, and he said, ' Do you know whose horse that is ? ' Then I owned up, and begged him to let me go and not tell master. He then read to me an advertisement, offering S500 reward for me. Then I thought, it's no use trying — must go back, sold! sold! Oh! I wanted to die ; but the man said, ' See here! you see that house beyond that lot ? ' ' Yes, master,' I said. ' You go there and tell them I said they must take care of you, and give you something to eat.' Then he looked so happy, and I wanted to lie down and kiss his feet ; but it was getting light. 'Hurry,' said he, "go right in the back door.' When I got in I could see nobody but a sick woman on a bed.

I told what the man said, and soon I heard horses running up the road, and looking out, saw my master and another man coming. I began to cry, but she told me to get under the bed and lie still, and when I had done so she took up her baby, and got it to screaming with all its might. Soon master opened the door and looked in, and asked if a negro boy had come in there. The baby cried and she pretended to try to stop it, and asked liim what he wanted. He repeated the question. 8he tried to hush the baby, and finally said, ' Husband is at the barn ; he can tell you if he has been here.' They went to the barn, and soon I heard them running their horses up the road. Then she said to me, ' Go up the ladder and lie down on the floor,' which I did, and when the man came in with his milk pail, he asked his wife who that man was, inquiring about aboy ? She said, 'I don't know, but I know where the boy is.' ' Where is he ? ' ' He went up the ladder, and you must carry him something to eat, poor fellow, he's starved.' As soon as he could, he came to me with enough to eat, and then fixed a place for me to lie down, and said, ' You are tired and sleepy. Now go to sleep, and if you wake, don't stir nor make a noise until I come.' Having slept little since I started, I slept all day ; it was dark when he roused me up and told me to go down. I found a good supper ready, and while I was eating the man and his wife said not a word. When I had done he said, ' Come out here.' Following him, I saw at the door three horses ; there was a man on one of them ; I was told to mount one, and he mounted the other. I was between them. Not a word was spoken, and passing round the edge of the town near the hill, we came to the road leading north near the bluff above the river. I didn't know what it all meant, but supposed they w^ere going to give me up, and claim the $500. We rode three miles maybe, hitched the horses in some bushes, and went down the steep bluff to the Ohio River. He pulled a stake and threw it into a boat that was tied to it, and motioned me to get in. We soon got across the river, then taking a little bundle, he directed me to go forward, and we were soon on a road. He then put two loaves of bread in my hand, and said to me, ' This is a free State, and there is the north star,' pointing to it ; ' God bless you,' and I soon heard the splash of his pole in the river, and started northward."

Charley found himself alone in the road, the river on his right hand, broad fields on his left, and no house in sight ; as to the north star, he looked towards it when his friend pointed towards it, but did not know which it was ; his education had been neglected. Smart negroes knew that star by sight. Wlien a slave could find the north star, and show his mother how he knew it, and by what signs he found it, he was ready to graduate — he had finished his education — but Charley, poor fellow, had been having an easy time, riding about with his master, caring for the horses, blacking his boots, and brushing his clothes, and had not thought of going north until his mother told him that he had been sold. Besides, Charley was terribly disappointed. He supposed he was to be delivered to his master ; that a white man would feed him and help him on his way to freedom, when he could have $500 for less trouble and no risk, he had not supposed was possible. He began to feel dizzy and faint, went a few rods and sat down, and soon fell asleep. He dreamed that two men were putting him into jail ; he struggled, and awoke up finding himself alone, and darkness all around. He soon aroused sufficiently to understand the situation, and started along the road, not knowing whether lie was going north or south, l)ut kept going until it began to be light, when he saw a paper nailed to a board fence with a picture of a negro running, and looking like the advertisement that the landlord showed him in his harn. AVhile he stood looking at it, a man came hehind him, put his hand on his shoulder, and said, what have we here ? He turned to run, but the man held on to him, speaking kindly, and paid, " don't be frightened, let us see what this is about ;" then he read the advertisement, and looking at Charley, said, " this means you ; come with me, there is no time to be lost." He took him to a safe place far back in the woods, and seeing that he had bread with him, he said, '•' I will bring you more food to-night," and left him.