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Home , History of New Jersey, Peg Leg Joe, William Still

Finding Your Way on the

Theme: Cultural & Historical Author: Wilbur H. Siebert adapted by Christine R. Raabe, Education Consultant

Subject Areas Vocabulary History/Social Studies, Mathematics, Underground Railroad, , Science emancipation, abolitionist, fugitive, Quaker, freedom, conductor, Duration station master, passenger, North Star, One class period , Correlation to NJ Core Curriculum Setting Content Standards Indoors Social Studies Skills 6.3 (1,2,3,4) Interpreting, relating, charting and 6.4 (2,3,4,5,7,8) mapping, identifying, describing, 6.7 (1,5) comparing 6.8 (1)

Charting the Course Although not specifically mentioned in the film, the era of the Underground Railroad’s operation did impact the settlement and development of the region and played an important role in the history of New .”

C29 Finding Your Way on the Underground Railroad

Objectives many teachers refer to them in to use it rather than risk having Students will their lessons, many instructors a failed fugitive divulge the never relay the regional secrets of the Underground 1. Explain what the significance of these courageous Railroad. Underground Railroad was African-Americans. and why it was important. William Still was born in 1821 Harriet Tubman was known as in Shamong, 2. Identify some of the routes of “Moses” for the large number (formerly called Indian Mills — the Underground Railroad on of slaves she guided to freedom Burlington County). Make a map of New Jersey. as a “conductor” on the students aware that this is not far 3. Describe some the conditions Underground Railroad. Tubman from the Bayshore. He was the and the historical significance came from the Eastern Shore of main chronologist of the of the Underground Railroad which is close to the Railroad’s operations. His to the shaping of the region Delaware Bayshore. In 1849 parents emancipated themselves “Down Jersey.” when she fled her own bondage from slavery. He worked on she only knew two northern their New Jersey farm til the age Materials states: New Jersey and of 23 when he moved to . Her knowledge . By the age of 26 Provide students with a map of of New Jersey may have come he had taught himself to read New Jersey and a list of some from historic ties between and write. He became deeply of the documented stops on the blacks of the Eastern Shore and involved in the Philadelphia Underground Railroad provided the Delaware Bayshore. She Vigilance Committee. During in the activity. escorted groups of slaves from his fourteen year service A map is provided courtesy of the the Eastern Shore of Maryland providing aid and comfort, as a New Jersey Historical Commission, to Philadelphia and as far north “station master” to Southern Afro-American Studies as St. Catharines, Canada (now slaves journeying to freedom, he Ontario). recorded hundreds of interviews. One narrative entitled Crossing Making Connections It is highly probable that The Bay In A Skiff tells of four Tubman’s route sometimes Explain that the Underground bondmen crossing the Delaware included New Jersey., perhaps Railroad was not a railroad line, Bay. Their crossing took 15 or as she guided them from but a network of people who more hours. With no knowledge Philadelphia to City. helped African-Americans of a safe haven they were She spent the summers between escape from slavery in the bewildered. In this state of 1849 and 1852 in , South to freedom in the North despair they were discovered by and winters in St. Catharines. and Canada. Down Jersey’s the captain of an oyster boat. In Cape May she earned money proximity to the slave states of The captain took pity on their working in hotels to finance her Delaware and Maryland made exhausted and bedraggled state trips back to Maryland to escort this region important to the and ferried them to Philadelphia. more slaves in their escape. Underground Railroad. The There their story was recorded Tubman made approximately movement of African-Americans by William Still. Still placed 19 forays into the South to bring into and through this region himself in jeopardy in his out about 300 fugitives. These played an important role in the devotion not only to help slaves journeys were filled with peril. formation and development of but by the mere process of Harriet possessed endless the varied and diverse make up recording their plight. of the region’s people. courage. Slaves that had second thoughts about their escape met Both Harriet Tubman “Moses” Perhaps the two most prominent with Harriet’s positive attitude and William Still are profiles of figures of the Underground and determination that each Afro-American heroism. Railroad were Harriet Tubman succeed. She is said to have Teachers should develop ties to and William Still. Although carried a pistol and threatened their New Jersey connections.

C30 Finding Your Way on the Underground Railroad

Background said. “Slavery in the maritime “Probably the Dutch — who Historic Themes and Resources industry included a wide range were among the foremost slave book, pages 34 and 143 of things, from catching of fish traffickers of the 17th century to working along the docks and — were responsible.” Pockets Reprinted from The Atlantic City shores, moving cargo — and of slavery cropped up in several Press, November 23, 1997; even, to some degree, slaves areas. “By 1790, the largest Slavery Slumbers in Cumberland’s were used for the manufacturing (pockets of slavery) in terms of History, by Eileen Bennett: of sails and even boats population were in Burlington, “My colored friends, should you themselves,” Wright continued. then Salem, Gloucester, conduct yourselves on true Another area in which slaves Cumberland, and then Cape moral principles, not gaudy were used was for domestic May,” Wright said. (Atlantic manners nor boisterous in talk, work — butlers, cooks, and County didn’t exist until 1837, your ways calm and decisive, other similar jobs around the when it was carved out of your word so sacred that ’tis homes of people of considerable Gloucester County.) In 1790, never violated, your promises means. “It’s hard to imagine it’s estimated there were 120 fulfilled, your debts paid, modest any craft or trade in which you slaves in Cumberland County in all things and meddlesome in wouldn’t find black workers,” and 141 in Cape May County. none, you shall find the monster Wright said. There were even By 1800, that number had Prejudice only a thing to be skilled craftsman slaves: dwindled to 75 and 98, talked about. Merit alone will blacksmiths, millers, carpenters, respectively, until finally, in promote you to respect.” shoemakers, coopers and 1830, Cumberland had only two Dr. James Still (1812-1885), tanners. slaves and Cape May had three. “The Black Doctor of the Pines.” In his book, Wright explains A law establishing gradual that it is not clear when blacks emancipation actually allowed “… Make no mistake, Slavery first appeared on New Jersey slavery in New Jersey to exist did, indeed, exist in southern New soil, although he writes: well into the 1860s — later than Jersey,” said Giles R. Wright, director of Afro-American studies at the New Jersey Historical Commission, Department of the State. “Some of this had to do with the topography of . When you talk about slavery in South Jersey, there’s many dimensions to it,” added Wright, author of the book Afro-Americans in New Jersey: A Short History. For example, in Cumberland County, slaves were used in agriculture, working on the large expanses of farmlands or tending livestock; in Cape May County, they worked on docks or on ships. “In the communities that were located near waterways, slaves could be used to go out on ships, catch whales, a wide range of occupations,” Wright A Ride for Liberty — The Fugitive Slaves, circa 1862 By Eastman Johnson (1824-1906) — courtesy of the Museum of Art

C31 Finding Your Way on the Underground Railroad

any other Northern state. Wright Testaments to slavery in Wrap Up credits a strong Quaker influence southern New Jersey remain. Discuss with the class the in Philadelphia and southern Since slaves were forbidden to importance of the Underground New Jersey for helping to read or write, they created quilts Railroad to the African- eliminate slavery. “The in order to leave stories for American community. How do were the first organized group prosperity. Those quilts, many they think that people knew in the country to speak out of which still exist, served as a about where to stop and that it against the evils of black way for some slaves to record was safe? (Remember — it was slavery, and the first group to milestones of their lives: births, illegal to harbor a runaway slave. become abolitionists,” Wright marriages and deaths, as well as They were considered to be the said. While Quakers didn’t beatings and the sale of a loved property of their “master.”) necessarily feel slaves were one. It’s said that quilts were key their equal, they believed the to the Underground Railroad. Discuss the type of person that premise of enslaving another Quakers, who owned many of operated and assisted in the human was wrong because the stations on the railroad, Underground Railroad. Do freedom was a natural right. would display a Jacob’s Ladder- students see themselves as those “In 1776, the yearly (Quaker) patterned quilt to let runaway type of people? Would they do Philadelphia meeting voted to slaves know they were welcome. the same thing today? Why or excommunicate anyone who was why not? (This can be a personal journal entry and/or discussion.) a slave owner. The Quakers were Procedure very active in the Underground Railroad,” Wright said. Warm Up Assessment Known Underground Railroad Begin a discussion about the Participation in the activity and routes — the network of safe Underground Railroad. Explain discussions. Completion of the houses that slaves followed to that the Underground Railroad map. freedom in the North — did was not a railroad line, but a network of people who helped pass through sections of Salem Extensions and Cumberland counties on the African-Americans escape from way to more fugitive-friendly slavery in the South to freedom Have students write a short points in the North. Springtown, in the North and Canada. story about traveling on the Underground Railroad. Have located in Greenwich Township The Activity in Cumberland County, was them pretend that they are slaves established around 1800 by 1. Reproduce and distribute trying to escape to freedom in slaves who had been freed or a map of New Jersey and the North. What are some of the escaped bondage in Delaware, the list of some of the obstacles that they would come Maryland or states farther documentedstops on the across? What were the dangers? south, according to Wright. Underground Railroad. How must the slaves have felt The Bethel African Methodist 2. Ask students to draw and along this journey? Episcopal Church in Springtown label the four routes through Fugitive slaves used the North is believed to have played an New Jersey on the map. Star as a compass. The song important role in the “Follow the Drinking Gourd” Underground Railroad in the 3. Discuss the implications of this region for the freedom refers to the North Star. Read area. How Springtown got its students William Still’s story of name remains a mystery. Some of Afro-Americans trying to escape slavery. Expand Crossing The Bay In A Skiff. say it was the proliferation of Discuss the story. Would they springs there, but others say that discussion to include an overview of US History. have the courage to cross the it was because “it was a Bay? Have the students create a springboard to freedom for drawing of the four bondmen many slaves.” crossing the .

C32 Finding Your Way on the Underground Railroad

Resources Pages 186 and 187 of Historic Themes The New Jersey African-American History and Resources Curriculum Guide, Grades 9-12, by Larry A. Greene and Lenworth Gunther, 1997, 197 pp. Underground Railroad Special Resource Study — paper. illus. The first resource guide for teachers Management Concepts/Environmental that combines the American, black American and Assessment, September 1995, black New Jersey past into a common history. Department of the Interior, It is designed to help teachers integrate African- Outlines five concepts for commemorating and American history into high school courses in interpreting the UGRR. Explains the potential United States history, world history, social environmental impacts of implementing these studies, and ethnic studies. The guide is concepts. Also, includes a brief history of the organized into fifteen chronological units, each UGRR. 204 pages, illustrated; black and white representing a period in African-American with two-color maps. Price: $8.00 per copy, historical experience. Order ISBN 0-89743-082-4, Stock Number: 024-005-01175-7. $20. Add $1.50 shipping and handling for the U.S. Government Printing Office — 8 a.m.-4 p.m. first 1-5 books. Volume discounts available for M-F at 1-202-512-1800 or fax 1-202-512-2250. schools, libraries and historical organizations. Make checks payable to: Treasurer, State of New A brochure on the UGRR — # GPO: 1996-404- Jersey. Send orders to: Publications, New Jersey 952/40095, 1996. Or write: Underground Historical Commission, P.O. Box 305, Trenton, Railroad Initiative, National Park Service, NJ 08625-0305. National Capital Field Area, 1100 Ohio Drive SW, Washington, D.C. 20242, or visit the “Freedom Train” is a play about Harriet Tubman, National Underground Railroad website at a.k.a.“Moses,” the famous conductor of the http://www.nps.gov/undergroundrr/contentshtm Underground Railroad. Tubman used to work or at the subaddress: www.cr.nps.gov/aahistory/ summers in Cape May to earn money to conduct undergroundrr. the business of the Underground Railroad. Traveling theater companies do presentations of Visit the New Jersey Historical Commissions’s “Freedom Train” periodically at . Internet page at www.state.nj.us/state/history/ “Music and the Underground Railroad” features hisidx.html or call them at (609) 292-6062. the Kim and Reggie Harris Group. “Follow the Asbury Park Press, September 6, 1998, Section C — Drinking Gourd” is one song on the tape. Tracking a Freedom Train Ascension Productions, P.O. Box 18871, Philadelphia, PA 19119. The Underground Rail Road, by William Still. This is a compilation of Still’s interviews with hundreds of runaway slaves during his fourteen years of service for the underground railroad. Still was a native of New Jersey and a prominent figure in the Philadelphia Vigilance Committee. Some of his moving accounts of the challenges runaways faced in their quest for freedom include stories of Delaware Bay crossings. His narratives were originally printed in 1872. Since then Chicago, Johnson Pub. Co. Press, Inc. has reprinted the book, copyright 1970.

C33 Finding Your Way on the Underground Railroad

C34 Four Routes of the Underground Railroad Through New Jersey

Based on an interview conducted August 2, 1895, by Wilburt H. Siebert with Reverend Thomas Clement Oliver of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, “who, like his father, traveled the New Jersey routes many times as a guide or conductor.”

Choose a different color for each of the four Routes. Place an “X” at the location of each town/city and then connect them.

Route 1 Route 2 Route 3 Route 4 Philadelphia Salem –– Dover, Delaware Newtown, Pennsylvania Camden Goodwin Sisters (by boat across Trenton Delaware Bay) Burlington Woodbury New Brunswick Greenwich Princeton Evesham Mount (Connect with Route 1) Othello New Brunswick Bordentown (Connect with Route 1) Springtown* Evesham Mount Alternative A Mount Holly Perth Amboy Camp Cedar Knoll*, New York City Bethany Baptist Syracuse, New York Association (Off map) (Connect with Route 1) Ontario, Canada Alternative B (Off map) Rahway Jersey City (Connect with New York City route)

Source: Wilburt H. Siebert, The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom (1898). *Additions from regional sources.

Editor’s Note: The following pages contain a worksheet for student use and a map providing a similar interpretation of the Underground Railroad routes. The Underground Railroad was clandestine by its very nature and apparently interpretations vary. C35a Mapping the Underground Railroad

C36a Underground Railroad Routes in New Jersey — 1860 —

Springtown Othello

Camp Cedar Knoll

Stations Route Designation General Route Alternate Route

Note: Routes converge at Bordentown, Princeton, and New Brunswick

Source: Siebert; & Blockson Additions from regional sources C37a Music and song were important means of communication between slaves. The song Follow the Drinking Gourd is the story of a one-legged free black sailor — . His existence may be legend but he is said to have traveled from plantation to plantation spreading this song.

Follow the Drinking Gourd

Follow the drinking gourd! Follow the drinking gourd. For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom If you follow the drinking gourd. When the sun comes back, and the first quail calls, Follow the drinking gourd. For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom If you follow the drinking gourd.

The riverbank makes very good road, The dead trees will show you the way. Left foot, peg foot, traveling on, Follow the drinking gourd.

The river ends between two hills, Follow the drinking gourd. There’s another river on the other side, Follow the drinking gourd.

When the great big river meets the little river, Follow the drinking gourd. For the old man is a-waiting for to carry you to freedom Follow the drinking gourd.

The words have hidden meaning, telling the secrets of traveling the Underground Railroad. Following the Big Dipper leads to the North Star, the main navigational tool of the escaping bondsmen. “Drinking gourd” is the nickname for the Big Dipper. Springtime is “when the sun comes back,” or when the slave should travel. The Tombigbee River in Mississippi “ends between two hills.” The second river was the Tennessee River. And the “great big river” referred to the Ohio. Peg Leg Joe is said to have promised to meet the runaway slaves at the Ohio to ferry them to freedom, where they would travel on the Underground Railroad to Canada.

C38a