FOREWORD byRufusM.Jones COPYRIGHT1941 THESESTORIESofscenesandeventsintheworkof ISLANDWORKSHOPPRESS "TheUndergroundRailroad"willdelightreadersof CO-OP.,INC. allages.Theyareexcellentboys'andgirls'stories, buttheoldermembersofthefamilywilllikethem justasmuchastheyoungpeople.Theyare"stories," buttheyarenotimaginary.Theyhappened.These menandwomen,theseboysandgirls,arerealper- sonsandtheydidthesebravedeedshereinrelated. Theheroicelementisverymuchinevidence.Every eventinvolvedriskanddanger.ThomasGarrettwas madepoorbyhiscourageousactions;allthesechar- actersfacedfinesandimprisonment,orworse,every timetheyaidedaslavetoescape.Therewasnofame orpublicgloryinwhattheyweredoing."Fame" wouldhaveinstantlydefeatedalltheirendeavors. Theydidnotletthelefthandknowwhattheright handwasdoing.Theirnearestneighborswerekept CHARLESA.PHELPSDESIGN-PRODUCTION PRINTEDINUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA v FOREWARD FOREWORD ignorantoftheirriskydeedsoflove.Thenewspapers sionofrespectability?Whendoesa"deceit"become hadnoheadlinesandnolocalitemsoftheirproceed- a"lie"?Thatisaquestioneachpersonsettleswith ings.Oftenthepoorhunted"railroadpassenger"— hisownconscience,andthesetender-mindedtruth- andGod—wereallwhoknew. tellershadtheapprovaloftheirinnertribunals. Thesestorieswillremindusofthefactthatmod- Theircourseofviolatingthelawoftheland,as ernQuakersarenottheonlyoneswhohavetakenup theyoftendid,wasmoredubious.Theywereunder theburdenoftheworld'ssuffering.Weoftodayare theempireofahigherlaw,andtheyfeltthatthey onlycarryingonatorchwhichourforebearshanded couldnot"dootherwise."Inallagesofhardcrisis downtous,lightedandburning.Theywerefaithful therehavebeenpersonswhohavesaid,"Wemust intheirdayandgeneration,andtheywerebearers obeyGodratherthanmen"Therehavebeenper- oflightinthedarknessoftheirtimes.Ourtasksare sonswhohavefeltanirresistibleinnerurge,which verydifferent;buttheycallforthatsameold-time seemedtocomeoutofeternity,togoagainstwrong, spiritoffaithfulness. thathadthesanctionoflaw.Theprophetdoes,it;the These"conductors"ontheUndergroundRailroad saintdoesit;themartyrdoesit.Andthesepersons hadaninterestingtechniqueoftruth-telling.They didit.Butitmustneverbeeasilydone,orboastingly wouldnotdeviatefromthetruthtosavetheirlives. done.Itisoftenatragiccoursetotake,andcallsfor Onecannotfindalieinalltherecords.Thewords profoundspiritualdepthoflife,andreadinesstotake theyspokewerewordsoftruth,buttheyoftengave theconsequences.Thesestoriesareaboutpersonsof a"falseimpression"totheman-hunterswithwhom thattype. theyhadtodeal.They"deceived"themwiththeir RUFUSM.JONES "truth."Theyputthemoffthetrack,andyettheir wordsdidnotlie.Isit"allright"foralonewoman inahousetohaveaman'shatonthehat-rackbythe doortowarnoffadangerouscaller,andmayshe shoutupstairsto"John"whenthereisn'tany"John" upthere?Isitallrighttoputyourhandoveryour patchedelbowwhenyouwanttomaketheimpres- vi vii WHERETHESTORIESCAMEFROM andhelpingthoseinflight,maypassintooblivion. Thestory"WAJELMA"isrewrittenfromLydia WHERETHESTORIES MariaChild's"LifeofIsaacT.Hopper,"fromwhich alsowastakenmaterialforthesketchofhislife CAMEFROM givenhere. "'THEROADTOCANADA"comesfromthe"Auto- biography"ofAllen'Jay,ofIndiana.Mostofthecon versationin'thestoryistaken'from'hisownaccount oftheevents. ThesketchofLEVICOFFINisbasedonhisown THETENSTORIESinthiscollectionandthebio- "Reminiscences."Fromthissourcealsocomes"A graphicalsketchofTHOMASGARRETT("OurMoses") STATIONONTHEUNDERGROUNDRAILROAD." firstappearedfiveorsixyearsagointhechildren's "THESTORYOFFRANKQUINTANCE"wastoldto paper,ScatteredSeeds,ofPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, mebythenephewofHenryW.Wilburwhofigured whichhasgivengraciouspermissionfortheirpub- intheeventsasachild. licationinbookform.Thesketchwaswrittenfrom "ACASEOFWHOOPINGCOUGH"comesdirectly materialfurnishedbyGarrett'sdaughter,Laura. fromthedaughterofJamesandAmeliaJacksonwho Thebackgroundaccount,"THERAILROADANDITS were"conductors"atthis"station"inDelaware.I PASSENGERS,"isderivedfrommanysources,includ- myselfrememberthecoupleinlateryears,old, ingHenriettaBuckmaster'srecentfinebook,"Let bowed,andfeeble,yetretainingsomethingofthefire MyPeopleGo." whichintheiryouthhadmadethemstaunchsup- MostofthestoriesprintedinScatteredSeedswere portersoftruefreedom. toldtomebymembersoffamilieswhoparticipated "BROWNSISTER"and"THERUNAWAYSLAVE" intheeventsrelated.Asisonlytobeexpected,the areasrelatedbyEmilyW.Lawton,who,though majorityaretalesofhairbreadthescapes,fordramatic inNewYorkatthetimeofnarrating,was eventspasseasilydowninfamilytradition,whileless borninOhio,inahousewhichhadbeenabusy excitingfacts,suchasweeksoffeedingthehungry UndergroundRailroadstation. viii ix WHERETHESTORIESCAMEFROM Allthesestorieswereapprovedintheirfinalform bythosewhogavedataforthem. "THEFACEATTHEWINDOW"wasseenbymy owngrandmotherinnorthernOhio.Thisstoryand "THEHEARTHSTONE"and"DAVIDGOESTOMAR- CONTENTS KET"aretypicalnarrativesoftheUndergroundRail- road. TheaccountofHARRIETTUBMANistakenlargely fromElizabethRossHaynes'biographyofthisre- markablewoman,inherbook"UnsungHeroes." ExceptforthebiographyofHARRIETTUBMAN TheRailroadandItsPassengers 1 and"ASTATIONONTHEUNDERGROUNDRAILROAD," LawyertotheNegro:IsaacT.Hopper 12 thestoriesareallofQuakerworkersandtheirwork. Wajelma 20 ButnobookabouttheRailroadcanbejustortrue TheRoadtoCanada 28 whichdoesnotbeartestimonytothegallantpart "President"oftheRailroad:LeviCoffin 34 playedbytheNegroesthemselvesinsecuringfree- AStationonthe'UndergroundRailroad 40 domforothersoftheirrace. TheStoryofFrankQuaintance 48 Thereisstillagreatemancipationproblembefore TheHearthstone 56 usall.Thistime,however,oureffortsmaybemade DavidGoestoMarket 64 inthefulllightofday,tobringitaboutthatcolor ACaseofWhooping-Cough 72 shallnotcountintherightsofcitizenshiporinour "Conductor"ontheUndergroundRailroad: feelingofbrotherhoodtowardeachother.MayNe- ThomasGarrett 80 groesandWhitescontinuetoworksidebysidein BrownSister 88 theeternalstruggletomaintainfreedomforall.I TheRunawaySlave 94 shallbegladifinthesepicturesofthepastthere TheFaceattheWindow 102 maybesomeinspirationforthefuture. "Engineer"WhoNeverLostaPassenger: ANNAL.CURTIS. HarrietTubman 108 x xi THERAILROADAND ITSPASSENGERS THEUNDERGROUNDRAILROADwasthenameby whichthesecretorganizationwasknownthathelped escapingslavestofreedominpre-CivilWardaysin theUnitedStates. The"Railroad"hadactuallybeenoperatingfor yearsbeforeitreceiveditsname.In1831aslave namedTiceDavidsescapedfromKentucky.Hecame totheOhioRiver,plungedin,andmanagedto swimacross.Hismasterwascloseonhisheels,and findingaskiff,rowedafterthebobbingheadinthe water.HewasswiftlyovertakingTicewhentheslave touchedbottomandwadedashorenearthelittle townofRipley.Itseemedtothemasteronlyamatter ofmomentsnowuntilhewouldovertakehim.But theslavedisappeared,andthoughhewasdripping wet,therewasnotraceofhimanywhere.Hismaster searchedthelocalityinvain,andsaidruefully,"He ALLENANDHISPASSENGER(THEROADTOCANADA,PAGE28) 2 STORIESOFTHEUNDERGROUNDRAILROAD THERAILROADANDITSPASSENGERS 3 musthavegottenawaybyanundergroundroad." slavewassoterrifiedatbeingtakenback,thatsome Inthosedaysthesteamrailroadwasnew,andto inhabitantsofthetowndeterminedtomakesure manypeoplemysterious.Thesuppositionthatper- thatnootherescapedslavesshouldbecapturedin hapsa"railroad"figuredinsomewayintheescape Columbia. systemwaswelcomedbytheQuakers,whoseactiv- Smallgroupsinothertownsandcitiesbanded itiesmustnecessarilybeveiledandsecret.Sothe themselvestogetherforthesamepurpose.Theorgan- friendsofescapingslavescompletedthephrase, izationgrewswiftly,butalwayssecretly,foritwas makingit"TheUndergroundRailroad,"underwhich againstthelawtohelparunawayslave.Evenin namethesystemoperateduntilslavesweretotally StateswhoseownNegroeshadallbecomefree,any freedbytheCivilWar. escapedslavecouldbelegallytakenbackbyhis AlltheStatesnorthofMarylandsoonafterthe masterorbyaprofessidnalslave-catcher,andany RevolutionaryWarpassedlawsprovidingforsetting personwhohelpedaslavetosafetywasliabletobe theirslavesfreegradually.However,theQuakers punishediffoundout. andnumerousotherpersonshadfreedtheirslaves ThefirstFugitiveSlaveLaw,of1793,provideda evenbeforetheConstitutionoftheUnitedStateswas fineof$500uponanyonewhohelpedarunaway adoptedin1789. slave.However,peopleintheNorthernStatespaid TheQuakers,orFriends,hadcometobelievethat lessandlessattentiontothisastimewenton,and itwaswrongtoholdpeopleinslavery,whatever someoftheStatesevenpassedtheirownlawsorder- theircolor.Evenasearlyas1786,someQuakerswere ingmagistratesofthecourtsnottotakeanypartin helpingrunawayslavestoreachplaceswherethey carryingouttheFugitiveSlaveLaw. couldliveasfreemen.Thiswasthesmallbeginning Soin1850,Congress,whichrepresentedtheslave oftheRailroad.Oneincidentthatgaveimpetusto ownersaswellasthoseopposedtoslavery,passed localorganizationoccurredabouttwentyyearslater, thesecondFugitiveSlaveLaw,whichprovidedthat whenarunawayslavefoundrefugeinColumbia, anyonewhohidaslaveorhelpedhimtofreedom Pennsylvania.Hismistresslearnedwherehewas, mightbefined$1000orimprisonedforsixmonths, andcametodemandthathebegivenbacktoher. andalsomighthavetopay$1000foreachfugitive Shewassooverbearingandrudeinmanner,andthe thuslosttotheowner.AmaninBaltimorewassen- 4 STORIESOFTHEUNDERGROUNDRAILROAD THERAILROADANDITSPASSENGERS 5 tencedtoforty-fiveyearsimprisonmentforhelpinga onlywhentheNegroesfoundthemselvesinsafety slavefamilyofninetoescape.Moreover,allofficers northoftheOhioRiver,ortheMason-DixonLine. ofthelawwererequiredtohelpownerstaketheir slavesback,andanycitizencouldbecompelledunder "Godown,Moses, thelawtohelpcapturefugitives. 'WaydowninEgyptLand, Thislawmadeitmoredangerousthaneverto AndtelloldPharaoh helprunawayslaves,butitsunjustnessalsomade Toletmypeoplego."