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 Thomas
Garrett
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Thomas
Garrett A white Quaker, whose family hid runaway slaves in its Delaware County farmhouse when he was a child, Garrett credited an experience he characterized as transcendental with directing his life's work toward aiding in the escapes of slaves. The incident, in which a black servant employed by Garrett's family was kidnapped and nearly forced into slavery, was a watershed event for the young Garrett, who would devote his life to the abolitionist cause. It is thought that his move to Wilmington, Delaware from outside of Philadelphia was a strategic choice. |
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In 1813, he married Margaret Sharpless who died after the birth of their fifth child in 1828. In 1830, Garrett married Rachel Mendenhall, the daughter of a fellow Quaker abolitionist from Chester County, Pennsylvania (some Mendenhalls changed the second 'e' in the name to an 'i' and subsequent generations returned it to its original spelling). They had one child, Eli, together and remained married for 38 years. While maintaining an inconsistently successful hardware business, Garrett acted as a key Station Master on the eastern line of the Underground Railroad. His activities brought him in contact with Philadelphia Station Master William Still. The correspondence between the two men, preserved and published by Still, provides scholars with an intimate perspective of their struggle and those of countless Agents and Conductors on the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad. |
 Margaret Garrett |
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In 1848, Thomas Garrett and a fellow abolitionist John Hunn were tried and convicted for aiding in the escape of the Hawkins family, who had been slaves in Maryland. Both men were given considerable fines which rendered them nearly bankrupt. In his closing address, Garrett regaled those in the courtroom with a redoubled commitment to help runaway slaves. Eyewitness accounts detail the particular contrition of a slave-holding juror from southern Delaware who rose to shake Garrett's hand and apologize at the close of the impassioned speech. Following the Civil War, Garrett continued his work for minority groups in America. In 1870, when blacks were given the right to vote by the establishment of the 15th Amendment, Garrett was carried on the shoulders of black supporters through the streets of Wilmington as they hailed him "our Moses." Less than one year later, on January 25, 1871, Thomas Garrett died. His funeral, attended by many of the black residents of the city, featured a procession of Garrett's coffin - borne from shoulder to shoulder up Quaker Hill. |
 Thomas Garrett |
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 William Still |
William
Still Born a free black man in 1821 in Indian Mills, New Jersey, William Still was an entrepreneur who, despite little formal education, became a successful businessman, author and important figure on the Eastern Line of the Underground Railroad. Still's parents were born slaves, but escaped to New Jersey before his birth. His mother, Charity, on her first attempt to escape slavery, was captured and returned to the south with the four children with whom she had fled. On the subsequent, successful attempt, she was forced to leave her two sons, Peter and Levy (who, years later, died in slavery), behind. Charity's angry owner sold the boys further south after her escape. William Still was the last of the fourteen children born to the Stills after they made their free home in New Jersey. |
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After marrying Letitia George in 1847, William Still began working in the Philadelphia Antislavery Society Offices. Still interviewed every slave he came in contact with and kept comprehensive records of his accounts even after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 when most Agents in the Railroad destroyed their paperwork. He published his records, which include numerous letters from Thomas Garrett, in "The Underground Railroad" in 1872. This remains one of the few, and certainly the most detailed, accounts of the UGRR to exist. On one extraordinary occasion, Still found himself aiding a fugitive who they both came to learn was one of his long-lost brothers, Peter Still! An active community leader, Still successfully campaigned to end segregation on Philadelphia trolley cars in 1867. He started the Berean Presbyterian Church in 1884 and a black-owned Savings & Loan four years later, in addition to many other socially conscious efforts. William Still died in 1902. His obituary in The New York Times posited that Still was "one of the best-educated members of his race, who was known throughout the country as the 'Father of the Underground Railroad.'" Learn more about the life and times of William Still by logging on to the Still Family Foundation's website. Get information about the new original dramatic musical, "Stand by the River", which celebrates William Still's accomplishments.
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Harriet Tubman Of all the names associated with the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman's is the most legendary. Called the black "Joan of Arc," she is credited with personally escorting three hundred slaves to freedom on more than twenty separate missions. Such missions entailed hundreds of miles of walking, navigating through rough terrain, outwitting professional slave catchers and evading hunting dogs. |
 Harriet Tubman |
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Though her age was never exactly determined, Tubman was born around 1820 near Bucktown, Maryland and married John Tubman in 1845. John Tubman was a free black man who ironically did not support his wife's desire to be free. She remained with him until 1849 when she escaped from the Dorchester County, Maryland farm where she was enslaved. The first of her twenty missions was believed to be a trip to Baltimore in 1850 to retrieve her sister and her sister's children; several subsequent missions rescued other family members. She earned money for her missions by working in Philadelphia and Cape May, New Jersey and through the generous support of Station Masters like Thomas Garrett. Believing herself guided by God on her missions, Tubman and her 100% success rate made her a legend. Prior to and during the Civil War, a $40,000 reward was offered for her arrest. Tubman settled in Auburn, New York and died there in 1913.
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 Samuel D. Burris |
Samuel
D. Burris A free black man who acted as both an Agent and Conductor on the Railroad, Burris' most remarkable moment came in the form of his own narrow escape. Because the law allowed for the sale into slavery of any free black person convicted of aiding in the escape of slaves, Burris' risk in acting as a conductor on the Underground Railroad was particularly great. Burris was arrested in Dover, Delaware for absconding with slaves and was eventually tried and convicted. He was placed on the auction block in the center of Dover's town green, stripped nearly naked to facilitate his inspection by slave buyers, and endured the humiliation of being appraised for sale. |
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When the auction began and Burris was sold, he was led away by the buyer who whispered in his ear,"You have been bought with abolition gold." Burris' purchase had been secretly organized and funded by the Pennsylvania Antislavery Society. Isaac A. Flint was chosen to pose as a southern buyer and he simply imitated the actions of the authentic buyers at the auction. Burris was free; he never ventured south of the Mason-Dixon line again. He later moved to California for business prospects.
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Abraham
D. Shadd (1801-1882) Mary
Ann Shadd |
 Lucretia Mott |
Lucretia
Mott
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Hawkins
Family They arrived at Ezekiel Jenkins' home in Camden, Delaware. From there, they trekked to Middletown to John Hunn's farm during a snowstorm. When a neighbor saw 'unfamiliar negroes' at Hunn's farm and reported them to the Constable, a search party arrived to investigate. Samuel, concealed in the barn but guessing that he had been found out, attempted to run from the barn and was observed by the search party. Doubling back again, perhaps to gather his family to flee, Samuel was cornered. Brandishing a knife, Samuel stood threatened by the Constable (who had a rifle) until John Hunn insisted that each give up his weapon in order to spare Samuel. Samuel produced his legal papers from Queen Anne County declaring his freedom, whereupon the party determined them to be fakes. After one of the men in the party attested to the fact that Samuel was free, but that he was being accused of absconding with several slaves in his family, it was decided that everyone must appear before a magistrate in Middletown, Delaware to settle the matter. At the magistrate's offices, one of the men from the Maryland search party drew Samuel aside and promised him that, if he gave up his two older sons, he would be allowed to proceed north with his wife and family without them. Samuel agreed and Hunn, in spite of serious misgivings, wrote to his wife to bring forth the rest of the family. When the family arrived, they were all taken into custody and brought to New Castle. The man had lied to Hawkins. The Sheriff of New Castle, roused from slumber at midnight on that Saturday as the group arrived, determined the commitment to be illegal and released the family into Thomas Garrett's care. Garrett, having been alerted to the situation earlier that day, arranged a meeting with the Chief Justice of Delaware, Judge Booth, during which the Judge declared the commitment illegal and freed the family. Garrett had readied a wagon to take the family safely north to Wilmington. After a short stop at Garrett's home, the Hawkins' were moved 25 miles away to safety, as Garrett later stated. After days of relentless effort applied by the Maryland searchers and slave owners and a new and legal commitment produced by the Sheriff, the Hawkins' were free. Garrett and Hunn were subsequently sued by the slave owners, found guilty and fined. |
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The
Trial of 1848
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 John Hunn |
John
Hunn John
Wales |
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James
Bayard Willard
Hall Roger
Brooke Taney |
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