STILL'S
UNDERGROUND RAIL ROAD RECORDS,
REVISED EDITION.
(Previously Published in 1879 with title: The Underground Railroad)
WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR.
NARRATING
THE HARDSHIPS, HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES AND DEATH STRUGGLES
OF THE
SLAVES
IN THEIR EFFORTS FOR FREEDOM.
TOGETHER WITH
SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE EMINENT FRIENDS OF FREEDOM, AND
MOST LIBERAL AIDERS AND ADVISERS OF THE ROAD
BY
WILLIAM STILL,
For many years connected with the Anti-Slavery Office in Philadelphia, and Chairman of the Acting
Vigilant Committee of the Philadelphia Branch of the Underground Rail Road.

Illustrated with 70 Fine Engravings by Bensell, Schell and Others,
and Portraits from Photographs from Life.

Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant that has escaped from his master unto thee. - Deut. xxiii 16.

SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.

PHILADELPHIA:
WILLIAM STILL, PUBLISHER
244 SOUTH TWELFTH STREET.
1886

pp. 153 - 162

[Pg. 153]

JOHN PETTIFOOT

     Anglo-African and Anglo-Saxon were about equally mixed in the organization of Mr. Pettifoot.  His education, with regard to books, was quite limited.  He had, however, managed to steal the art of reading and writing, to a certain extent.  Notwithstanding the Patriarchal Institution of the South, he was to all intents and purposes a rebel at heart, consequently he resolved to take a trip on the Underground Rail Road to Canada.  So, greatly to the surprise of those whom he was serving, he was one morning inquired for in vain.  No one could tell what had become of Jack no more than if he had vanished like a ghost.  Doubtless Messrs. McHenry and McCulloch were under the impression that newspapers and money possessed great power and could, under the circumstances, be used with entire effect.  The following advertisement is evidence, that Jack was much needed at the tobacco factory.

     Jack was aware that a trap of this kind would most likely be set for him, and that the large quantity of Anglo-Saxon blood in his veins would not save him.  He was aware, too, that he was the reputed son of a white gentleman, who was a professional dentist, by the name of Dr. Peter Cards.  The Doctor, however, had been called away by death, so Jack could see no hope or virtue in having a white father, although a "chivalric gentleman," while living, and a man of high standing amongst slave-holders.  Jack was a member of the Baptist church, too, and hoped he was a good Christian; but he could look for no favors from the Church, or sympathy on the score of his being a Christian.  He knew very well were it known, that he had the love of freedom in his heart, or the idea of the Underground Rail Road in his head, he would be regarded as having committed the " unpardonable sin."  So Jack looked to none of these "broken reeds" in Richmond in the hour of his trial, but to Him above, whom he had not seen, and to the Underground Rail Road.  He felt pretty well satisfied, that if Providence would aid him, and he could get a conductor to put him on the right road to Canada, he would be all right.  Accordingly, he acted up to his best light, and thus he succeeded admirably, as the sequel shows.
     "JOHN HENRY PETTIFOOT.  John is a likely young man, quite bright in color and in intellect also.  He was the son of Peter Cards, a dentist by profession, and white man by complexion.  As a general thing, he had been used 'very well;' had no fault to find, except this year, being hired to

[Pg. 154]
McHenry & McCulloch, tobacconists, of Petersburg, Va., whom he found rather more oppressive than he agreed for, and supposing that he had 'no right' to work for any body for nothing, he 'picked up his bed and walked.'  His mistress had told him that he was 'willed free,' at her death, but John was not willing to wait her "motions to die."
     He had a wife in Richmond, but was not allowed to visit her.  He left one sister and a step-father in bondage.  Mr. Pettifoot reached Philadelphia by the Richmond line of steamers, stowed away among the pots and cooking utensils.  On reaching the city, he at once surrendered himself into the hands of the Committee, and was duly looked after by the regular acting members.

-------------------------

EMANUEL T. WHITE.

     EMANUEL was about twenty-five years of age, with seven-eighths of white blood in his veins, medium size, and a very smart and escape from Edward H. Hubbert, a ship timber merchant of Norfolk, Va.  Under Hubbert's yoke he had served only five years, having been bought by him from a certain Aldridge Mandrey, who was described as a " very cruel man," and would " rather fight than eat."  "I have licks that will carry me to my grave, and will be there till the flesh rots off my bones," said Emanuel, adding that his master was a "devil" though a member of the Reformed Methodist Church.  But his mistress, he said, was a " right nice little woman, and kept many licks off me."  "If you said you were sick, he would whip it out of you."  From Mandrey he once fled, and was gone two months, but was captured at Williamsburg, Va., and received a severe flogging, and carried home.  Hubbert finally sold Emanuel to a Mr. Grigway of Norfolk; with Emanuel Mr. G. was pretty well suited, but his wife was not—he had "too much white blood in him" for her.  Grigway and his wife were members of the Episcopal Church.  In this unhappy condition Emanuel found a conductor of the Underground Rail Road.  A secret passage was secured for him on one of the Richmond steamers, and thus he escaped from his servitude.  The Committee attended to his wants, and forwarded him on as usual.  From Syracuse, where he was breathing quite freely under the protection of the Rev. J. W. Loguen, he wrote the following letter:

                                                                               SYRACUSE, July 29, 1857
     MY DEAR FRIEND, MR. STILL: - I got safe through to Syracuse, and found the house of our friend, Mr. J. W. Loguen.  Many thanks to you for your kindness to me.  I wish to say to you, dear sir, that I expect my clothes will be sent to Dr. Landa, and I wish, if you please, get them and send them to the care of Mr. Loguen, at Syracuse, for me.  He will be in possession of my whereabouts and will send them to me.  Remember me to Mr. Landa and Miss Millen Jespan, and much to you and your family.
                                                                          Truly Yours,               MANUAL T. WHITE.

[Pg. 155]

THE ESCAPE OF A CHILD FOURTEEN MONTHS OLD.

     There is found the following brief memorandum on the Records of the Underground Rail Road Book, dated July, 1857 :
     "A little child of fourteen months old was conveyed to its mother, who had been compelled to flee without it nearly nine months ago."
     While the circumstances connected with the coming of this slave child were deeply interesting, no further particulars than the simple notice above were at that time recorded.  Fortunately, however, letters from the good friends, who plucked this infant from the jaws of Slavery, have been preserved to throw light on this little one, and to show how true-hearted sympathizers with the Slave labored amid dangers and difficulties to save the helpless bondman from oppression.  It will be observed, that both these friends wrote from Washington, D. O, the seat of Government, where, if Slavery was not seen in its worst aspects, the Government in its support of Slavery appeared in a most revolting light.

LETTER FROM "J. B."

                                                                                                           WASHINGTON, D. C., July 12, 1857.

     DEAR SIR: - Some of our citizens, I am told, lately left here for Philadelphia, three of whom were arrested and brought back.
     I beg you will inform me whether two others - (I., whose wife is in Philadelphia, was one of them,) ever reached your city.
     To-morrow morning Mrs. Weems, with her baby, will start for Philadelphia and see you probably over night.               
                                                      Yours truly,                                 J. B.

     "J. B." was not only a trusty and capable conductor of the Underground Rail Road in Washington, but was also a practical lawyer, at the same time.  His lawyer-like letter, in view of the critical nature of the case, contained but few words, and those few naturally enough were susceptible of more than one construction.
     Doubtless those styled "our citizens," - "Three of whom were arrested and brought back," - were causing great anxiety to this correspondent, not knowing how soon he might find himself implicated in the "running off," etc.  So, while he felt it to be his duty, to still aid the child, he was determined, if the enemy intercepted his letter, he should not find much comfort or information.  The cause was safe in such careful hands.  The following letters, bearing on the same case, are also from another good conductor, who was then living in Washington.

LETTERS FROM E. L. STEVENS.

                                                                                                            WASHINGTON, D. C., July 8, ,1857.

     MY DEAR SIR: - I write you now to let you know that the children of E. are yet well, and that Mrs. Arrah Weems will start with one of them for Philadelphia to-morrow or next day.  She will be with you probably in the day train.  She goes for the purpose of

[Pg. 156]
making an effort to redeem her last child, now in Slavery.  The whole amount necessary is raised, except about $300.  She will take her credentials with her, and you can place the most implicit reliance on her statements.  The story in regard to the Weems' family was published in Frederick Douglass' paper two years ago.  Since then the two middle boys have been redeemed and there is only one left in Slavery, and he is in Alabama.  The master has agreed to take for him just what he gave, $1100.  Mr. Lewis Tappanhas his letter and the money, except the amount specified.  There were about $5000 raised in England to redeem this family, and they are now all free except this one.  And there never was a more excellent and worthy family than the Weems family.  I do hope, that Mrs. W. will find friends who can advance the amount required.
                                                                          Truly Yours,                                 E. L. STEVENS.

                                                                                                           WASHINGTON, D. C., July 13th, 1857.

     In this instance, also, as in the case of  “J. B.,” the (are and anxiety of other souls, besides this child, crying for deliverance, weighed heavily on the mind of Mr. Stevens, as may be inferred from certain references in his letters.  Mr. Stevens’ love of humanity, and impartial freedom, even in those dark days of Slavery, when it was both unpopular and unsafe to allow the cries of the bondman to awaken the feeling of humanity to assist the suffering, was constantly leading him to take sides with the oppressed, and as he appears in this correspondence, so it was his wont daily to aid the helpless, who were all around him.  Arrah Weems, who had the care of the child, alluded to so touchingly by Mr. Stevens, had known, to her heart’s sorrow, how intensely painful it was to a mother's feelings to have her children torn from her by a cruel master and sold.  For Arrah had had a number of children sold, and was at that very time striving diligently to raise money to redeem the last one of them.  And through such kind hearted friends as Mr. Stevens, the peculiar hardships of this interesting family of Weems’ were brought to the knowledge of thousands of philanthropists in this country and England, and liberal contributions had already

[Pg. 157]
been made by friends of the Slave on both sides of the ocean.  It may now be seen, that while this child had not been a conscious sufferer from the wicked system of Slavery, it had been the object of very great anxiety and suffering to several persons, who had individually perilled their own freedom, for its redemption.  This child, however, was safely brought to the Vigilance Committee, in Philadelphia, and was duly forwarded, via friends in New York, to its mother, in Syracuse, where she had stopped to work and wait for her little one, left behind at the time she escaped.

-------------------------

ESCAPE OF A YOUNG SLAVE MOTHER.
LEFT HER LITTLE BABY-BOY, LITTLE GIRL AND HUSBAND BEHIND.

     She anxiously waits their coming in Syracuse, N. Y.  Not until after the foregoing story headed, the "Escape of a Child," etc., had been put into the hands of the printer and was in type, was the story of the mother discovered, although it was among the records preserved.  Under changed names, in many instances, it has been found to be no easy matter to cull from a great variety of letters, records and advertisements, just when wanted, all the particulars essential to complete many of these narratives.  The case of the child, alluded to above, is a case in point.  Thus, however, while it is impossible to introduce the mother's story in its proper place,yet, since it has been found, it is too important and interesting to be left out.  It is here given as follows:

     EMELINE CHAMPMAN, so particularly described in the "Baltimore Sun" of the 23d of September, 1856, arrived by the regular Underground Rail Road train from Washington.  In order to escape the responsibility attached to her original name, she adopted the name of Susan Bell.  Thus for freedom she was willing to forego her name, her husband, and even her little children.  It was a serious sacrifice; but she had been threatened with the auction block, and she well understood what that meant.  With regard to usage, having lived away from her owner, Emeline did not complain of any very hard times.  True, she had been kept at work very constantly, and her owner had very faithfully received all her hire.  Emeline had not even been allowed enough of her hire to find herself in clothing, or anything for the support of her two children - for these non-essentials, her kind mistress allowed her to seek elsewhere, as best she could.  Emeline's husband was named John Henry; her little girl she called Margaret

[Pg. 158]
Ann, and her babe she had named after its father, all with the brand of Slavery upon them.  The love of freedom, in the breast of this spirited young Slave-wife and mother, did not extinguish the love she bore to her husband and children, however otherwise her course, in leaving them, as she did, might appear.  For it was just this kind of heroic and self-sacrificing struggle, that appealed to the hearts of men and compelled attention.  The letters of Biglow and Stevens, relative to the little child, prove this fact, and additional testimony found in the appended letter from Rev. J. W. Loguen conclusively confirms the same.  Indeed, who could close his eyes and ears to the plaintive cries of such a mother?  Who could refrain from aiding on to freedom children honored in such a heroic parent?

                                                                                                                                              SYRACUSE, Oct. 5, 1856.
     DEAR FRIEND STILL: - I write to you for Mrs. Susan Bell, who was at your city some time in September last.  She is from Washington city.  She left her dear little children behind (two children).  She is stopping in our city, and wants to hear from her children very much indeed.  She wishes to know if you have heard form Mr. Biglow, of Washington city.  She will remain here until she can hear from you.  She feels very anxious about her children, I will assure you.  I should have written before this, but I have been from home much of the time since she came to our city.  She wants to know if Mr. Bigelow has heard anything about her husband.  If you have not written to Mr. Biglow she wishes you would.  She sends her love to you and your dear family.  She says that you were all kind to her, and she does not forget it.  You will direct your letter to me, dear brother, and I will see that she gets it.
     Miss. F. E. Watkins left our house yesterday for Ithaca, and other places in that part of the State.  Frederick Douglass, Wm. J. Watkins and others were with us last week; Gerritt Smith with others.  Miss Watkins is doing great good in our part of the State.  We think much indeed of her.  She is such a good and glorious speaker, that we are all charmed with her.  We have had thirty-one fugitives in the last twenty-seven days; but you, no doubt, have had many more than that.  I hope the good Lord may bless you and spare you long to do good to the hunted and outraged among our brethren.
                                                                       Yours truly,                             J. W. LOGUEN,
                                                                                           Agent of the Underground Rail Road.

-------------------------

SAMUEL W. JOHNSON
ARRIVAL FROM THE "DAILY DISPATCH" OFFICE.

     "SAM"  was doing Slave labor at the office of the Richmond "Daily Dispatch," as a carrier of that thoroughly pro-slavery sheet.  "Sam" had possessed himself somehow of a knowledge of reading and writing a little, and for the news of the day he had quite an itching ear.  Also with regard to his freedom he was quite solicitous.  Being of an ambitious turn of mind, he hired his time, for which he paid his master $175 per annum in regular quarterly payments.  Besides paying this amount, he had to find himself in board, clothing, and pay doctor's expenses.  He had had more than one owner in his life.  The last one, however, he spoke of thus:  "His name is

[Pg. 159]
James B. Foster, of Richmond, a very hard man.  He owns three more Slaves besides myself."  In escaping, "Sam" was obliged to leave his wife, who was owned by Christian Bourdon.  His attachment to her, judging from his frequent warm expressions of affection, was very strong.  But, as strong as it was, he felt that he could not consent to remain in slavery any longer.  "Sam" had luckily come across a copy of Uncle Tom's Cabin, and in perusing it, all his notions with regard to "Masters and Servants," soon underwent an entire change, and he began to cast his eyes around him to see how he might get his freedom.  One who was thoroughly awake as he was to the idea of being free, with a fair share of courage, could now and then meet with the opportunity to escape by the steamers or schooners coming North.  Thus Samuel found the way open and on one of the steamers came to Philadelphia.  On arriving, he was put at once in the charge of Committee.  While in their hands he seemed filled with astonishment at his own achievements, and such spontaneous expressions as naturally flowed from his heart thrilled and amazed his new found friends,  and abundant satisfaction was afforded, that Samuel Washington Johnson would do no discredit to his fugitive comrades in Canada.  So the Committee gladly aided him on his journey.
     After arriving in Canada, Samuel wrote frequently and intelligently.  The subjoined letter to his wife shows how deeply he was attached to her, and, at the same time, what his views were of Slavery.  The member of the Committee to whom it was sent with the request, that it should be forwarded to her, did not meet with the opportunity of doing so.  A copy of it was preserved with other Underground Rail Road documents.

LETTER FROM SAMUEL W. JOHNSON TO HIS WIFE.

     My Dear Wife I now embrace this golden opportunity of writing a few Lines to inform you that I am well at present engoying good health and hope that these few lines may find you well also   My dearest wife I have Left you and now I am in a foreign land about fourteen hundred miles from you but though my wife my thoughts are upon you all the time   My dearest Frances I hope you will remember me now gust as same as you did when I were there with you because my mind are with you night and day the Love that I bear for you in my breast is greater than I thought it was if I had thought I had so much Love for you I dont think I ever could Left being I have escape I and has fled into a land of freedom I can but stop and look over my past Life and say what a fool I was for staying in bondage as Long  My dear wife I dont want you to get married before you send me some letters because I never shall get married until I see you again  My mind dont deceive and it appears to me as if I shall see you again at my time of writing this letter I am desitute of money  I have not got in no business yet but when I do get into business I shall write you and also remember you Tell my Mother and Brother and all enquiring friends that I am now safe in free state  I cant tell where I am at present but Direct your Letters to Mr. William Still in Philadelphia and I will get them  Answer this as soon as you can if you please for if you write the same day you receive it it will take a fortnight to reach me  No more to relate at present but still remain your affectionate husband Mr. Still please defore this piece out if you please.
                                                                                                                        SAMUEL WASHINGTON JOHNSON

[Pg. 160]

     Whether Samuel ever met with the opportunity of communicating with his wife, the writer cannot say.  But of all the trials which Slaves had to endure, the separations of husbands and wives were the most difficult to bear up under.  Although feeling keenly the loss of his wife, Samuel's breast swelled with the thought of freedom, as will be seen from the letter which he wrote immediately after landing in Canada:

                                                                                                                         ST. CATHARINE, UPPER CANADA WEST.

     MR. WILLIAM STILL: - I am now in safety  I arrived at home safe on the 11th inst at 12 o'clock M.  So I hope that you will now take it upon yourself to inform me something of that letter I left at your house that night when I left there and write me word how you are and how is your wife  I wish you may excuse this letter for I am so full that I cannot express my mind at all  I am only got $1.50 and I feel as if I had an independent fortune but I dont want you to think that I am going to be idle because I am on free ground and I shall always work though I am not got nothing to do at present  Direct your letter to the post office as soon as possible.
                                                                                                                         SAMUEL W. JOHNSON

-------------------------

FAMILY FROM BALTIMORE

STEPHEN AMOS, alias HENRY JOHNSON, HARRIET, alias MARY JANE JOHNSON (man and wife), and their four children, ANN REBECCA, WM. H., ELIZABETH and MARY ELLEN.  Doubtless, in the eyes of a Slaveholder, a more "likely-looking" family could not readily be found in Baltimore, than the one to be now briefly noticed.  The mother and her children were owned by a young slave-holder, who went by the name of William Giddings, and resided in Prince George's county, Md.  Harriet acknowledged, that she had been treated "tolerably well in earlier days" for one in her condition; but, as in so many instances in the experience of Slaves, latterly, times had changed with her and she was compelled to serve under a new master who oft-times treated her "very severely."  On one occasion, seven years previously, a brother of her owner for a trifling offence struck and kicked her so brutally, that she was immediately thrown into a fit of sickness, which lasted "all one summer" - from this she finally recovered.
     On another occasion, about one year previous to her escape, she was seized by her owner and thrust into prison to be sold.  In this instance the interference of the Uncle of Harriet’s master saved her from the auction block.  The young master, was under age, and at the same time under the guardian ship of his Uncle.  The young master had early acquired an ardent taste for fast horses, gambling, etc.  Harriet felt, that her chances for the future in the hands of such a brutal master could not be other than miserable.  Her husband had formerly been owned by John S. Giddings, who was said to have been a “mild man.”  He had allowed Stephen (her husband) to buy himself, and for eighteen months prior to the flight, he had been

[Pg. [161]
what was called a free man.  It should also be further stated in justice to Stephen’s master, that he was so disgusted with the manner in which Stephen’s wife was treated, that he went so far as to counsel Stephen to escape with his wife and children.  Here at least is one instance where a Maryland slave-holder lends his influence to the Underground Rail Road cause.  The counsel was accepted, and the family started on their perilous flight.  And although they necessarily bad manifest trials and difficulties to discourage and beset them, they battled bravely with all these odds and reached the Vigilance Committee safely.  Harriet was a bright mulatto, with marked features of character, and well made, with good address and quite intelligent.  She was about twenty—six years of age.  The children also were remarkably fine-looking little creatures, but too young to know the horrors of Slavery.  The Committee at once relieved them of their heavy load of anxiety by cheering words and administering to their necessities with regard to food, money, etc.  After the family had somewhat recovered from the fatigue and travel-worn condition in which they arrived, and were prepared to resume their journey, the Committee gave them the strictest caution with regard to avoiding slave-hunters, and also in reference to such points on the road where they would be most in danger of going astray from a lack of knowledge of the way.  Then, with indescribable feelings of sympathy, free tickets were tendered them, and they having been conducted to the depot, were sent on their way rejoicing.

-------------------------

ELIJAH HILTON
FROM RICHMOND

     After many years of hard toiling for the support of others, the yoke pressed so heavily upon Elijah's shoulders, that he could not endure Slave life any longer.  In the hope of getting rid of his bondage, by dexterous management and a resolute mind, which most determined and thoughtful men exercise when undertaking to accomplish great objects, he set about contriving to gain his freedom.  In proof of Elijah's truthfulness, the advertisement of Mr. R. J. Christians is here offered, as taken from a Richmond paper, about the time that Elijah passed through Philadelphia on the Underground Rail Road, in 1857.

     From his infancy up to the hour of his escape, not a breath of free air

[Pg. 162]
had he ever been permitted to breathe.  He was first owned by Mrs. Caroline Johnson, “ a stingy widow, the owner of about fifty slaves, and a member of Dr. Plummer’s church.”  Elijah, at her death, was willed to her son, Major Johnson, who was in the United States service.  Elijah spoke of him as a “ favorable man,” but added, “I’d rather be free.  I believe I can treat myself better than he can or anybody else.”  For the last nineteen years he had been hired out, sometimes as waiter, sometimes in a tobacco factory, and for five years in the Coal Mines.
     At the mines he was treated very brutally, but at Cornelius Hall's Tobacco factory, the suffering he had to endure seems almost incredible.  The poor fellow, with the scars upon his person and the unmistakable earnestness of his manner, only needed to be seen and heard to satisfy the most incredulous of the truth of his story.  For refusing to be flogged, one time at Hall’s Factory, the overseer, in a rage, “took up a hickory club” and laid his head “open on each side.”  Overpowered and wounded, he was stripped naked and compelled to receive THREE HUNDRED LASHES, by which he was literally excoriated from head to foot.  For six months afterwards
he was “laid up.”  Last year he was hired out for “one hundred and eighty dollars,” out of which he “ received but five dollars.”  This year he brought “one hundred and ninety dollars.” Up to the time he escaped, he had received “ two dollars,” and the promise of “ more at Christmas.”  Left brothers and sisters, all ignorant of his way of escape.  The following pass brought away by Elijah speaks for itself, and will doubtless be interesting to some of our readers who are ignorant of what used to be Republican usages in the “land of the Free.”
                                                                                                                                  RICHMOND, July 3d, 1857
     Permit the Bearer Elijah to pass to and from my FACTORY, to Frederick Williams, In the Vallie,
for one month, until 11 o'clock at night                                                                    By A. B. Wells,
                                                                                                                                 R. J. CHRISTIAN
     [PINE APPLE FACTORY]
     As usual, the Vigilance Committee tendered aid to Elijah, and forwarded him on to Canada, whence he wrote back as follows:
 

                                                                                                                  TORONTO, Canada West, July 28.
     Dear friend in due respect to your humanity and nobility I now take my pen in hand to inform you of my health  I am enjoying a reasonable proportion of health at this time and hope when these few lines come to hand they may find you and family the same dear Sir I am in Toronto and are working at my ole branch of business with meny of my friends.  I want you to send those to toronto to Mr. Tueharts on Edward St. what I have been talking about is my Clothes I came from Richmond Va. and expect my things to come to you.  So when they come to you then you will send them to Jesse Tuehart Edward St no 43.
     I must close by saying I have no more at present  I still remain your brother,
                                                                                                                   ELIJAH HILTON.

< CLICK HERE to go BACK to PAGES 146 to 152 >    <CLICK HERE to GO to PAGES 163 to 172  >..
 

< BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS >