The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1874-07-17
MUsKEGoN, July :, 1874.

MUsKEGoN, July :, 1874.
Jonathan Walker, to whom attention
was called , the Reunion of the Old.
time abolitionists, lately held 10 Chica-
go, was at one time quite prominently
known as an earnest laborer in the
underground railroad business, but
since, the necessity Cor that kind OF work
has ceased, has name, as we'll as the tri-
ais and hardships that he endured in
that cause, have been forgotten except
by few of his most intimate acquain-
tances. But there are some of those
earnest men who still remember him,
among them John q. Whittier and
Fred. Douglass, the latter OF whom
made particular effort to sec him when
here few years since.
Mr. Walker who is now seventy seven
years of age, lives on fruit farm of a.
bout eighty acres, which he owns and
cultivates, about five miles south of this
city in the township of Norton. He is
still active and vigorous. and is able to
gain a livelihood with the assistance of
the Z" branded hand =
This old veteran in the abolition cause
was born near Cape Cod, Massachusetts,,
aud until he went south was employed
as sailor aud at shipbuilding While
yet young he became acquainted with
Lundy, then the publisher of the L'Jer'
ator, and others of the Abolitionists, and
entered jealousy into their plans for
the liberation of tie slaves Lundy and
his friends were colonizationists in theory,
their plan being to found colony of
those who had been slaves, somewhere
in Mexico. For the purpose of selecting
some suitable location to put their theory
into practice, SMALL vessel was fitted
out with stock Of goods and Walker
and few others started on al expedi-
ton intending to land at the mouth of
the Rio Grande
All went well, until they had nearly
reached their destination when they
were discovered by band of Mexican
free hooters who fired upon them, kill
ing one of their company. Walker and
the others escaped by swimming to the
shore, losing their vessel and all of their
outfit This was in 1888. They sue.
ceeded in returning as far towards home
as Pensacola, Florida, where after a
time, they fitted out an other small YES
sci and began trading along the coast
having abandoned the colonization
scheme It is not to be presumed that
these Abolitionists traded " in the souls
of men, although there is no doubt but
that number of souls, inhabitiDg black
bodies, found their way to the British
West Indies through their instrumental
ity.
On one OF these excursions, in 1913
and when they had several runaway
slaves on board their vessel, their vessel
became becalmed, they were pursued,
arrested, taken back to Pensacola, and
thrown into Jail. Mr.. Walker was tried
on charge of slave.stealing, convicted
and sentenced to be branded on the
hand with the letters s. S to be burn,
in with hot iron, to stand in the stocks
eight hours, and to be imprisoned in jai
nine months. The sentence was faith
fully executed by the marshal, Ebenezel
Dorr native of Rhode Island and 9
cousin of the would.be Gov. Dorr o.
that state. While Walker was standing
in the stocks one of the men who owned
the slaves whom he was assisting to es
cape pelted his head with rotten eggs
while he was in Jail George Thompson
and other sympathiziug friends in Eng
land wrote him letter of sympathy
which was intercepted by the ja;lor anc
sent to the governor of Florida. Th