The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-12
WORKINGSOF THEU .G.R.R.
UNDERGROUND RAILROAD THAT
HELPED FUGITIvEs TO ESCAPE,
Recent Death of One of the Famous
conductors" Recalls the Opera
tons of the system.


San Francisco Chronicle.
In the little town of Marysville o.. theirs
died on Aug. &c, at the age of ninety-two
| years, William Crafty. who was known as
one of the most notable Conductors OF
the underground railroad" for the assist
anee of escaping slaves during anti-savery
times Mr.. Crafty is said to have helped
over three thousand slaves to escape to
| Canada, and at one time reward of 5000
was offered to any one who would deliver
him, alive or dead south of Mason and
Dxon's line Slavery in this country is
thing of the past. and to-day there are few
! living who took part in the heroic events
which led up to its abolition. When William
Lloyd Garrison founded the anti-slavery
movement there were many who enrolled
themselves under his flag. But their num-
bers were few compared to the many who
upheld the pernicious system of human
| chattels" and the founders of the new
crusade for liberty for the black as well as
the white met the bitterest of fanatical OPP
! position. Yet. despite their persecution, the
abolitionists persevered, their recruits COM
ing in from all States men and women OF
all classes Drawing the hostility of their
neighbors, relatives and friends.
The agitation for the freedom Of the
blacks gave rise to the formation of one Of
which has ever existed in this or any other
country and the name Of the underground
railroad" will always be identified with
those of the noble men and women who
suffered indignity insult and Imprisonment
in the cause of the liberation of the Negro.
| The underground railroad could scarcely be
called an organization. for unlike other So
cieties, it did not print it's reports 1t was
not planned or organized by one man or
j even a few, but grew up gradually as a re-
suit of the workings of the abolitionist
party It's sole object was that of helping
the slaves to escape from the Southern
matter, for at the time laws existed which
/ required each State to surrender fugitive
slaves to their masters.
The fugitive slave act of 1850 made it the
duty of officers of the United States to en-
force the law. The entire machinery Of the
! federal government could be called upon
| by a slave-owner to capture and return to
| him his human property" and it was In
the face of this law that many men and
women banded themselves together as
members of the underground railroad" or
ganization to help the hunted blacks TO
/ reach Canada. The reputed president Of the
underground railroad was Levi Coffin, OF
the Society of Friends, or "Quakers" His
settled at Salisbury, in Massachusetts. Levi
| Cofhn was born in 1898, in North Carolina,
! and it is said of him that when only seven
| years old he remarked to his father, on see-
| ing some fugitive slaves chained together,
| that when he grew old enough he would
! help the poor negroes to escape.
COFFIN AS A LIBERATOR.
He began his work as a liberator early in
life When fifteen years old he helped
slave to escape who had been captured near
| Baltimore and brought back to North Caro-
! lima. He often helped runaway slaves who
concealed themselves in the daytime in the
woods near his fathers house, by taking
| food to their hiding place. 1t was just such
! acts as these which gave rise to the 'un-
derground railroad" a system which ex-
tended over the entire country, and which
| acted in a silent, but effective way in de-
fiance of the mandates of the fugitive slave
law. Certain parties thus GANG to be
known as the friends of the fugitives. and
the location of their houses led TO the for
nation of routes, by which the escaping
slave could safely make his way to free
dHm. These routes, in the secret language
of the IT, G. r. r. Underground railroad),
were called stations" In course or time
the lines were so well organized that in
rector who had at his command number
! of hiding places for slaves, funds collected
! for their relief, wagons for passing them on
! by night to the next station, and means OF
acquiring information as TO any pursuit.
Levi Coffin had a large oil factory at
! Newport, Ind, and the three principal lines
| from the South converged at his house, one
! from Cincinnati one from Madison and
! one from Jefersonville, Ind. Teams and
wagons Were always kept in readiness, and
the journey made by night along roads and
! byways seldom used. Every precaution to
| evade pursuit had to be taken, as the man
| hunters were often on the track, sometimes
| ahead of the slaves. There was no lack OF
| passengers on the road. and the "conduc-
! tors" never knew at what minute OF the
| day or night they might be called upon to
| take charge of a train" gentle tap on
! the door at night was the signal Of the arr
/ rival of the fugitives, and instantly the
| door would be opened. In the cold and the
| rain there would be wagon-load Of fugi-
| women
conductor" piloted them for ten, twenty
or thirty miles on their perilous journey.
After few short hours of rest they would
| be conveyed by conductor TO another
station" and thus from station to station
the journey to freedom would be continued,
the hapless fugitives never knowing at
what minute they might be overtaken ane
captured, and their white friends punished
for aiding and abetting their attempt to
escape from bondage. 1t was not only in
+ the rural districts that the stations ex-
] listed; they hourished also in the cities, and
| one OF the most important of them was in
the city of Cincinnati, on the very border
The conductors" of the Underground
railroad asked no compensation for the
| fugitive slaves passage to the linn or
| Freedom" Canada was called.
SLAVE HUNTERS BAFFLED.
Isaac Hooper. another prominent Quaker,
was one of the well-known managers of
the road and time and again Coils and
| Hooper bafHed the officers Of the law,
starting their train under the very eyes
| of the slave-hunters. On one occasion a
party of forty slaves reached Cincinnati.
which was the most important station on
1 the underground route, and the police were
on the alert TO capture them. Hooper and
! Coffin dressed the men as women, and the
women as men, put them in carriages with
smartly dressed drivers and drove them
out of town in various directions. The OFF,
GERS thought that the carriages contained a
wedding party, and never suspected that
4 the men and women were the fugitiveS they
we're looking for. At another time the off,
GERS were thrown off the track by being
allowed 10 capture a well-known abolition
/ list and a number Of free colored people, the
! real cuprits easily getting out of the way
while the police were busy with the new
+ arrests.
The Zines" OF the underground railroad
I extended in all directions, and perfect net
work of secret routes existed. Men and
women of all classes belonged to the or
ganzation. The farmer loaned his cart and
! the capitalist his money women gave
/ clothes and food. and even children helped
! the cause by giving to their hapless little
! colored friends toys and playthings.
/ The strictest secrecy had TO be MAIN
1 tanned. and conductor" only knew the
/ one from whom he received his train"
! and the one to whom he delivered it for
passage along the road. Travel by steam
! railroads and communication by telegraph
4 was in its infancy in the early days Of the
/ ''slaVe-stealers, and Ii was possible for a
| party OF men to travel hundreds OF miles
! before a hue and cry was raised Thou
! sands Of fugitive slaves were enabled 10
reach Canada by the underground rail-
road" and thus gain their liberty.