A LONG TREACHEROUS ROAD TO FREEDOM

NORMAN  V.  KELLY

 

                                             PART  ONE

 

Last month we watched a movie called FREEDOM. We were anxious to see it because my nephew Bart Shatto had a part in it and had a chance to work with the movie’s star Cuba Gooding Jr. Bart played the part of McGee who was a security man on a horse that escorted run away slaves on their road to freedom. We had seen Bart in starring roles in Broadway plays like Les Miserable and so many others and seeing him on the big screen was exciting for us here in Peoria.  It got me thinking about the Underground Railroad and what part, if any, it played here in Peoria and this area of the United States.

 

Being a historian of Peoria I can tell you that the myths about us fly high and often and many things were simply romanticized; especially tales about our gangsters.  The Underground Railroad was a marvelous thing, but it too is full of myths.  I wonder if you have ever thought about it in connection with Peoria, Tazewell County and as far northwest as Galesburg, Illinois?  What would be your guess as to how many fugitive slaves or runaway slaves came through here annually? Would you guess hundreds, thousands or perhaps none at all?    

 

Hell, I once believed that it was somehow a railroad, you know with tracks and locomotives and whatever else a train has, but of course that was silly.  I also thought that there were definite roadways, trails, and marked passageways that led north; those too were all myths. Actually the Underground Railroad was a loose network of houses, barns and hideouts far from the spying eyes of the reward hunters.  Also there were no dimly lit lanterns in the windows, no hidden maps; no guide post of any kind.  Once the slave made it to a friendly Agent House, their very lives were in his hands.  He had his own network of people, and the job of moving the escaped slaves along to safety was tedious and dangerous. The name Underground Railroad came from words like these:  Depots, Agents, Agent Houses, Conductors, Station Master, and Stations.  Remember there were millions of slaves by 1840 and even before that located in the South and Deep South and a few other states as well. The 1850 Census estimated that there were at least four million of them in the United States.  Between you and me I doubt the accuracy of that as well. Those that were owned by men in the Deep South had little or no chance of escape. Many tried and were killed or brought back to face an even harsher existence; some were maimed permanently. Those that made it to lets say the State of Illinois pretty much got there with the help of escaped slaves and people willing to risk their own lives and jail time to do so. Of course that was a secretive world even though there were plenty of neighbors, bounty hunters, and unreliable sheriffs that were always on the lookout to collect the rewards that were put up by the slave owners.

 

By the time they got to say Morton, Illinois a lot of people had to have worked together to move them along.  The slaves were hidden during the daytime and travelled only after dark. They were hidden in deep woods, barns, hay mounds, and cornfields.  At night the Depots where they were staying were visited by Agents who moved them on to Conductors, who moved them on to the next Station. The threat was not only one of life and death but one of people that were more than willing to contact authorities in order to collect rewards that were promised for the information they supplied. The threat from Bounty Hunters was constant and life threatening.  Large ads were placed in the newspapers in cities and towns identifying the missing slaves and how much the reward was for their capture. Flyers were placed in store fronts and young boys delivered them to gathering places and handed them out to hundreds of people.   That sparked a new industry in parts of the United States; it was a dangerous cat and mouse game with sometimes a fatal ending for the slave and even the person aiding them.  Some of the Bounty Hunters had no intention of returning the captured slaves to the owner because there was more money to be had by taking the slaves to Saint Louis, Missouri.  There they found a huge slave market with a slave auction that paid big money for the right type slave. The top dollar was spent on young and large males that looked like they could work until they dropped.  That was the real market, which included entire families of men, women and children. It was a huge business that seemed to get bigger with each passing year. For the young and attractive female slave the fate that awaited her was rarely spoken about, but folks knew what was going on. It was whispered about but never spoken out loud in mixed company.

 

There were Abolitionist who got a lot of credit for aiding the escaped slave, and there were a few of them in our area.  Remember there were severe laws in most states forbidding the populace to help the slave, feed them, clothe them or help them in any way.  By 1850 there were Federal laws called The Fugitive Slave Act that were painfully severe. History tells us that was the Act that forced a lot of slaves to continue moving North until they reached Canada. So the danger was not only from ordinary citizens that would seek rewards for information but the dangerous and in some cases extremely cruel Bounty Hunters that hunted down the runaway slave with bloodhounds and other vicious dogs. They were brutal and woe to anyone that stepped up to intervene. If the person helping the slave could be connected with the slave, the sheriff immediately arrested that person or persons and there were many tried and jailed along with hefty fines, which they were never able to pay. Who paid the people that helped the fugitive slave?  Why did they do it?  The Abolitionist had an agenda of their own, but for the average citizen it was simply the reward of knowing that the slave they helped would be a free man or woman.  It was that simple.

 

Neighbor spied on neighbor and local sheriff’s supplemented their meager salaries by spending most of their time running down rumors that this house or that house was hiding a run away slave. Folks soon learned not to be found with any of the slaves, so they had to find good hiding places during the day.  Imagine a peaceful cabin, maybe just a small farmhouse out on the prairie. Suddenly up would ride a half dozen men, handguns drawn, savage dogs barking while shotguns were pointed at the terrified homeowner demanding to search the property for runaway slaves. It happened over and over.  Many of the slaves were found in abandoned wells, old barns and sleeping in hay wagons with false bottoms.   It was hell to pay and many people paid the price. Still, some of the terrified slaves managed to move along the Underground Railroad line getting closer and closer to a ‘Free State.’  Many of the slaves after 1850, because of the new Federal Laws realized that they would have to make it to Canada or Mexico. Some that made it here managed to avoid moving on and stayed right here, but there were few of those fortunate slaves.  So they were moving along the line by Agents and Conductors heading north to Canada, where they felt they could be free.  Some of the slaves in the Deep South headed for Mexico and the perils that faced them heading that way were just as treacherous as heading North.  The records show that man headed for Florida and hid out with other slaves that lived more like animals than people. It was hard, dangerous and terrifying but somehow better than being a chained slave in the South. They always faced dangers and death as well as recapture trying to avoid the vast net that was cast out to run them down and capture them. They were driven by raw fear and the simple desire to be free, free to raise their families and avoid the absolute hell holes that they were running away from.

 

              A  LONG  TREACHEROUS  ROAD  TO  FREEDOM

 

                                               PART  TWO

 

                         SOME SLAVES  REACHED  OUR  AREA

 

Way back in 1833, Joseph Mathew of Tremont, Illinois had a hidden Depot near his home and played a major role in moving the slaves along when they got near him.  In Morton, Illinois Uriah Crosby, the man that built the first house in that town was another active conductor. Over in Washington, Illinois Mr. Kern is mentioned in the records as an active member as well.  I have no idea where Dillon, Illinois is but the man the town was named after, Absalom Dillon was active with Joseph Mathew of Tremont, Illinois. Some of these brave and benevolent men acted as Agents, supervising Depots and in some cases as a Conductor as well. Remember these slaves did not have an Underground Railroad in the South; they were pretty much on their own until they reached a non-slave state.  The records clearly show that other runaway slaves helped their fellow slaves but I was never able to see a name of one in our area. Not all areas supported the Underground Railroad and many citizens refused to break the law to help these slaves even though they sympathized with their plight.  The rewards were posted and not only the Bounty Hunters were out after them, many ordinary folks became paid informants; there is no doubt about that.  The Illinois “Fugitive Law” was nothing to trifle with, and many a runaway found people willing to toss them a bit of food, but as to shelter, they were own their own.

 

                                    OTHER  ACTIVE  MEMBERS.

 

I mentioned Absalom Dillon, who was said to be a very staunch Abolitionist and a man prone to violence.  He was aware of a small group of slaves that he and his friends thought they had hidden away in a dense forest area.   When he came back to check on them they were gone! Alone, he raced off on his horse in hot pursuit of the slaves now under the control of Bounty Hunters. He finally caught up with them just as they were about to cross the Sangamon River.  He quickly rode up to them firing his handgun.  He wounded one of the Bounty Hunters and watched as they raced off leaving the slaves.  He quickly took them back to his hiding place and that evening he placed the terrified fugitive slaves into the hands of a Conductor for safe passage further North.

 

I searched records looking for a Agent or Conductor in Pekin, Illinois however I was never able to find one.  That does not mean they were not there, because some of the active members never, ever spoke of their involvement in the Underground Railroad.  I found evidence of members in Kingston and Farmington, Illinois.

 

Probably the most well know active member was Moses Pettingill of Peoria, Illinois.  He had a rather large house on the corner of Jefferson and liberty Streets. The local records called it an Abolitionist House, so apparently it was not a big secret. I mean if everyone knew about it why didn’t he get caught?  Well, I hate to break anyone’s bubble but the only hint of a record in the way of numbers of run away slaves that were processed from there is only Twenty-five to Thirty. Wow…doesn’t seem like many to me. I am assuming that that was annually but the truth is the record is not that clear.  Now if you were the local Sheriff, or a spying neighbor, or a Bounty Hunter you would have a hell of a time trying to catch Mr. Pettingill in the actual act of aiding or befriending a runaway slave…you think?  That is where the myth and the romanticism come in when writers just get a bit over zealous in their stories about the Underground Railroad. 

 

While we are talking about numbers I mentioned that in 1850 the ‘guess’ was that there were at least four million slaves living here in the Untied States.  Of that massive group so-called historians estimate that one hundred thousand actually escaped.  Like I said how in the hell would they know that? So it makes me uneasy as a local Historian to give you these factual numbers because I know damn well they are just guesses. As a Para-legal I learned that the ‘Next best evidence Rule’ could always apply when the root of fact was missing.   However, I certainly do not want to give you the impression that I do not realize how important, Historical and helpful role the Underground Railroad played in the lives of the Slaves living here in America.  For some it was the only hope they had.  I also know that many of the slaves slipped over to Florida and lived in remote areas of that state with other fugitive slaves.  How many were there?  No one really has anyway of knowing.

 

In Putnam County a man named Ellsworth told a local reporter he knew of a Quaker Colony near Magnolia, Illinois that received a large number of Fugitive Slaves from Peoria and Tazewell County, and he told the reporter that they referred to the slaves as ‘Freight.’ They had all kinds of secret and cryptic notes they passed around but never spoke about their activities.  Is this a Historical fact?   Who knows?  But remember only 25-30 passed through the Pettingill’s Depot so we are not talking about a lot of activity now are we?    My point being with that small number coming here annually the chances of being detected were rather slim I would think.

 

On September 5, 1842 local authorities caught up with an underground Agent in the process of helping three runaway slaves.  They were two women and a young child being aided on their way to Canada.  This occurred on a farm just north of Peoria, Illinois very near Knox County. The Agent assaulted the Magistrate that came to arrest him and reclaim the slaves. The Agent was taken to the county jail in Knox County and the slaves were put in a small holding cell to await their owner.  A small group of Abolitionist came to the jail to demonstrate and try to convince the sheriff to free the slaves.  The article in the newspaper stated that the group was simply ignored and finally left the area.

 

News in the Peoria newspaper stated that the Sheriff in Knox County was also holding five slaves to be turned over to the owner when he arrived.  That, as I mentioned was a lot of what small town sheriffs did to augment their salaries.  Believe me the reward and the reward only was behind their actions; there is no doubt of that. There was a notice that Sheriff Peter Franz was holding 5 slaves; a mother and four children for their owner, Daniel Robinson of a Southern State. I read one article that after every capture mentioned by the sheriff people came to get a look at the slaves, often asking the sheriff if they could give them something to eat.  The general agreement is that they were allowed to actually do that and talk to them while they were being held in their ‘cage.’

 

On October 10, 1842 a Peorian, Norman H. Purple an Assistant Prosecutor was convinced he would have a bit of trouble convicting Abolitionist Owen Lovejoy from Princeton, the defendant in a trial set here in town.  Lovejoy was said to be one of the leading Undergrounds Railroad operatives and he had a lot of friends. The local folks got a few giggles out of the fact that Lovejoy was accused of harboring, clothing and feeding a young female slave named “Alice.” Lovejoy was from Princeton, Illinois but was tried here. The jury found him not guilty.

On July 9, 1844 the Reverend John Cross was indicted for activity in the local Underground Railroad. After a few small headlines about the case the local state’s attorney dropped the chares against the good reverend.  The reverend took out an ad in the newspaper which depicted a cartoon that was none too flattering for the local authorities.

In 1842 a local reporter tried to explain the local system of helping slaves, but no one paid any attention to him.  He did mention that one of the main hubs was in Princeton, Illinois. I was happy to learn that some of our good citizens aided the runaway slaves here in our area. I wonder if you or I would have helped them?

Editor’s Note:  Norm is a Peoria Historian, True Crime Writer and a monthly contributor to Adventure Sports  Outdoors.   norman.kelly@sbcglobal.net