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HomeMy WebLinkAboutugrr (4)HE 111STOmmENTE T 1 d -w - U. I * 04 to o u na, C Searching for the Path to Freedom. Infon-nation compiled by The History Center volunteers. 2005 THE NTEI#i Defining the Story 2 The Underground Railroad in Tompkins County: Searching for the Path to Freedom. It is estimated that between 40,000 and 75,000 individuals made the perilous journey on the Underground Railroad that linked the Southern slave states to Canada. Tompkins County was an important part of that Freedom Trail. And like many location across the country we recognize that records and diaries must have been kept. Unfortunately, most of this concrete evidence no longer exists. Many people, in fear of their life or their family's reputation, destroyed such evidence. But through oral tradition, local legend and limited documentary evidence, the stories remain an important part of our community's history. For instance, no written record cites Rogues Harbor in Lansing as a station, but through local oral tradition it remains one of the most famous sites in the county. Tracing the Journev Travelers through Tompkins County arrived from Elmira either on foot at night or hidden in farmers' wagons, stopping about every 10 or 20 miles to select the next safe house along their route towards the North Star. Some groups had experienced "conductors" who knew the way. Harriet Tubman, the most famous of them, made 19 rescue missions to the South. The railway imagery wag Used ag a 3 code to mask the activity. Also, the route sometimes followed railway tracks and sometimes the travelers were even shipped as packages in trains. Most travelers were just passing through Tompkins County, as their ultimate destination was Rochester, where Frederick Douglass and his compatriots arranged their journey to Canada. Land routes through Tompkins County ran along the western side of Cayuga lake from Hayt's Chapel to Trumansburg to Steamburg to Farmer (now Interlaken), and along the east side to Ludlowville to Auburn to Syracuse and from there to Rochester. Discovering the Kev Players The central "Underground Station" in Ithaca was St. James AME Zion Church on Wheat Street, established in 1833. Perhaps the most famous and certainly one of the most resourceful rescuers in Ithaca was George Johnson. In his barber shop on State Street Johnson gave the fugitives haircuts and new clothes in order to change their appearance. He reportedly arranged their voyage on the steamer The Simeon DeWitt which took the refugees to Cayuga Bridge at the northern end of Cayuga Lake. The black community in Tompkins County was established as early as the turn of the 19th century. Some, like Peter Webb, purchased their freedom from their masters, while others remained slaves until 1827 when slavery in New York'State was abolished. The event was celebrated in Ithaca with a parade on July 5th, 1827. 4 When the Fugitive Slave Law was passed in 1850, many upstate residents reacted with great indignation. But not everyone in Tompkins County was an abolitionist. It is reported that Alexander Murdoch's house was burnt as retaliation for his open support of the anti -slavery movement. Countless other brave citizens participated in the struggle to gain freedom for all Americans. Though they may remain nameless at the time of this printing, it is in their honor that we compile and publish this report. Following the Path The following map depicts stops along the Freedom Trail. Every attempt has been made to validate each site. �4 , ";, �" - -- - - "Z 44 1829 Tompkins County Map ......... )VI-i'N" :Ah R David Burr Atlas The History Center 76.10.46 The locations indicated here are approximate. We do not recommend they be used to find the actual locations. � l � � 2 f i 5 Ludlov,Tville. connection amen Joy's house in nde1ground Railway conn lace. 1 • BenJ was an U ed as a hiding p Harbor the cupola sere took the that R°gueS ortedly The ship 2 So��e say Drive. ReP as Mr guckbee• 3 The Stone K°use along East Shore tains at the time w Simeon Dewitt. One of the cap The Sime northern end °f the lake • cellar she The fugitives hid in his 4 The steam p Bridge at the er schoolteacher, was the fugitives to Cayugaa stopping Place, peruville was ford, a form Teeter's farm. in eek Rd Atha Todd Kan 5. ei�rY ower Cr e nearby at 1 lg I safe h°us a anford house eortedly another s eers. There was 6• 'The" here was rep time of Pastor Eew the actual hi�,;,��- activist T arch at the barn which 7. The Danb as from the church tO a secret passag dace• were gid en The fugitives his Mena aster • with . stat1O Ke often conSulted e Siineo� ctive and resourceful eSOurceE lstate S erc sent to e ship ;as an a at 121 fugitives w e 3Obnson� barbershoplthaca}• The fug $ Georg clothe gin his or ` is ana the president C�!j ay 'hill De-W-itt. 3 9. At 113 E. State St. the cellar under the building had room for 14 people. 10. A building at 214 W. State St. It has to be remembered that house numbers change from time to time. R - 12. 113 E. Seneca St. In later years, students at Ithaca High School, then located at the current DeWitt Mall, remember their teacher pointing out of the window at the building. 13. The attic of Francis Bloodgood's house at 326 South Cayuga St. Titus Brum, George Johnson's father- in-law, later bought the house and continued the activity. 14. The St. James AME Zion Church was the chief Ithaca station. The most famous of the pastors was Rev. J.W. Loguen who maintained close ties to Ithaca after he moved to Syracuse. Harriet Tubman often visited the church. 16_ Farmers' Inn in Jacksonville. 15. Hayfs Chapel was established by antislavery activists after they separated from the Presbyterian Church. Pro -slavery activists burned the home of Alexander Murdoch, one of the founders. 17_ There was a station at Steamburg, a small hamlet about six miles west of Trumansburg, (Hector was part of Tompkins County until •1854). Joshua McKeel, a Quaker, was in charge of the station. 18- The Parker=Wixon House on Buck Hill Road in Mecklenburg. 19, A connecting station -at Mecklenburg, possibly kept by William Carman, a Quaker.. William Carman's beaver fur The History Center Collectic 4 APPENDIX: Map of Underground Railroad Routes in New York State SCALE OF MAI$ • r w �• r w UNDERGROUNQ RAILROAD NEW YORK ROUTES OF FUGITIVE SLAVES TO CANADA KNOWN ROUTES - ........... PROBABLE ROUTES ----------- W ESTPOat � 1 t } Y j RetUT.. I RENNINGtQ! iiOf �`— �N. or HA"FOiD �IPOU�H'EEt•SiE�•• NEW iuvEw Fr,, -m History of the State of New fork, atiW by A. C. Ft&a' — Jermain Loguen Ithaca Journal, THEN & NOW, February 18, 1995 The rauroAd Idng . .Jermairr Wesley 40 p Dorn into slav- ery in Y823 m Tennesseenl hie escaped — 'on the Under9='nd, Raitzoad to Hamilton, - ntario where .he workfarmed as. a lumberjack, earned to read, an ed ion shares. In 1837, he moved to Rochester where he found. — a lucrative job as a waiter. His tips and his fru- gality allowed him to save enough money to attend the Oneida Institute. ;. Loguen became a minister in the A.M.E. Zion Church. In 1841 he was appointed pastor oaf St. James' A kF_ Zion Church in Ithaca. te was­stationinaster on'ihe Underground ailrpad,' using the cbtircli-,ps tris center of Ve.aLoguen liter'took=up a ca ng in Where he was a meiiiber.of the Vigi- dance Committee which is credited'wlth help- ing an'est imateu 1�0 slaves)iicape on the Undergtound,Railf&There lie°became 4mown. as the "Underground Railroad King," !tinning stations in both his church and his Thome. On Oen. 1.1851 he participated in the -- Verry Rescue in which Jerry, a mulatto run- away who was to be returned south, was bro- ken out of the police station by an angry mob and whisked away to safety in Canada_ Jermain Loguen was a popular lecturer on ,abolition, temperance, and women's rights. ;,For 13 years he lectured and published essays and letters of his personal experiences. 'Ile -Rev. J: W. LLogue4 As a Slave and As a Free- man. A Narrative of Real Life," his autobiog- `_raphy, was publd in 1859. In 1864 he was 'elected a Bishop of the African Methodist _Episcopal Church. He died in Saratoga ;Springs in 1872. Frederick Douglass The Ithaca Journal, THEN & NOW, February 18, 1995 SS WA$HlNG7iDN Feb 20, 1+?tdeaicic f fiCS'IC�EIIGB �� 4'e r 7o clock He wus m the hist spurts and Fappar:;ruly the hest �``� #desp� his�?�,> �eear,� when -death vverrookwrt.., , ° :�=, _� Thus begins The Ithaca Journal's obituary ,lora remarkable man, who av, ery to become a tireless advocate for abolition.` . _Douglass was born on the Eastern shore of Maryland in 1817, escaped to .13ew :York in 3838, and settled in Massachuscitss where -he' Was the agent for the anti -slavery society. He 'moved to Rochester in 1847 -where he pub- - hed a weekly journal, The North- Star. Dur- I- Mgthat period Douglass visited Ithaca a num- of times to speak out -against slavery. In JW he moved to Washington; D.C. " On his last day, Frederick Douglass attend- . ed a suffrage convention where he was 'Allowed to remain for a secret business meet- ing of the Women's Council despite his gen- der. He was seated on the platform next to his lonk-time friend Susan -B. Anthony. -Inter that _evening while recounting -the day's events to his wife, _dr_ ped to his knees and -died His body was taken by train td Rochester where -he was buried kith futlhon6rs in �Ivrount Hope Cemetery. An editorial in 'The Ithaca Journal paid Douglass his final tnbutc! '-Both races, this country and the whole world . +are better because of Frederick Douglass, the life he lived and the contentions he made for ahe higher law.., In the highest and best sense ." of the word Frederick Douglass made of him- 'self a truly great marl." - HEu` i4! 1 _ HI rsT®1e abo Learn mor The Underground Railroad BOOKS Armstrong, Myra B. Young et al. A Heritage Uncovered: the Black Experiencq in Upstate New York, 1800-1925 Elmira NY: Chemung County Historical Society, 1988 _ Dieckman, Jane Marsh. A Short History of Tompkins County; Available at Ithaca NY: DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County, 1985 C� . -" Dieckman, Jane Marsh ed. The Towns of Tompkins County Available at. Ithaca NY: DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County, 1986 EiMro-R R. _ Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick. Doujzlass Boston: American Anti -Slavery Society, 1845 Gallwey, Sydney. Underf4round Railroad in Tompkins County_ * North Star Available at Ithaca, NY: History Center of Tompkins County, 1963 AROJ R, Hughes, Langston et al. A Pictorial History of Black America New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1983 Kammen, Carol. Peopling of Tompkins County atailable Available iS ble at Interlaken, NY: Heart of the Lakes Publishing, 1985 AR , Klees, Emerson. Underground Railroad Tales Rochester: Friends of the Finger Lakes Publishing, 1997 Litwack, Leon F. North of Slavery Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965 Loguen, Jermain Wesley. The Rev. J.W. LoRuen as a Slave and a Freeman: A Narrative of Real Life 1859 Reprinted New York: Negro Universities Press, 1968 McKivigan, John R. The War Against Proslavery Relijzion Ithaca NY:Cornell University Press, 1969 _ Mutunhu, Tendai. "Tompkins County: An Underground " p ty: erground Railway Transit inORY Available. at Central New York" in the Serial: Afro-Americans in New York life and history, , 2 Buffalo, NY Afro- American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier. Cornell University, Uris Library, Africana Collection Quarles, Benjamin. Black Abolitionists. New York: Oxford University Press. 1969 Semett, Milton. North Star Country: Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom Syracuse NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002 Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railway from Slavery to Freedom. 1898. Reprinted New York: Arno Press, 1968 Still, William. Underground Railroad, 1872 Reprinted Achicago:Johnson Publishing Co. (Ebony Classics) 1970 Sorin, Gerald. The New York Abolitionists Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Corp., 1971 Washington, Booker T. Up from SLavery, , 1901 Reprinted New York: Penguin Books, 1986 Wyatt -Brown, Bertram. Yankee Saints and Southern Sinners Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1985 UNPUBLISHED ACADEMIC PAPERS Available at Galvin, Emma Corinne Brown. THESIS - "The Lore of the Negro in Central New Upurro York State" ' Cornell University, 1943 Hill, Deidre. THESIS - "Without Struggle There is no Progress: An Ethnohistoric Study _ of Ithaca, New York's African American Community Cornell University, 1994 Available at - Home, Field. THESIS - "Ithaca's Black Community" CcsTVRN September 1, 1987 R 3 VIDEOS "Underground Railroad" VHS The History Channel. A&E Home Video Tompkins County Public Library "Follow the North Star to Freedom" Frock, Karen L. Pennsylvania Friends financed VHS "Whispers of Angels" DVD Program C Teleduction, Inc. WEBSITES: The Underground Railroad Freedom Center Cincinnati, Ohio www. freedomcenter. ora U -rir -Re F ' pm - .-11n/ ' Erna -�ayu _ -loun ' Tew ' " 'E: } i i M 4q, uR•. � e, ,`fir Report Home Page Uncovering The Freedom Trail In Auburn and Cayuga Counly, New York A Cultural Resources Survey of Sites Relating to the Underground Railroad, Abolitionism, and African American .Life in Auburn and Cayuga County, New York Sponsored by City of Auburn Historic Resources Review Board *- and Cayuga Count Historian's Office Funded by Preserve New York * - A Program of the Preservation League of New York. State X and the New York State Council on the Arts * Judith Wellman, Project Coordinator - H.istorical New York Research Associates - 2004-2005 _) Download The Report In PDF Project Databasen Final Report, Links UGRR-Abolitionism Abolitionists County Historian's p,, - Dedicated to all those who sought freedom, who assisted freedom seekers, or who now tell their stories or preserve their buildings. http://Ww"wv.co.cayuga.ny.us/history/ugrr/report/index.html 8/18/2008