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The Underground Rail Road
Detailed accounts of escapes from slavery. First published in 1872. The Preface begins: "Like millions of my race, my mother and father were born slaves, but were not contented to live and die so. My father purchased himself in early manhood by hard toil. Mother saw no way for herself and children to escape the horrors of bondage but by flight. Bravely, with her four little ones, with firm faith in God and an ardent desire to be free, she forsook the prison-house, and succeeded, through the aid of my father, to reach a free State. Here life had to be begun anew. The old familiar slave names had to be changed, and others, for prudential reasons, had to be found. This was not hard work. However, hardly months had passed ere the keen scent of the slave-hunters had trailed them to where they had fancied themselves secure. In those days all power was in the hands of the oppressor, and the capture of a slave mother and her children was attended with no great difficulty other than the crushing of freedom in the breast of the victims. Without judge or jury, all were hurried back to wear the yoke again. But back this mother was resolved never to stay. She only wanted another opportunity to again strike for freedom. In a few months after being carried back, with only two of her little ones, she took her heart in her hand and her babes in her arms, and this trial was a success. Freedom was gained, although not without the sad loss of her two older children, whom she had to leave behind..."
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First published June 1, 1872
About the author
William Still
66 books20 followersWilliam Still is youngest child of Levin and Sidney Steel. He lived as a slave with his parents and seventeen brothers and sisters. Levin, Still's father escaped slavery in Maryland for freedom in New Jersey. Still's mother escaped later with the children, changing the family name to Still. She changed her first name to Charity.
When Still was 23, he left the family farm in New Jersey for Philadelphia, to seek his fortune. He arrived, friendless with only five dollars in his possession. Still taught himself to read so well, that in three years he was able to hold the position of secretary in the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Still provided the all-white society with his views on how to aid fugitive slaves since, he had been one himself. He was such an asset to the group, that he was elected chairman in 1851. Still held the position for the next ten years. He also became chairman of the Vigilance Committee in 1852.
During this time, Still used his house as one of the busiest stations on the Undergroung Railroad. He was awakened hundreds of times during the night to provide fugitives with the food and clothing he supplied for them. Still interviewed the fugitives and kept careful records of each so that family and friends might locate them. According to his records, William Still helped 649 slaves receive their freedom. In 1872, he published his records in a book entitled, The Underground Railroad.
In Philadelphia, Still founded an orphanage for the chidren of African-American soldiers and sailors. In 1860, he went into the stove business. Due to his success, he branched out into the coal business, earning the fortune he had moved to Philadelphia to seek. Still was later elected to the Philadelphia Board of Trade. In 1880, he was one of the organizers of the first African-American YMCA. After a long and prosperous life, William Still died in 1902.
When Still was 23, he left the family farm in New Jersey for Philadelphia, to seek his fortune. He arrived, friendless with only five dollars in his possession. Still taught himself to read so well, that in three years he was able to hold the position of secretary in the Pennsylvania Abolition Society. Still provided the all-white society with his views on how to aid fugitive slaves since, he had been one himself. He was such an asset to the group, that he was elected chairman in 1851. Still held the position for the next ten years. He also became chairman of the Vigilance Committee in 1852.
During this time, Still used his house as one of the busiest stations on the Undergroung Railroad. He was awakened hundreds of times during the night to provide fugitives with the food and clothing he supplied for them. Still interviewed the fugitives and kept careful records of each so that family and friends might locate them. According to his records, William Still helped 649 slaves receive their freedom. In 1872, he published his records in a book entitled, The Underground Railroad.
In Philadelphia, Still founded an orphanage for the chidren of African-American soldiers and sailors. In 1860, he went into the stove business. Due to his success, he branched out into the coal business, earning the fortune he had moved to Philadelphia to seek. Still was later elected to the Philadelphia Board of Trade. In 1880, he was one of the organizers of the first African-American YMCA. After a long and prosperous life, William Still died in 1902.
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December 8, 2020
Imagine it’s you: You are kidnapped from your family, stripped naked, shipped like cargo, body stacked on body, in the hold of a ship. If you survive, this transport is followed by being “owned” and worked by other people. Some of the “owners” claim you’re not human; others say, “Gee, I’d like to let you go, but I’m too poor and my dead husband left me only you.” Or “When you get old enough, you can be free.” Or “You can buy yourself for $500.” So on some level they know you’re a person just like them. But it simply doesn’t matter to them.
Imagine you are beaten, raped, have your children ripped away from you and sold like a bag of potatoes. Maybe you escape, only to have to leave babies behind. Or your wife or husband. Or one of them fights tooth and nail, escapes and then comes back to try to rescue you. And then is killed.
All the time, you are a feeling, thinking, intelligent, maybe brilliant, talented, agonized person, and this treatment is condoned and supported by a whole culture that lives fairly well off of your enslavement.
This book of firsthand accounts of escapes on the Underground Railroad, first published in 1872, makes you feel it—as if it’s you. And the rage I feel is beyond expression. I got so angry I shook.
Since 1872 these vivid true stories of both the people who suffered and abolitionists and antislavery white activists who tried and died trying to fight for justice have been available. These stories are available to the people who today own properties and businesses that were built with the free labor of enslaved individuals a mere 160 years ago, yet on a recent 60 Minutes segment about the last slave ship, Clotilda, and the descendants of its “cargo” of enslaved human beings, it was reported that a family of rich business owners have absolutely refused to meet with the descendants:
The book contains not only author William Still’s clear narrative and the first-person dignified accounts and letters of people who had risked everything, committed to freedom or death, but it has a foundation of journalism and legal documents, including the entire Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, codifying slavecatchers’ “right” to re-enslave anybody they suspected might have escaped an “owner.” The combination of materials makes this a foundational text that has been a resource for many other writers, including Ta Nehisi Coates who wrote the introduction and Dr. Bertice Berry (her memoir The Ties that Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption is where I learned about this remarkable book). This is a history that should be read by anybody who wants a fuller picture of this abominable legacy with such strong tentacles that they invade and inform today’s current events. Both systemic racism and white antislavery activism have deep roots in our country that are given full exposure. I believe that without understanding what’s in this book, there is a tendency—certainly in complacent white people—to miss our complicity in systemic racism by remaining conveniently ignorant of what informs the experience of Black people.
To support that last statement, I would like to end this review by quoting from a section of the book called “The Law of Treason, as Laid Down by Judge Kane,” from his “charge to the Grand Jury of the United States District Court, in reference to the Slave-hunting affray in Lancaster county,” a case of the State against slaves and their cohorts who fought back against people trying to re-enslave them as “fugitives from labor,” accusing them of treason:*
The name of the slave owner farmer who was killed in the Lancaster event was Edward Gorsuch. Curious as to whether Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is related to him, I googled and found this interesting article: All Law Enforcement Officers are “Heroes”—Including Slave-Catchers. The author of this article for The Libertarian Institute is deceased, so I wrote to the editor to correct what I believed was a bad mistake—nowhere in Still's book is Gorsuch identified as a police officer. Among all the legal documents, he is called a slave owner and a farmer; the only officer identified was named Kline and he was not killed. I copied my email to the Department of Justice regarding their "roll call of heroes," which includes Gorsuch. The Libertarian Institute's editor replied by quoting the article on his site. The Department of Justice historian replied with a full explanation** which I will paste below with just a smattering of this personal opinion:
Listing a man who was briefly deputized and called a Marshal in order to attack and re-enslave people at Lancaster with no explanation about what he did or why he was even a marshal, with no context, and qualifying him as heroic is a kind of exaggeration and distortion that should be corrected at its source. It is not the truth—the whole truth. To heal, we need truth. William Still tells the truth.
__________
*The defendant freedom fighters in the Lancaster case were found not guilty of treason and this case did an enormous amount to advance the abolitionist movement.
**DOJ Historian's Reply to my query
Ms. Robinson,
Thank you for your inquiry, which was forwarded to me for response. The agency’s storied past included a few duties that would be considered morally unthinkable in America today, but also had a hand in correcting these same injustices during the Civil Rights and Reconstruction Eras. The U.S. Marshals Service Roll Call of Honor highlights those personnel who died in the line-of-duty. The criteria for this list and any related memorials, despite the official name, does not differentiate by any other standard than duty at the time of death. There is no political or moral consideration when considering inclusion.
To answer your specific inquiries on Edward Gorsuch—the submission was some time ago, long before Justice Gorsuch was being considered for the Supreme Court. We normally do not conduct any extensive genealogical work, so our agency does not know of any connection. As a clarification, Edward Gorsuch was a special deputy U.S. marshal at the time of his death. As part of the Fugitive Slave Act, which was a condition of the Compromise of 1850, deputies were required to assist slave-owners (who had to be specially-deputized in order to participate in law enforcement activity). Another deputy U.S. marshal, James Batchelder, also died while under similar federal orders while the Fugitive Slave Act was in effect. To ensure historical accuracy and transparency, it is necessary to include both names despite the moral conditions. In addition to our Roll Call, he would be mentioned by name at the Hall of Honor at the U.S. Marshals Museum (Fort Smith, Arkansas) and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (Washington, D.C.).
While we understand the sensitivity, there is no substitute for historical accuracy. There was no attempt to conceal Mr. Gorsuch’s background or that our personnel were utilized to carry out this duty. This does not mean our agency would ever glorify the Fugitive Slave Act, but to omit those names who died during this time would not be historically accurate.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Regards,
David S. Turk
Historian
USMS
Imagine you are beaten, raped, have your children ripped away from you and sold like a bag of potatoes. Maybe you escape, only to have to leave babies behind. Or your wife or husband. Or one of them fights tooth and nail, escapes and then comes back to try to rescue you. And then is killed.
All the time, you are a feeling, thinking, intelligent, maybe brilliant, talented, agonized person, and this treatment is condoned and supported by a whole culture that lives fairly well off of your enslavement.
This book of firsthand accounts of escapes on the Underground Railroad, first published in 1872, makes you feel it—as if it’s you. And the rage I feel is beyond expression. I got so angry I shook.
Since 1872 these vivid true stories of both the people who suffered and abolitionists and antislavery white activists who tried and died trying to fight for justice have been available. These stories are available to the people who today own properties and businesses that were built with the free labor of enslaved individuals a mere 160 years ago, yet on a recent 60 Minutes segment about the last slave ship, Clotilda, and the descendants of its “cargo” of enslaved human beings, it was reported that a family of rich business owners have absolutely refused to meet with the descendants:
Pat Frazier: They don't want to acknowledge that that's how part of their wealth was derived.
Darron Patterson: Big part—
Pat Frazier: And that, on the backs of those people.
Anderson Cooper: What would you want to say to them? I mean, if— if they were willing to sit down and have, you know, have a coffee with you?
Jeremy Ellis: We would first need to acknowledge what was done in the past. And then there's an accountability piece, that your family, for this many years, five years, owned my ancestors. And then the third piece would be, how do we partner together with, in Africatown?
Pat Frazier: I don't want to receive anything personally. However, there's a need for a lot of development in that community.
Anderson Cooper: We reached out to four members of the Meaher family, all either declined or didn't respond to our request for an interview.
The book contains not only author William Still’s clear narrative and the first-person dignified accounts and letters of people who had risked everything, committed to freedom or death, but it has a foundation of journalism and legal documents, including the entire Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, codifying slavecatchers’ “right” to re-enslave anybody they suspected might have escaped an “owner.” The combination of materials makes this a foundational text that has been a resource for many other writers, including Ta Nehisi Coates who wrote the introduction and Dr. Bertice Berry (her memoir The Ties that Bind: A Memoir of Race, Memory, and Redemption is where I learned about this remarkable book). This is a history that should be read by anybody who wants a fuller picture of this abominable legacy with such strong tentacles that they invade and inform today’s current events. Both systemic racism and white antislavery activism have deep roots in our country that are given full exposure. I believe that without understanding what’s in this book, there is a tendency—certainly in complacent white people—to miss our complicity in systemic racism by remaining conveniently ignorant of what informs the experience of Black people.
To support that last statement, I would like to end this review by quoting from a section of the book called “The Law of Treason, as Laid Down by Judge Kane,” from his “charge to the Grand Jury of the United States District Court, in reference to the Slave-hunting affray in Lancaster county,” a case of the State against slaves and their cohorts who fought back against people trying to re-enslave them as “fugitives from labor,” accusing them of treason:*
It is not necessary to prove that the individual accused was a direct, personal actor in the violence. If he was present, directing, aiding, abetting, counselling, or countenancing it, he is in law guilty of the forcible act. Nor is even his personal presence indispensable. Though he be absent at the time of its actual perpetration, yet, if he directed the act, devised, or knowingly furnished the means for carrying it into effect, instigated others to perform it, he shares their guilt.” (269)
The name of the slave owner farmer who was killed in the Lancaster event was Edward Gorsuch. Curious as to whether Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is related to him, I googled and found this interesting article: All Law Enforcement Officers are “Heroes”—Including Slave-Catchers. The author of this article for The Libertarian Institute is deceased, so I wrote to the editor to correct what I believed was a bad mistake—nowhere in Still's book is Gorsuch identified as a police officer. Among all the legal documents, he is called a slave owner and a farmer; the only officer identified was named Kline and he was not killed. I copied my email to the Department of Justice regarding their "roll call of heroes," which includes Gorsuch. The Libertarian Institute's editor replied by quoting the article on his site. The Department of Justice historian replied with a full explanation** which I will paste below with just a smattering of this personal opinion:
Listing a man who was briefly deputized and called a Marshal in order to attack and re-enslave people at Lancaster with no explanation about what he did or why he was even a marshal, with no context, and qualifying him as heroic is a kind of exaggeration and distortion that should be corrected at its source. It is not the truth—the whole truth. To heal, we need truth. William Still tells the truth.
__________
*The defendant freedom fighters in the Lancaster case were found not guilty of treason and this case did an enormous amount to advance the abolitionist movement.
**DOJ Historian's Reply to my query
Ms. Robinson,
Thank you for your inquiry, which was forwarded to me for response. The agency’s storied past included a few duties that would be considered morally unthinkable in America today, but also had a hand in correcting these same injustices during the Civil Rights and Reconstruction Eras. The U.S. Marshals Service Roll Call of Honor highlights those personnel who died in the line-of-duty. The criteria for this list and any related memorials, despite the official name, does not differentiate by any other standard than duty at the time of death. There is no political or moral consideration when considering inclusion.
To answer your specific inquiries on Edward Gorsuch—the submission was some time ago, long before Justice Gorsuch was being considered for the Supreme Court. We normally do not conduct any extensive genealogical work, so our agency does not know of any connection. As a clarification, Edward Gorsuch was a special deputy U.S. marshal at the time of his death. As part of the Fugitive Slave Act, which was a condition of the Compromise of 1850, deputies were required to assist slave-owners (who had to be specially-deputized in order to participate in law enforcement activity). Another deputy U.S. marshal, James Batchelder, also died while under similar federal orders while the Fugitive Slave Act was in effect. To ensure historical accuracy and transparency, it is necessary to include both names despite the moral conditions. In addition to our Roll Call, he would be mentioned by name at the Hall of Honor at the U.S. Marshals Museum (Fort Smith, Arkansas) and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (Washington, D.C.).
While we understand the sensitivity, there is no substitute for historical accuracy. There was no attempt to conceal Mr. Gorsuch’s background or that our personnel were utilized to carry out this duty. This does not mean our agency would ever glorify the Fugitive Slave Act, but to omit those names who died during this time would not be historically accurate.
I hope this answers your inquiry.
Regards,
David S. Turk
Historian
USMS
September 6, 2022
A powerful and highly educational collection of authentic correspondence from around the events of the Underground Railroad.
What feels like it should be most treasured about this book are the various unfiltered messages from the contemporaries themselves, both the enslaved people and their allies alike. Some strictly formal, some heartfelt - almost poetic; all unedited to preserve their original language, character and urgency.
While there are also some perhaps more banal appearing trade records and passenger lists included throughout, those too by their very nature are blatantly telling of the general attitudes, the inhuman regard, and the injustices. And all important in preserving the memory of these individuals in history, who were so wronged and cast aside in their lifetime.
On top of which Mr. Still actually has a wonderfully nuanced way of peppering the text with occasional, compassionately tongue-in-cheek absurdities and knowingly wry remarks, without making light of these accounts.
This is a book of those, who most often get left nameless in the retellings of history. Even the famed and well remembered Tubman is but a side character among all these other courageous individuals, whose stories to flee their oppressors are given voice here.
A treasure to have been recorded and conserved.
______
Reading updates.
What feels like it should be most treasured about this book are the various unfiltered messages from the contemporaries themselves, both the enslaved people and their allies alike. Some strictly formal, some heartfelt - almost poetic; all unedited to preserve their original language, character and urgency.
While there are also some perhaps more banal appearing trade records and passenger lists included throughout, those too by their very nature are blatantly telling of the general attitudes, the inhuman regard, and the injustices. And all important in preserving the memory of these individuals in history, who were so wronged and cast aside in their lifetime.
On top of which Mr. Still actually has a wonderfully nuanced way of peppering the text with occasional, compassionately tongue-in-cheek absurdities and knowingly wry remarks, without making light of these accounts.
This is a book of those, who most often get left nameless in the retellings of history. Even the famed and well remembered Tubman is but a side character among all these other courageous individuals, whose stories to flee their oppressors are given voice here.
A treasure to have been recorded and conserved.
______
Reading updates.
February 29, 2020
William Still interviewed all the people he helped to free from slavery via the Underground Railroad. His records together with letters and legal texts are presented here in this collection. I must admit I couldn't concentrate on the legal texts - prose born in hell - but the rest gave a vivid and varied insight into the multitude of different fates and battles those courageous souls had to fight to get their freedom in a supposedly free country.
Still commands a very agreeable prose. The texts are interesting and filled with respect. He states that he didn't note the most horrible of the stories he got to hear because he couldn't stomach to do it. Even so, the hardship of the enslaved people and the cruel splitting up of families in this era comes very well to life while reading the texts.
I used these records as background information for the two novels "The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coats and "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead and it enhanced my understanding and appreciation.
Still commands a very agreeable prose. The texts are interesting and filled with respect. He states that he didn't note the most horrible of the stories he got to hear because he couldn't stomach to do it. Even so, the hardship of the enslaved people and the cruel splitting up of families in this era comes very well to life while reading the texts.
I used these records as background information for the two novels "The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coats and "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead and it enhanced my understanding and appreciation.
October 15, 2019
If you plan to read the Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates, read this first. If you wonder about race relations in America, read this. It's amazing. Before I read this book, slavery was something I understood in my head as wrong, against God, a crime. After I read this book, I knew in my heart that slavery was all those things and more.
February 10, 2015
WOW!
This begs one simple question; and we were the ones considered savages and in need of saving? Wow! Thanks to those who assisted us in seeking the freedom that God intended for all men, regardless of race. Still applicable today.
This begs one simple question; and we were the ones considered savages and in need of saving? Wow! Thanks to those who assisted us in seeking the freedom that God intended for all men, regardless of race. Still applicable today.
December 15, 2016
I was very glad to make an acquaintance with this huge collection of slave escape narratives, in first-hand accounts. It's not an easy read. It took me a concentrated couple of hours just to figure out how it is organized. And the sheer number of human stories is overwhelming!
William Still was an excellent writer for his time and a very literate writer for any time. That said, his sentence structure is in the formal Victorian style that makes reading George Eliot or Henry James challenging.
What really struck me is that the heroes and heroines of the Underground Railroad are those African Americans who worked so hard, in such great danger, to achieve their freedom. The people who assisted them were often blacks who had already escaped successfully, as well as the white abolitionists we learned about through American History textbooks. This book documents so well the full impact of the Fugitive Slave Act. It includes narratives of those who were recaptured and some who died in resisting the slave hunters.
William Still was an excellent writer for his time and a very literate writer for any time. That said, his sentence structure is in the formal Victorian style that makes reading George Eliot or Henry James challenging.
What really struck me is that the heroes and heroines of the Underground Railroad are those African Americans who worked so hard, in such great danger, to achieve their freedom. The people who assisted them were often blacks who had already escaped successfully, as well as the white abolitionists we learned about through American History textbooks. This book documents so well the full impact of the Fugitive Slave Act. It includes narratives of those who were recaptured and some who died in resisting the slave hunters.
Want to read
February 11, 2012This book is FREE on kindle right now
March 1, 2023
I chose to read the edition edited by Quincy T. Mills with an introduction from Ta-Nehisi Coates, in part because of the introduction by Coates and in part because of the attractive cover. My understanding is that this is a curated edition and that not all accounts recorded by William Still are included, which I did not realize until reading the foreword. Yet, this did not diminish the profound meaning found within the narratives and accounts published.
In his introduction, Coates brings forward the idea that America has its own narrative of slavery that usually glorifies the white abolitionist or the old Southern slaver - in both cases the white man. The stories contained within are oft ignored because they do not serve this great American narrative, but rather tell the unreserved truth of slavery and those whose desire for liberty compelled them Northward. Although, as Coates notes, these stories have not been given the time of day by Hollywood and our other American storytellers, they do not lack for the same drama, intrigue, and inspiration that would deserve such elevation in the public eye.
Even further, after finishing this book, I am convinced not only that these are stories that deserve to be told, but also stories that deserve to be known. Stories that deserve to be intimately woven into American mythology. The stories of these men and women and their pursuit of liberty are equally a part of our history as the feats of the American forefathers and framers, and they should hold their own place in our national narrative as well.
Names such as Frank Wanzer, Henry Box Brown, Jane Johnson, Henry Predo, and many others in this collection should be mentioned in the same breath as Grant, Lincoln, and Garrison when we talk about our history of oppression and liberation. What part of these heroes’ endeavors is any less daring or inspiring? What holds us back from revering the deeds of people who risked all they had and life itself for the sake of liberty? Let these stories be the ones taught in the classroom, recounted in book and film, and proclaimed in the halls of government, lest we continue to forget the true heroes of our past.
In his introduction, Coates brings forward the idea that America has its own narrative of slavery that usually glorifies the white abolitionist or the old Southern slaver - in both cases the white man. The stories contained within are oft ignored because they do not serve this great American narrative, but rather tell the unreserved truth of slavery and those whose desire for liberty compelled them Northward. Although, as Coates notes, these stories have not been given the time of day by Hollywood and our other American storytellers, they do not lack for the same drama, intrigue, and inspiration that would deserve such elevation in the public eye.
Even further, after finishing this book, I am convinced not only that these are stories that deserve to be told, but also stories that deserve to be known. Stories that deserve to be intimately woven into American mythology. The stories of these men and women and their pursuit of liberty are equally a part of our history as the feats of the American forefathers and framers, and they should hold their own place in our national narrative as well.
Names such as Frank Wanzer, Henry Box Brown, Jane Johnson, Henry Predo, and many others in this collection should be mentioned in the same breath as Grant, Lincoln, and Garrison when we talk about our history of oppression and liberation. What part of these heroes’ endeavors is any less daring or inspiring? What holds us back from revering the deeds of people who risked all they had and life itself for the sake of liberty? Let these stories be the ones taught in the classroom, recounted in book and film, and proclaimed in the halls of government, lest we continue to forget the true heroes of our past.
Read
February 11, 2022Pairs well with Emancipation Hell and 'White Girl Bleed A Lot'.
This book bears testimony to the established pattern of r-selected liberal treachery. Disregarding wisdom and following their short-sighted, feel-good impulses, anti slavery liberals establish a secret network for aiding slaves escape to freedom and mingle into American society. They employ a variety of crafty methods, from legal loopholes to secreting persons in crates by mail.
Time has proven their intentions wrong however. Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, Minneapolis, New York, cities that were once a splendor and symbols of American prosperity have turned, in the wake of White flight, into post-apocalyptic wastelands of crime, drugs, death and disease.
The liberal’s love for the outgroup, and aversion for their own ingroup, invariably leads them to introducing outsider competitors into their space to compete against their K-selected peers, whom the liberal can’t best on their own. Thus the r-selected liberals have been at best, if not malign actors, then useful idiots in advancing the Judeo-Masonic agenda of divide and conquer of the then, flourishing country of America, through miscegenation.
Were there no liberals, Africans would have never been allowed to set foot on American soil to begin with, preventing the whole misfortune altogether. But if they had, the right and compassionate course of action would’ve been to repatriate the Africans and return them to their homes and lives they were born in before being sold into slavery to Jewish merchants by their own kin. But alas, we seem doomed to forever fall victim to our amiable nature, only to forget our errors from one generation to the next, and succumb to them all over again.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
What K has wrought will go to rust.
For in r we placed our trust.
This book bears testimony to the established pattern of r-selected liberal treachery. Disregarding wisdom and following their short-sighted, feel-good impulses, anti slavery liberals establish a secret network for aiding slaves escape to freedom and mingle into American society. They employ a variety of crafty methods, from legal loopholes to secreting persons in crates by mail.
Time has proven their intentions wrong however. Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Baltimore, Minneapolis, New York, cities that were once a splendor and symbols of American prosperity have turned, in the wake of White flight, into post-apocalyptic wastelands of crime, drugs, death and disease.
The liberal’s love for the outgroup, and aversion for their own ingroup, invariably leads them to introducing outsider competitors into their space to compete against their K-selected peers, whom the liberal can’t best on their own. Thus the r-selected liberals have been at best, if not malign actors, then useful idiots in advancing the Judeo-Masonic agenda of divide and conquer of the then, flourishing country of America, through miscegenation.
Were there no liberals, Africans would have never been allowed to set foot on American soil to begin with, preventing the whole misfortune altogether. But if they had, the right and compassionate course of action would’ve been to repatriate the Africans and return them to their homes and lives they were born in before being sold into slavery to Jewish merchants by their own kin. But alas, we seem doomed to forever fall victim to our amiable nature, only to forget our errors from one generation to the next, and succumb to them all over again.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
What K has wrought will go to rust.
For in r we placed our trust.
March 7, 2019
These real stories, written in both narrative and letter form, are heartbreaking. It is a real picture into our very dark past. This gives you a view of the harsh realities some men imposed upon millions of others for so long. The desperation and deprivation of liberty led to some brave ones to seek out the dangerous path of freedom. Sometimes this meant days, weeks, and months in isolation and difficult wilderness, being hunted like an animal. It was also under the promise of severe punishment, imprisonment or sale away from family if caught. The severity of treatment was also a daily part of life, deprived the benefit of their own labor, deprived of food, rest, families violently torn apart. These are stories that need to be known. This account is just one small window into this history. It's focus is mostly told through the lens of an agent of the Philadelphia depot, but it shows many successful flights to the north and especially to Canada, and some failures. Many seeking refuge had to leave husband, wife, mothers, and children behind, not even being able to tell them of their plans to escape.
A great evil of it all is the failure of the southern church to stay true to God. Not only did they fail to preach against the evils of the slavery around them, but they were complicit in and benefited from keeping slaves in bondage to their masters, often showing the most unchristian cruelty. Wolves in sheeps clothing, not sparing the flock. Thank God for those who remained faithful, churches that joined in strongly in the abolitionist movement, and doing the very thing that James says is "true religion".
"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
We must continue to testify against the evils of our present age.
A great evil of it all is the failure of the southern church to stay true to God. Not only did they fail to preach against the evils of the slavery around them, but they were complicit in and benefited from keeping slaves in bondage to their masters, often showing the most unchristian cruelty. Wolves in sheeps clothing, not sparing the flock. Thank God for those who remained faithful, churches that joined in strongly in the abolitionist movement, and doing the very thing that James says is "true religion".
"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world."
We must continue to testify against the evils of our present age.
January 30, 2014
Profound source material for the operation of the Underground Railroad, especially through Philadelphia. William Still was on the Vigilance Committee in that city and welcomed many of those escaping slavery. From each arrival he took a brief account of their adventures on The Road, as well as their hardship under slavery.
Still's writing makes use of the abolitionist rhetoric of his day with such phrases as "the no-pay system" and "seeker of Freedom". The language can be challenging because it is dated, but it is authentic. Each anecdote recounts a successful method of escaping north but also alludes to the many unsuccessful attempt. Still only recorded the stories of those who were successful, but the grim reality of slavery comes through in every line. Still employs humor, a tried and true method for coping with any hardship, with great skill. Many passages caused me to laugh out loud. Of course, many more passages elicited strong emotions of horror and sadness, too. But, the tone of the passage quoted below is so dry in the context of extreme suffering that the juxtaposition is funny and disturbing:
Still's writing makes use of the abolitionist rhetoric of his day with such phrases as "the no-pay system" and "seeker of Freedom". The language can be challenging because it is dated, but it is authentic. Each anecdote recounts a successful method of escaping north but also alludes to the many unsuccessful attempt. Still only recorded the stories of those who were successful, but the grim reality of slavery comes through in every line. Still employs humor, a tried and true method for coping with any hardship, with great skill. Many passages caused me to laugh out loud. Of course, many more passages elicited strong emotions of horror and sadness, too. But, the tone of the passage quoted below is so dry in the context of extreme suffering that the juxtaposition is funny and disturbing:
Turner, [escaped from Richmond, Virginia in 1859]...was about twenty-one, a bright, smart, pre-possessing young man. He fled from A. A. Mosen, a lawyer, represented to be one of the first in the city, and a firm believer in Slavery. Turner differed widely with his master with reference to this question, although, for prudential reasons, he chose not to give his opinion to said Mosen.
February 28, 2008
My homeschooled daughter is interested in the Underground Railroad, so we checked this book out of the public library to use for "real life" discussions. The letters and stories are so fascinating, and so sad, at times. What bravery extended for the welfare of another soul!
April 23, 2019
William Still's collection is excellent primary source material about an important part of American history, the massive effort of thousands of people to help fugitive slaves gain the freedom they were denied by law.
October 11, 2008
First Hand Accounts - excellent reading.
January 11, 2013
An excellent history of the Underground Railroad, with details of slaves' escapes.
January 14, 2013
This 1972 book, still in print, contains a large portion of all known first-hand accounts of Underground Railroad freedom seekers and is invaluable in research.
October 28, 2019
Read for personal research - found this book's contents helpful and inspiring.
A good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
A good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
February 13, 2021
This is a different sort of book for me. It's not an exciting read; it's not something that "I just couldn't put down." On the other hand, I felt compelled to finish it, to see these people through their pain, misery and triumph. The people who took advantage of the Underground Railroad knew, though they had never experienced it, that freedom was the only way to be truly alive. And they did desperate, often incredible things to reach this freedom. It was amazing, many times over, what they were able to survive and overcome on their journeys. William Still did the world a grand favor in capturing these stories; I can only hope that more would believe them, that we as a nation could realize the dream.
December 11, 2022
An important read, but I found the language and general dehumanisation of kidnapped and traded people very difficult to read. The old fashioned writing style distanced it slightly from today but as I was reading it felt like so much of the damaging racism and trauma that has happened in the past is still so relevant and disturbing today. It is important to hear these hidden stories if we are going to make any progress and the bravery and intelligence of those telling these tales should be honoured.
February 26, 2023
This is an extensive collection of slave narratives, told in many cases in their own words, duly recorded by William Still of the vigilance committee of Philadelphia. Included are also letters from the former enslaved telling of how they are getting on in Canada. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the workings of the Underground Railroad, the trials and triumphs of the refugees, and the kindness and sacrifices of the helpers.
January 24, 2024
A poignant and troubling collection of true stories of bondage as told to the author by escaped American slaves in the era of the Fugitive Slave Act. The author was a prominent abolitionist in Philadelphia who was given a mandate to record former slaves' stories so they wouldn't be lost to time. This should be required reading in every high school in America. The author faithfully records what he hears, sometimes without commentary, but often with a dose of disgust and even tongue-in-cheek humor at the expense of the perpetrators of the acts of violence and inhumanity revealed in the stories.
An enthusiastic 5 stars, with grateful thanks for the author's foresight.
An enthusiastic 5 stars, with grateful thanks for the author's foresight.
April 18, 2020
Interesting enough, but finally just wanted the book to end. Most of the stories were the same , so once you had read half, you have read it all. Would like to have seen it more in story form. However, it is a record; and therefore, It probably would work well as a reference book.
August 20, 2020
Very interesting account of the Underground railroad. I live in Philadelphia and it was neat to read about the city at that time. The accounts in the words of the survivors of enslavement was very powerful.
July 2, 2023
Fascinating!
February 11, 2020
Understanding that this is not the complete work, it's accesiblity may drive more to dive deeper. Such an important work - emotionally wrenching, forcing us to come face to face with an ugly reality and the people that risked it all to find freedom.
February 8, 2020
An interesting and important "history" of the years that led up to, and through, the Civil War in the USA, fragmented though the history is, as set forth in short notes and letters. A great variety of feelings and impressions are available through the eyes of those who experienced the struggles -- but a bit tedious to read because of the fragmentation and random assortment.
October 23, 2016
This is a rather long but still very interesting book. It centers on a Vigilance Committee in Philadelphia and what they did to help slaves escape from the South. (A source I read said about 100,000 slaves eventaully escaped from the South but that's out of around 4 million that were there in the first place.)
The book consists of basic information and very specific information related to specific slaves that escaped and came through the committee's work. Some of the major points in the book include:
Many of the escaped slaves were quite intelligent.
The 'owners' varied from very mild to very harsh. Most seemed on the side of harshness.
'Ads for escaped slaves were run in the papers. Rewards seemed to be usually in the hundreds of dollars.
Harriet Tubman worked with the committee.
In many, many cases wives and children were left behind by an escaping male slave.
One of the major things that caused slaves to flee was the threat of being sold.
Families were broken up with wives and children sold to places separate from where where the husband/father was a slave.
Beatings were a major reason for escaping.
Many slaves were given very little to eat and very little clothing.
Many owners had major drinking problems.
Often the wive of the 'master' was worse than the 'master' himself towards the slaves.
Many slaves cited not getting paid for the work they did as a reason for escaping.
Some free blacks were kidnapped then taken south to be sold into slavery.
Obits are given for various anti-slavery workers.
Various references to John Brown and Harper's Ferry.
There are also parts about various speakers and there are reviews of the book.
There were apparently many illustrations in the original version but these are not included in this ebook version.
February 17, 2017
First published in 1872, the 2007 edition I read is a selection of first hand interviews Mr. Still conducted with escaped slaves as they arrived in Philadelphia between 1850 and 1860. Many of the stories are augmented by newspaper accounts. There are also trial transcripts and accounts of the heroic actions by members of the Under Ground Rail Road and a copy of the Fugitive Slave Bill of 1850 and the Organization of the Vigilance Committee. One aspect I missed was an overall picture of the structure of the U.G.R.R. However, the interviews of the escaping men and women (many will contine on their escape until reaching Canada because none of the northern states are truly safe from slave hunters), the bulk of the book, are as real, tragic and human as any tale you might imagine. This book was written by the son of slaves and at the time executive director of the General Vigilance Committee it presents mankind at its best and worst. I found it to be a treasure and a keeper.
July 26, 2020
This abridged version of William Still's collection of narratives remains compelling as it details the series of outposts that assisted slaves throughout the United States get from one point to another. With the letters and snippets inside, the energy remains palpable in how it projects a sense of fear in trying to escape danger in the form of slave owners, traders, and other Whites.
One understands that the length of the book is integral in shaping which narratives can tell the strongest stories, which ones are able to convey images and experiences that can enlighten the plight of the marginalized during this time. However, the selection seems to be missing some key points at time, as it jumps from one account to another, much like an oral history, but with less structure.
One understands that the length of the book is integral in shaping which narratives can tell the strongest stories, which ones are able to convey images and experiences that can enlighten the plight of the marginalized during this time. However, the selection seems to be missing some key points at time, as it jumps from one account to another, much like an oral history, but with less structure.
September 27, 2016
This book is a compilation of letters, interviews, and other primary sources of Underground Railroad conductors, abolitionist, and fugitive slaves. Here, American slavery is brought to life. These accounts give testament of how slaves were treated, why they chose to runaway, and how they make there way up North. Furthermore, the conductors tell their stories of how they aided the fugitive slaves, the risk that they took in doing so, and how they fought day and night to rid the nation of oppression. This book is for general audiences, but I highly recommend it to scholars and historians.
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