The Underground Railroad by William Still

Page 1 of 686

THE UNDERGROUND RAIL ROAD.

A RECORD OF FACTS, AUTHENTIC NARRATIVES, LETTERS, &C.,

NARRATING THE HARDSHIPS HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPES AND DEATH STRUGGLES

OF THE

SLAVES IN THEIR EFFORTS FOR FREEDOM,

AS RELATED

BY THEMSELVES AND OTHERS, OR WITNESSED BY THE AUTHOR

TOGETHER WITH

SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE LARGEST STOCKHOLDERS, AND

MOST LIBERAL AIDERS AND ADVISERS,

OF THE ROAD.

BY William Still For many years connected with the Anti-Slavery Office in Philadelphia, and Chairman of the Acting Vigilant Committee of the Philadelphia Branch of the Underground Rail Road.

1872

PHILADELPHIA:

PORTER & COATES, Thou shall not deliver unto his master the servant that has escaped from his master unto thee.--_Deut._ xxiii. 16.

Illustrated with 70 fine Engravings by Bensell, Schell and others, and Portraits from Photographs from Life.

SOLD ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION.

822, CHESTNUT STREET.

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1871, by

W.M. STILL,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

[Illustration: W. Still]

PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION.

* * * * *

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. Mother and father were again reunited in freedom, while two of their little boys were in slavery. What to do for them other than weep and pray, were questions unanswerable. For over forty years the mother's heart never knew what it was to be free from anxiety about her lost boys. But no tidings came in answer to her many prayers, until one of them, to the great astonishment of his relatives, turned up in Philadelphia, nearly fifty years of age, seeking his long-lost parents. Being directed to the Anti-Slavery Office for instructions as to the best plan to adopt to find out the whereabouts of his parents, fortunately he fell into the hands of his own brother, the writer, whom he had never heard of before, much less seen or known. And here began revelations connected with this marvellous coincidence, which influenced me, for years previous to Emancipation, to preserve the matter found in the pages of this humble volume.

Prev - Next >>

Share this book

Table of contents (by pages)