1894

Johnson, Homer Uri, fl. 1896

Book

Title: From Dixie to Canada: romance and realities of the underground railroad

Second edition. Printed by H.U. Johnson. Includes a printed frontispiece photograph of Johnson. Johnson gathered the stories within this book from "personal observation, extensive reading, visitations along many of the old lines, and numerous interviews and extensive correspondence with those heroic men and women who dared their fortunes and their personal liberty in the cause of humanity and right..."

GLC06145

1849

Thompson, George, ?-1893

Book

Title: Prison life and reflections; or, a narrative of the arrest, trial, conviction, imprisonment, treatment, observations, reflections, and deliverance of Work, Burr, and Thompson...

(title continued)... who suffered an unjust and cruel imprisonment in Missouri Penitentiary for attempting to aid some slaves to liberty. Published by A. (possibly Alanson) Work.

GLC06169

28 June 1864

Loguen, Jermain Wesley, 1814-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Helen Amelia Loguen [written on a printed circular "To the Friends of the Fugitives from Slavery]

Loguen responds to a letter from his daughter, whom he calls "Amelia." Notes that he will not be able to make Amelia's picnic, but will be there to visit her on the Sabbath. Comments on a relative or acquaintance with the measles, and a visit from "Miss [Tenney?]." Hopes to see Amelia's school (where she teaches) when he comes to visit her Sunday. Mentions his ill health and an upcoming wedding. Handwritten letter is two pages long, on two of three blank leaves of a broadside. The broadside, comprised of one page of printed text, was issued 5 June 1860 and is directed "To the Friends of…

GLC06175

1872

Still, William, 1821-1902

Book

Title: The underground railroad. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes and death struggles...

(title continues)... 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. Printed by Porter & Coates. Contains a frontispiece printed portrait of Still, and woodcut illustrations throughout text. An exhaustive volume containing narratives, testimonies, and biographies.

GLC05843

1883

Still, William, 1821-1902

Book

Title: Still's underground rail road records. Revised edition. With a life of the author. Narrating the hardships, hairbreadth escapes and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom.

Contains woodcut illustrations. Published by Still. Includes a printed portrait of Still opposite title page. An exhaustive volume containing narratives, testimonies, and biographies.

GLC05844

3 July 1852

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Adams

Thanks Adams, possibly an underground railroad conductor, for the invitation to Independence Day events at Fall River, Massachusetts, but cannot make it. Sends his sentiments instead which he calls trite but necessary. "Defenders of the Constitution, let us not forget the principles of the Declaration; but for the equal support of both, in the spirit of our fathers, without compromise & with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, let us mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes & our sacred honor." Addressed to Robert Adams as Chairman.

GLC07356.01

circa 1850

Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert Adams

Informs Adams, possibly an underground railroad train conductor in Fall River, Massachusetts, that British abolitionist George Thompson will be coming next Friday, the 13th. Tells Adams to meet him and states, "..He is a stranger and will need a conductor." Says they have no tickets and will need to get them printed. Undated. Integral address leaf.

GLC07356.02

1879

Pettit, Eber, fl. 1879

Book

Title: Sketches in the history of the Underground Railroad...

Title continued: "Comprising many thrilling incidents of the escape of fugitives from slavery and the perils to those who aided them." First edition, with mounted albumen photograph frontispiece of Pettit. Original publishers brown cloth. Pettit was one of the chief conductors of the Underground Railroad. Not in Blockson Collection. Schomburg 326.973F-P, Work p.338.

GLC06839

1869

Tubman, Harriet, 1822-1913

Book

Title: Scenes in the life of Harriet Tubman / by Sarah H. Bradford

First edition printed by Moses. The story of Tubman, an escaped slave who became a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad. She made more than nineteen trips into the south, rescuing 300 people. During the Civil War, she served as a nurse and spy. Royalties from this book paid off the mortgage on her home when she married Nelson Davis, an African American Civil War veteran. Exlibris stamp of the Phillis Wheatley Library. Blockson Collection 3950, Schomburg 326.93-B. Including engraving of Tubman.

GLC06840

July 24, 1839

Dresser, Amos, 1812-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Hiram Wilson

Dresser writes to Reverend Wilson who is expecting two enslaved people seeking emancipation in Canada through the underground railroad. He writes, "I rejoice in the privilege of handing over to you two more Daughters of affliction who can tell you their own tale of suffering. They are in pursuit of a home which I trust they will find in Queen Victoria's Dominions. The young girl is very quick... in almost any kind of business & with the right kind of training I hope may be brot to Christ & made useful in the world Perhaps you will want her in your family." He asks for the names of…

GLC00867

26 August 1848

Nickless, Samuel, fl. 1848

Autograph letter signed

Title: [Invitation to speak]

Samuel Nickless, treasurer of William Still's Philadelphia Vigilance Committee, part of the Underground Railroad, asks an unnamed lecturer to come and speak: "The members of the 2nd African Presbyterian Church take the liberty of asking you to give us a lecture, showing what we can do toward hastening the emancipation of the slave."

GLC09396

1857-1864 ca.

Photograph signed

Title: [Carte de visite of Owen Lovejoy]

Signed carte-de-visite of Radical Republican congressman Owen Lovejoy from Illinois. Lovejoy's Princeton, Ill. homestead was an important Underground Railroad station.

GLC09410

28 August 1858

American Anti-Slavery Society

Newspaper

Title: National Anti-Slavery Standard. [Vol. 19, no.15 (August 28, 1858)]

One issue of the "National Anti-Slavery Standard" dated August 28, 1858. This issue features a poem "Peace in God" by Harriet Beecher Stowe. The newspaper also features a section of articles that are pro-slavery. There is also an article concerning a Captain Baylis of the Keziah who was arrested and faces forty years in jail for transporting five escaped enslaved people on his ship. The newspaper also contains advertisements and notices of meetings.

GLC09791.30

28 October 1822

Howard, Robert, 1767-1850

Newspaper

Title: Southern Patriot And Commerical Advertiser. [Vol. 16, no. 330 (October 28, 1822)]

One newspaper published by Robert Howard entitled "Southern Patriot And Commerical Advertiser" dated October 28, 1822. Contains numerous public notices and information regarding public ordinances for the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Of particular note are three advertisements for escaped enslaved persons on the front page. The first advertisement published by Joseph Cox offers fifty dollars for the return of "Nanny," noting that "if said woman returns of her own accord, she will be forgiven." The second advertisement for "Chance," who "sometimes calls himself Charles and Thomas" offers…

GLC09711

1901

Kletzing, Henry F., 1850-?

Book

Title: Progress of a race or the remarkable advancement of the Afro-American...

Full title is: "Progress of a race or the remarkable advancement of the Afro-American from the bondage of slavery, ignorance and poverty to the freedom of citizenship, intelligence, affluence, honor and trust." Published by J. L. Nichols & Co. Co-authored by William Henry Crogman, a professor at Clark University in Atlanta, Georgia. Includes an introduction by Booker T. Washington, horticulturist and president of the Tuskegee Institute, who states that "while the authors record in these pages the progress of the Negro within the past generation, let us hope that when another quarter…

GLC06126.01

04 September 1863

Plumly, B. Rush (Benjamin Rush), 1816-1887

Autograph letter signed

Title: "Corps d'Afrique"

"Corps d'Afrique" recruiting letter, and card from Plumly's Brigade, 16th Regiment, New Orleans. [Plumly was former underground railroad operator]

GLC08147

12 May 1899

Thompson, Ruth Brown, 1829-1904

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Alexander M. Ross

She and all of her family hope that Ross will come to visit them. Praises him for his tireless work for others. Says she never met Lucretia Mott, nor Harriet Tubman, but admires them both and says of Tubman "what an old soldier she has been. Recounts a visit with old friends. Last two pages found on page 24 of GLC3007.56.

GLC03007.48

20 April 1865

Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875

Autograph endorsement signed

Title: [Endorsement of a runaway slave to return to Tennessee to search for his family]

President Johnson, five days after taking office endorses the petition of Jermain Westley Loguen, an escaped slave and Underground Railroad conductor, to return to Tennessee to search for family members. Written on the leaf of a 31 March 1865 autograph letter signed in which Samuel May made the request of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. May's letter is also signed by C.B. Sedgewick, Sherman B. Canfield, Reverend George Whipple, and Lewis Tappan. Johnson's endorsement reads: "the within named Rev J. W. Loguen (col'd) of New York is recommended to the favorable consideration of the Civil…

GLC08942

12 November 1872

Stewart, Isham, fl. 1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Blanche Kelso Bruce

A letter from Stewart asking Senator Bruce to look into a petition put forth to oust his son Robert from his position of Post Master in Macon for a Mrs. Gilmero. He says that one of the only reasons the signers want this is because her husband John was killed in the "Christiana Massacres" [the Christiana Riot of 1851]. The docket is written over the letter text in Red pen. Also written in Senatobia, Mississippi

GLC09400.045

1858/02/21

Coffin, Levi, 1798-1877

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Jesse Stubbs re: helping fugitive slaves escape (the Langford family)

GLC06733.04

1860 ca.

Stubbs, Jesse, fl. 1860

Document

Title: Printed biography mentioning the Langford story

Some details vary.

GLC06733.05

1781-1864

Various

Header Record

Title: The James Basker and Angela Vallot Family Archive [Decimalized .01-.35]

A collection of material related to abolition in the United States as well as in England. Contains engravings, and newspapers.

GLC09791

1852/06/19

Bibb, Henry, fl. 1813-1852

Autograph letter signed

Title: to John Calkins re: how his money was used for fugitive slaves

A long, detailed letter from Bibb, the noted runaway slave and conductor on the Underground Railroad, telling Calkins of Wilbraham, Mass., how his money was spent in aiding runaway slaves who had traveled on the Underground Railroad, particularly those who had just arrived in Canada. In part: "The next sum was used to aid a sick man who had [been] but a short time in Canada before he was attacked with the intiminant fever.... He must have died had I not procured medical aid for him." Bibb lectured widely and published a number of works, including his Narrative of the Life and Adventures of…

GLC06834