Highlights Archives
Wisconsin's Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was a railroad without tracks. It was underground but traveled overland. It carried passengers without an engine, timetable, or dining car. But the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves from the South escape to freedom in Canada, is still evident in the historical records, many of which are available on our website. More than 100 fugitive slaves appear to have escaped through Wisconsin between 1842 and 1861 via the Underground Railroad. Information about them is relatively scarce, though, because both ex-slaves and their abolitionist helpers faced severe consequences if they were caught. And for decades after the Civil War, violent racism so permeated American society that many participants feared to speak up about their activities before the war.
The Case of Young Caroline Quarlls
The earliest known escape through Wisconsin's Underground Railroad is that of 16-year-old Caroline Quarlls, who ran away from her owner in St. Louis on July 4, 1842, after being beaten. She came up the Mississippi River by steamboat to Alton, Illinois, and crossed by stage to Milwaukee, where she arrived in early August. Quarlls was hidden there briefly by sympathetic allies, but when authorities tracked her down she was spirited away to Waukesha, a town known for its anti-slavery radicals. In late summer she moved at night from farm to farm through Walworth and Racine counties until she was ultimately driven by a Waukesha man around Chicago, through Indiana, and across Michigan, where she escaped from Detroit into Canada.
Waukesha editor Chauncey Olin recalled the whole episode in a memoir, and Mrs. A.H. Woodruff, with whom Quarlls hid for two weeks near Pewaukee, offered her recollections in a letter many years later. So did the Rev. S.A. Dwinnell, who hid her for a time in Walworth County. The longest and most detailed memoir is that by Lyman Goodnow, who actually drove the wagon by night from Wisconsin to Detroit. Olin's 75-page memoir includes the only known photograph of Quarlls as well as letters from her and a printed version of Goodnow's recollections.
The Rescue of Joshua Glover
Wisconsin's best-known fugitive slave incident was the rescue of Joshua Glover on March 11, 1854, from the Milwaukee jail. Glover had escaped from his owner in Missouri in 1852 and made his way to Racine, where his master found him two years later. Arrested under the federal Fugitive Slave Act, Glover was taken to the Milwaukee jail, but a crowd of anti-slavery demonstrators smashed down the doors and rescued him the next day. Glover, like Quarlls, was initially hidden in Waukesha until he secretly boarded a steamer in Racine and escaped to Canada.
Waukesha editor Chauncey Olin was also involved in the Glover incident and recalls the events in his memoir. Also available is the advertisement that Glover's owner placed after he ran away in 1852, and an article that his pursuers published in 1854 that explains why they think it's justifiable to capture him. Other documents from the Glover case include a picture of him, a poster advertising an anti-slavery rally, and the memoir of the immigrant bricklayer who actually seized a nearby beam and helped smash in the doors of the jail.
Other Escapes Along Wisconsin's Underground Railroad
Quarlls and Glover are only the most famous escapes along Wisconsin's Underground Railroad. Several others were documented in the 1890s by historian John N. Davidson, and Underground Railroad "conductors," A.P. Dutton and Maximillian Heck offered manuscript reminiscences during the same decade. Research showed that the Milton House, near Janesville, had been used extensively to harbor escaping slaves, as well. In 1854 an unnamed father and his two children passed through Chilton to find safety among the Stockbridge Indians; after repulsing their pursuers, the Stockbridge got them safely to Green Bay and then by ship to Canada. About 1855 the Rev. R.L. Cheney of Janesville assisted a family escaping northward on the road from Beloit; he saw them to Racine, where they embarked safely by steamer for Canada. At the outbreak of the Civil War, three escaping families were harbored in Beloit, and remained there after the war. In early 1861 Janesville citizens rallied to drive away a slave catcher who had tracked down one of their city's residents.
Learn More About Wisconsin's Black Heritage
:: Posted February 23, 2009
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