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The Underground Railroad in Wisconsin

In early years, slaves were brought to Wisconsin by their masters. Some slaves were freed after their arrival, others were brought to the lead mining districts of southwestern Wisconsin to work in the mines.

Among the immigrants to the Platteville area were James Bennet McCord and Alvin McCord Dixen. The became leaders of the abolitionist movement in that area and Platteville became known as "Abolition Hollow" (To Answer Your Questions About Wisconsin: The Underground Railroad in Wisconsin).

Southeastern Wisconsin also had strong abolitionist leanings. The state's first abolition society was formed in Racine County, in 1840. Newspapers such as the Aegis, published in Racine, in 1843, and the Free Democrat, published in Milwaukee, helped to spread anti-slavery feelings. Many settlers from the East brought their sentiments with them (Wisconsin Defies the Fugitive Slave Law: The Case of Sherman M. Booth, 1955).

Churches have long-been associated with the abolitionists. For example, in Beloit, a meeting of the Presbyterian and Congregational church members resolved that "in view of this convention American slavery is a sin; that it is a sin of such magnitude that all who practice it or knowingly promote it should be excluded from our pulpits and the fellowship of our churches; that while we deprecate all harsh language and rash measures in the destruction of this evil, we will nevertheless avail ourselves of all suitable measures to enlighten and correct the public mind in regard to the sin of slavery (To Answer Your Questions About Wisconsin: The Underground Railroad in Wisconsin).

The passage of the Fugitive Slave law of 1850, only heightened the strong feelings of Wisconsin citizens. Wisconsin's delegations in both houses voted against passage and the law was condemned in political conventions in Waterford, Milwaukee and Waukesha (To Answer Your Questions About Wisconsin: The Underground Railroad in Wisconsin).

The two documented cases of fugitive (runaway) slaves in Wisconsin are Joshua Glover and Caroline Quarrels.

CAROLINE QUARRELS

In the summer of 1843, Caroline Quarrels, an 18 year-old mulatto girl, started her journey to freedom by boarding a steamer in St. Louis. She traveled up-river to Alton, Illinois where she joined a group of white school children. (Her light skin allowed her to easily do this.) Suspecting that she was not what she appeared, a Negro man warned her that Alton was not safe and he put her on a stagecoach for Milwaukee.

After arriving in Milwaukee she was betrayed by a Negro barber for $100 but discovered this before she could be captured. Asahel Finch, one of Milwaukee's leading attorneys, took her across the Milwaukee River, where she hid all day under a hog shed. From Milwaukee, she was taken to the Pewaukee home of Samuel Daugherty. Then she was led by Ezra Mendell to Prairieville (Waukesha) and the home of Deacon Allen Clinton. There was a reward for her return and pursuers were close behind. On a Sunday night in August, Ezra Mendell and and Lyman Goodenow took Caroline 30 miles to the home of Solomon A. Dwinnel in Spring Prairie in Walworth County.

Goodenow later returned to take Caroline the rest of the way to Canada. Places they stopped at were North Prairie, Eagle, West Troy and Gardener's Prairie (near Burlington). Friends from Burlington collected $20 for the trip to Windsor Canada. The journey for Goodenow took a total of five weeks and was successful due to the help of many along the way.

Caroline reached Windsor, Canada and lived with the family of Rev. Haskel, a home missionary agent. She went to school and later married (The Journal Times, 1973, August 19).

JOSHUA GLOVER

Joshua Glover was also a runaway slave from Missouri. In 1852, he took the Underground Railroad north to Racine, Wisconsin. He took a job at a sawmill and earned a reputation as a good worker and was well liked in the community.

On the evening of March R, 1854, Joshua was playing cards with friends in his cabin. He was jumpy because the night before someone had tried his cabin door, found it locked and left. A runaway that was staying with him was sent away to safety. Joshua remained, thinking that after two years the danger of him being caught was past.

Someone began banging on the door Joshua warned his friend not to open the door with out asking who was there, but without hesitation he unbolted the door. Five men and Benjamin S. Garland, his former master, who was armed with a pistol, rushed in. After putting up quite a fight, Joshua was subdued and taken to jail in Milwaukee.

Word spread of Joshua's capture and it wasn't long before Sherman M. Booth, editor of the abolitionist newspaper, the American Freeman, went into action. He organized a public meeting for that afternoon. Booth urged everyone to stay within the law, but an angry crowd left the meeting and stormed the jail where Joshua was held. Using pickaxes, Joshua was soon freed and rushed back to Racine and then on to a boat to Canada.

Benjamin Garland, Joshua's former master, was arrested on a charge of assault and battery by Wisconsin officers, but was later freed on the grounds that he, as a slave owner, had the right to take a fugitive.

Booth's Newspaper boasted, "We send greetings to the Free States of the Union, that, in Wisconsin, the Fugitive Slave Law is repealed! The first attempt to enforce the law, in the state, . . . has failed! NO MORE COMPROMISE WITH SLAVERY! . . . PERISH ALL ENACTMENTS ESTABLISHING SLAVERY ON FREE SOIL (Clark, 1955)!" Union Grove, Wisconsin praised the rescue, abolitionists in Syracuse, New York, sent congratulations to Wisconsin. On March 15, though, Booth was arrested for "aiding and abetting" Joshua's escape and hearing was held and bail was set at $2,000. The bail was paid immediately.

Booth's lawyer argued before Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge A. D. Smith that 1) Congress couldn't legislate on fugitive slaves; 2) even if it could, a person claimed to be a slave had to have a jury trial; 3) the law put power of interpreting the law in to the hands of court commissioners not judges, and that was unconstitutional. Justice Smith agreed with him, and after review the entire court reviewed the decision and it stood.

Unfortunately, it wasn't over for Booth, who was re-arrested by federal officers and held for trial. Booth applied to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a writ but this was denied as the case was taken over by the Federal government.

Booth's trial began in January of 1855. The judge instructed the jury that it was only to decide if Booth had broken the Fugitive Slave Law, not whether the law itself was unjust or unconstitutional. Booth was found guilty and sentenced to one month in jail and a fine of $1,000 and $1,451 in court costs.

Booth appealed the verdict to the Wisconsin Supreme court on January 29. The court declared that the Fugitive Slave Law was unconstitutional and the state had the power to free anyone illegally imprisoned (Clark, 1955).

A less documented, but very interesting, case of a runaway finding her way to Wisconsin and then later settling in Milton, is described in the following letter. The letter is in the collection of the Milton Historical Society and is copied here in its entirety.

February 26, 1979

Dear Friend,

I don't know whether this obituary will be of interest to you or not but will send it along with some of the facts concerning Mrs. [Amanda] Lee. Mrs. Ross Coon found it among some of her mother's old clippings and sent it to me. This Mrs. Lee was a slave at the time of the Civil War living in Missouri. She ran away from her owners and went to the Union army stationed in Missouri at that time. She told them she would cook for them or do anything to help if they would help her get to Wisconsin. A Dr. Lord of Edgerton, Wisconsin was a young surgeon with the army and he told her he would going home by train soon and she should be in a certain place at a certain time and he would take her with him and see that she got to friends in Madison. She was a very attractive quadroon or octoroon, I don't know which and soon married a young Negro widower with a small son. He was a barber and they located in Milton where he worked at his profession until he died. She became an ardent Relief Corps member and stayed with the society until it disbanded. She was also a member my church and was in Sunday School and Church service every Sunday. She could neither read or write but her friends always helped her. When they died I did it for her. My husband's mother took her to Oshkosh to the state convention when she had been a member of the Relief Corps for 50 years and had her presented to the group. It was a surprise to her and she was speechless but pleased to be so honored. She had charming manners and always made a good impression. When she died the society editor of the [Janesville] Gazette wanted a special write-up about her but I told her it just couldn't be done as her stepson would be furious. He was very proud and sensitive and resentful of his lot in life. Mrs. Lee would not have objected as she talked freely of her slave days. She was really a part of the so called underground railroad and I presume I am the only person left in Milton who knows the facts. The obituary states that she came to Madison with her parents but that is really a nice little fiction. The stepson lived in San Francisco most of his life. When he returned to Milton at times he came to see me and we corresponded fairly often. He had some kind of position with the government during World War II and I finally ceased to hear from him. No doubt he died during that time.

The office of conductress in Relief Corps was something she could manage and she always did it with such precision. She took great pride in it and I liked to watch her perform.

Do as you like about the obituary but it seemed to me that her life as a citizen of Milton should be preserved.

I am going to plead old age and a growing cataract on one eye as an excuse for the poor penmanship but I wanted you to know the facts.

Sincerely

Jennie Drew

It is interesting to note here that Amanda Lee's husband, Arthur Lee, was born in Charleston, South Carolina, January 15, 1833. When the Civil War began he headed North. He enlisted as a private in Boston in the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteers in 1862. He was in the battle at James Island, Fort Wagoner, Honey Hill, Graham Station, and Oluster in Florida. He served three years and mustered out as Commissary Sergeant of his regiment in 1865. After his first wife died, he moved from place to place but ended up in Milton, where Ezra Goodrich set him up in business in 1868. He remarried in 1871, but his wife died and he married Amanda Jane Barker on December 31, 1876.

References

Clark, James I. (1955). Wisconsin Defies the Fugitive Slave Law: The case of Sherman M. Booth. Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin.

Roanhouse, Thomas (1973, Aug. 19). "First Passenger Through Area Finds Freedom in Canada." The Journal Times, Racine, Wisconsin.

To Answer Your Questions About Wisconsin: The Underground Railroad in Wisconsin Madison: The State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Publication #1000-1-DB20043.

Updated April, 2008