The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad

7. The Roots of a Legend

Chapter Seven THE ROOTS OF A LEGEND THE LEGEND of the underground railroad began to take form in the period preceding the Civil War. Stories of the exploits of those abolitionists who actually assisted fugitive slaves were repeated by word of mouth and in antislavery publications, often with considerable embellishment. Nevertheless , the existence of such regionally organized assistance did give the legend a basis in fact. Repeatedly described, the exciting incidents seemed more numerous and more significant than they actually were. Distortion entered the picture in the ante bellum period because of repetition and exaggeration rather than pure fabrication of underground railroad adventures . In addition to actual events, the legend of the underground railroad rests in part on the propaganda literature of the abolitionists and of their southern opponents. Publicity about the mysterious route first appeared in the 1840's and became more frequent in the decade after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Persons willing to aid fugitives sometimes advertised in the abolition press, and there was little or no attempt to preserve the secrecy which is so often associated with the underground road. Spokesmen for the South found their own propaganda uses for underground railroad material, and their writings also contributed to the development of an exaggerated image of the underground railroad in the minds of many Americans . 144 The Liberty Line As early as 1844, the Chicago Western Citizen carried an advertisement for the underground railroad.1 In it G. W. Burke, who listed himself as "Superintendent," addressed a "Card" to the "friends of the underground Rail Road, in Jersey county, Illinois." Burke pointed out "that the U.R.R. is in excellent order. The station keepers and superintendents are all active and trust-worthy men, [imd] chattels intrusted to their care will be forwarded with great care, and unparalleled speed." About a month later the same paper published a cartoon captioned "Liberty Line" and showing the underground train with its cargo of happy ex-bondsmen on their way to Canada. Beneath the drawing appeared a humorous description of "the improved and splendid Locomotives" and "best style" passenger accommodations for those "who may wish to improve their health or circumstances, by a northern tour." J. Cross was listed as the road's proprietor. These were only the first of a number of such advertisements for underground railroad stations .2 In December, 1850, William Stedman wrote a letter to the editor of the Cleveland Daily True Democrat calling attention to the fact that he was the local agent for getting fugitives into Canada. From time to time the underground railroad committee of Cleveland held entertainments and dinners to raise money for assistance to fugitives. These, too, were advertised in the newspapers. Columbus abolitionists also publicized their fugitive aid work. In 1852 a Columbus paper carried a letter stating that the "underground railroad, and especially the express train, is doing a good business just now." It boasted of having "good and competent conductors," and added that it "would not be very safe for slave-catchers to get on the track 1 Chicago Western Citiun, December 2!l, 1842, carried a story from Oswego. New York. concerning a fugitive slave who had escaped. then became ill and returned to the South. He refused to say where he had been, but when tortured. he said "that the abolitionists had a railroad under ground and that he started fCir it; but when he got there the 'trap-door' was shut." Though there may have been earlier uses of the term, this was the earliest found. aChicago Western Citizen, June 6, July 1!l. 1844. The Roots of a Legend 145 when the bell rings, at some of the depots in Northern Ohio." In 1859 Columbus abolitionists openly announced a state meeting of underground railroad workers, which was really a gathering of appointed delegates of various Ohio antislavery societies . In the fall of the same year, eastern abolitionists published in the antislavery press tentative plans for a national convention of "directors, agents and friends of the Underground Railroad ."· Other self-styled underground railroad conductors openly advertised their activity. The National Anti-Slavery Standard in April, 1854, asserted that the editor of the Burlington, Vermont , Tribune had been violating the Fugitive Slave Law and showed no signs of regret. He had published notices of the arrival and departure of fugitives on the "underground" and had also published information for...