During the year 1619 one of the greatest evils and the greatest cause
of the Civil War was introduced into this country by some Dutch sailors. This
was the importation and sale of negroes as slaves in this country. Even the King
of England was engaged in the selling of negroes for gain. These slaves were
sold mostly to southern planters, where they were made to work in the cotton
fields with clothing and food for their pay. The slaves in the north were used
as house servants and were not so numerous.
All plantation owners tried
to keep their slaves in dense ignorance, so they might not know about other
states where negroes were free. The southerners thought that the slaves would be
happy because they thought if all other states were the same, the negro would
not be running away. But all over the south there were dissatisfied slaves. Some
were mistreated by their masters, others thought of being sold and separated
from their families.
But the northerners were too smart for them. Some
northerners secretly went to the south and told the negroes about free states
and Canada. If a master could find his slaves in the United States he had the
right to take them home; but if a negro got away to Canada he was safe. They
told the negro how to recognize the north star and advised him to go in that
direction. When the stars were not shining they should look for moss which grows
on the north side of tree trunks.
So the slaves began to escape from
their masters. They traveled by night and remained hidden in the daytime. Some
used rowboats so they left no tracks for the bloodhounds. Some reached Canada by
being sent in boxes as merchandise. Sometimes men dressed as women and women in
men's clothes escaped to Canada.
The Underground Railway system was
managed in this way: The stations of the railway were farmhouses. The farmer was
conductor and engineer while his horses and wagons made up the train.
There were fines of five hundred dollars put on all men caught helping negroes
escape; so the aiders had to keep it a secret. Suspected farmers were closely
watched by agents hired by slave owners.
The negroes were concealed in
one place, sometimes for a week so they could throw their pursuers off the
track. The hiding place was usually the cellar, the attic, or a secret room.
When they were closely watched they went to a haystack or woodpile.
John
Hood, of Sparta, aided a negro and his wife to escape from slave catchers, who
stopped at Hood's house for night. The negroes were locked in a cellar. During
the night when everyone was asleep Hood removed them to a haystack from where
they escaped. Mr. Seeper, of Princeton, Illinois, aided 31 men and women in six
weeks. One conductor aided about one thousand in one year.
There were no
telegraph lines but code letters were sent by mail. They were cautiously
written, in case some agents opened them, they would not know what they were
about. Following is an example:
Dear Grinell,
Uncle Tom says
that if the roads are not too bad you can look for those fleeces of wool by
tomorrow. Send them on to test the market and prices. No back pay.
Yours, Hub.
We know only a few of these routes now. They have only dim
traces, although a few men linger who can tell thrilling stories of that little
section on which they aided the negro. No record was ever kept of how many
hundred men and women won their freedom by crossing Illinois.
There was
an Underground Railway route through Eden Township in La Salle County. One
station was located in Lostant, south of Cedar Point, and the other station was
in Cedar Point, on Charles Mudges farm in a large barn. Mr. Mudge, Sr. of Cedar
Point also aided many negroes to freedom.
Reference: Illinois History,
Lecture by C. Whitaker, U. S. History.
Extracted 08 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from Stories of Pioneer Days in La Salle County, Illinois, by Grammar Grade Pupils, published in 1932, page 73.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
| Bureau |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
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