Cecil Democrat, October 27, 1849
The editor of the Cecil Democrat complained about an article in the [Wilmington] Blue Hen’s Chicken sympathetic to fugitives and the abolitionists assisting them. “The Blue Hen’s Chicken exults in the escape of 16 slaves, 8 of whom were from the Head of Sassafras,” The Chicken’s revelation that “the abolitionists there are very active in aiding the escape of slaves, that the underground railroad extends a considerable distance down that State, and that branches of it extend into Maryland.” Marylanders needed “to keep a watchful eye upon these emissaries,” Vanderford cautioned. “Some of them are well known, in the counties bordering upon Delaware, and with all the cunning and shrewdness which the Chicken ascribes to them.” Vanderford called for the “closest scrutiny” of every man from Delaware “who is not known, and believed to be above suspicion.” He concluded that “a stop should be put to these nefarious proceedings of the abolitionists, at whatever cost.” Vanderford neglected to mention the need to scrutinize suspicious women as well. Harriet Tubman had escaped from slavery earlier in the month through that network and joined the men and women running it.
Cecil Democrat, October 27, 1849
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The Rest of the Freedom Seekers from Cecil County Recorded by William Still and Sydney Gay1/13/2016 These are the names of the rest of the freedom seekers identified by William Still in Philadelphia and / or Sydney Gay in New York as arrivals from Cecil County. Still’s narratives on their stories were brief and little or no additional local information could be added.
Still, Underground Railroad, page 527 George and Albert White, escaped from William Parker Page 227 John Brown, aka Jacob Williams, escaped from Joseph Postly at Fredericktown, a community on the Sassafras River. Page 528, and Journal C (January 3, 1856) Wesley Williams escaped from Jack Jones of Warwick, a community close to the Delaware state line. Page 528 Henry Dunmore, age 35, escaped from John Maldon [Mauldin is the spelling in the county slave record]. Sydney Gay database, January 28, 1856 Mary Jeffers and her two daughters escaped from Joshua Craig of Bohemia Manor. Sydney Gay database, April 30, 1856 John Williams and his wife Mary fled from John Peach. The 1858 Martinet Map of Cecil County shows two properties owned by John Peach near Bohemia Mills and near the Delaware Line. In the presentation at the Chesapeake City Library, I will expose and then dispose of myths and folktales that have accumulated over the years about the Underground Railroad, share what historians have learned about it in recent studies, and include my own research in the region. In 2014, I conducted two studies on UGRR routes through Cecil County on the request of the National Park Service’s Network to Freedom program, and I was able to verify the importance of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad at Perryville and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. For the Chesapeake City audience, I will emphasize stories related to the canal, and for the Perryville audience at Perryville Library on February 17 at 7, I will emphasize the railroad stories.
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Freedom Seekers and Freedom Stealers along the Mason - Dixon LineAuthorMilt Diggins, M. ed., an independent scholar, author, public historian, and public speaker. Archives
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