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Study On Your Own

UGRR Stories

Quotations

1. THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN ACTION:

“Slaves walked from station to station at night and when necessary hid in cornfields, forests and friendly homes to avoid being captured by owners or patrols. According to [Addison] Coffin, the system continued from 1830-1860 [most active years here were 1819-1852, with Levi leaving for IN in 1826 and Vestal dying the same year] without anyone finding out about the secret system.” (Beal, p. 21)

5 a. LEVI COFFIN FIRST SEEING THE ENSLAVED:

He dates his “conversion to Abolitionism from an incident which occurred when I was about seven years old.” There was a coffle of slaves (chained together in couples) who passed by on the Salisbury road. Levi and his father observed and spoke to them. They learned that the slaves were very unhappy because ‘They have taken us away from our wives and children, and they chain us lest we should make our escape and go back to them.’ Levi asked many questions of his father and learned about “the meaning of slavery, and, as I listened, the thought rose in my mind -- ‘How terribly we should feel if father were taken away from us.’” This, he said, was the beginning of his being in sympathy with the oppressed.(Coffin, L., pp. 12-13)

5 b. LEVI LEARNING ABOUT THE LIVES OF THE ENSLAVED:

“Runaway slaves used frequently to conceal themselves in the woods and thickets in the vicinity of New Garden, waiting opportunities to make their escape to the North, and I generally learned their places of concealment and rendered them all the service in my power.” He fed them scraps of bacon and cornbread meant for hogs, and “many a time I sat in the thickets with them as they hungrily devoured my bounty, and listened to the stories they told of hard masters and cruel treatment. . .” (Coffin, L. pp. 20-21)

5c. LEVI CONVINCED DAVID CALDWELL TO KEEP EDE:

Their neighbor, Dr. David Caldwell (physician and clergyman) was asked by his son, a Presbyterian minister, to give his son’s wife the gift of a house slave. Caldwell considered it (over the objections of his wife, who did not like the idea of separating a woman from her husband) and decided to offer Ede. She had 4 children, the youngest a baby only a few months old, who would accompany her to the new home 100 miles away. Just before she was to be sent away, Ede escaped into the woods with her baby, and remained for several days and nights. The child became ill, so she left.

“She made her way to our house. . . was kindly received, though we knew we laid ourselves liable to a heavy penalty by harboring a fugitive slave.” Levi continued: “The dictates of humanity came in opposition to the law of the land, and we ignored the law.” He himself went to visit David Caldwell to plead that Ede be able to remain with her husband and family. He “used all the earnestness and eloquence I was master of, quoting all the texts of Scripture bearing on the case. . .” Ede had told Levi she was willing to return to the Caldwell home to be with her family. David Caldwell consented not to penalize the Coffins and to allow Ede to remain at his home with her loved ones. (Coffin, L. pp. 23-28)

5 d. STORY OF BENJAMIN BENSON:

In 1817 there was a lengthy legal case in the Guilford County Supreme Court in which a black man named Benjamin Benson was kidnapped in Delaware and sold in Guilford County to a slaveholder. The court decided in his favor eventually, but the backlash from slaveholders sparked the idea of an organized method of helping enslaved people to escape to freedom. Quakers in the New Garden community and other anti-slavery neighbors partnered with local African Americans, both enslaved and free, to provide a significant base of support for fugitives escaping from slavery. Author Fergus Bordewich calls it our “country’s first racially integrated civil rights movement.”(Bordewich, p. 4)

5 e. FIRST PASSENGER - JOHN DIMREY IN 1819:

During the time of this trial in Guilford County there was “a free black man named John Dimery [who] became the first known fugitive to be spirited away from Guilford County to the free states.” He had been freed by his master elsewhere in North Carolina, and come to live with his wife in New Garden. In 1819 the old master died and his sons came to New Garden to collect Dimery in the night. Dimery enlisted his daughter to “run for ‘Mr. Coffin. ” Vestal and his friend Isaac White caught up with and detained the kidnappers while “the woman of the house” quietly untied Dimery, who “disappeared into the woods.” Addison Coffin reports that Dimery “was started on the Underground Railroad that night and soon landed at Richmond, Indiana.”(Coffin, A., pp. 20-21, Life and Travels)

Many runaways (fugitives) went in this direction, as many Quakers were available to help along the way. There were other routes as well.

5 f. LEVI AND VESTAL INTERVIEWING RUNAWAYS, WITH HELP OF SOL (or SAUL):

“. . . Sol would manage to bring the person, by night, to some rendezvous appointed, in the pine thickets or the depths of the woods, and there Vestal and I would meet them and have an interview. There was always a risk in holding these meetings, for the law in the South inflicted heavy penalties on any one who should aid or abet a fugitive slave in escaping, and the patrollers, or mounted officers, frequently passed along the road near our place of concealment.” (Coffin, L. p. 21)

6a. HENRY “BOX” BROWN:

Henry Brown, enslaved in Richmond, Virginia, convinced Samuel A. Smith to nail a box shut around him, wrap five hickory hoops around the box, and ship it to a member of the Vigilance Committee in Philadelphia. The box was 2 feet 8 inches wide, 2 feet deep and 3 feet long.

At 5 feet 10 inches and more than 200 pounds, Brown had very little space for movement. Even though the box was marked "This side up with care," he spent some of the time upside down. He could not shift his position because that might attract attention. Brown took only a little water to drink, or to splash on his face if he got too warm, and some biscuits. There were tiny holes within the box so he could breathe. In all, the trip took 27 long hours. When the box finally arrived in the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery office, four people locked the door behind them, knocked on the box, and opened it up. Henry stood up and reached out to shake their hands. He was a free man!

Henry 'Box' Brown went on to speak all over the U.S. and Europe about his escape. Samuel A. Smith tried to help another slave escape in the same way, but Smith was caught and sent to prison in Richmond for more than seven years. (©2004-2017 National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, accessed 3/20/17)

6 b. ARCH & VINA CURRY:

Another inspiring story of an African American’s highly significant contribution to the cause is that of Arch and his wife Vina Curry. Arch was a free black man and was required by law to carry manumission papers, or other proof of being free. Vina was a washerwoman at New Garden Boarding School. When Arch died his papers stayed with Vina. “She decided to loan these to male slaves bearing some resemblance to her late husband, so they could travel north safely. . .” Levi Coffin, through a courier, returned them to Vina when the slave was safe. “No one knows how many slaves won freedom on Arch Curry’s papers.”(Hilty, 76)

6 c. ELLEN & WILLIAM CRAFT:

This couple was married, but enslaved in Macon, Georgia by different masters. Because they were “favourite slaves,” they were given passes to go on a trip at Christmastime. Ellen could “pass for white,” and dressed as a man, while William posed as her slave. They traveled by train and were not discovered, making it all the way to Philadelphia, in spite of several close calls. Underground Railroad workers helped them there and they moved to Boston, where William was able to do the cabinetmaking that was his trade. Slave hunters came after them in 1850, but they managed to escape to England, where slavery had already been abolished. (SMITHSONIAN.COM, JUNE 16, 2010. Accessed 3/20/17)

7 a. HOW THE URR WORKED:

Many escaping on the URR followed the North star on clear nights. Nails in trees (probably driven in by Coffins), etc. helped mark the routes. Levi claimed he walked to Richmond, IN (500 miles each way) 3 times – (Hilty, p. 75) In 1826 Levi moved to IN and helped runaways on that end of the “railroad.” He and his wife Catharine had a house there that you can visit now and see places where the runaways might have hid.

From the starting point in NC to the great turnpike in VA the URR was built, constructed, or marked, as we may call it, by driving nails in trees, fences, and stumps. Where there was a fork in the road there was a nail driven in a tree three and half feet from the ground halfway round from front to back, if the right hand road was to be taken the nail was driven on the right hand side, if the left was the road the nail was to the left. If there were fences and no tree, the nail was driven in the middle of the second rail from the top, over on the inside of the fence, to the right, or left as in the trees, if neither tree, nor fence was near then a stake, or a stone was so set as to be unseen by day, but found at night.” He then described how the slaves would find the nails or stones in the dark.

The most important position on this road was the conductor whose duty was to keep the road marked, and when necessary change and re-locate as emergencies required; this required a good memory of locality and engineering ability. . . The secret of the way marks was known to few, even of the directors, this was absolutely necessary that none might be imperiled by chance treachery, but the conductors, who in many places, and in many cases took his life in his hands when he undertook the dangerous charge. . .

Under no circumstance was the secret of the way marks imparted to anyone except to those who were sent through, and this, the last thing done, and then under solemn promise not to divulge it to any living creature which was always kept. . . Nor did any one of the anti-slavery men ever solicit, or persuade slaves to leave their masters. . . [Also], the conductor being a Friend, no arrangement was made, or thought of for fighting, or defense in case of pursuit. Strategy, swiftness of foot, and adroit maneuvering was the means of safety. . .” (Coffin, A. pp. 123-128, Early Settlements)

The conductors showed how to make a raft of 4-6 fence rails tied together with rope, cord, or a vine. After using this to cross the body of water, the slaves would cut apart the rails and float them downstream. Thus they would avoid leaving evidence of people having crossed.” (Beal, p. 23)

7 b. FALSE BOTTOM WAGONS:

Sometimes when conductors were moving runaways from South to North, they used wagons that had “false bottoms” built into the floors of those wagons, where the runaways could hide. The wagons appeared to be loaded with cargo of some sort, but under the floor were spaces where people could hide. There is a wagon like this on display at the Mendenhall Homeplace in Jamestown, NC. [Mendenhall Homeplace Tour]

8 b. REFLECTIONS ON WHY PEOPLE RISKED WHAT THEY DID:

We can easily imagine why those who were enslaved were willing to take such risks, but

“. . . it is proper here to give a word of explanation why [white] men engaged in so dangerous business without pay, without honor, or any kind of reward from men. First, they felt a divine impulse in their hearts that it was right in the sight of God, and that was enough, beside they saw and fully realized that slavery was dragging the master and his children down to the level of the slave, faster than the slave was being lifted up to the level of the master. . . but there was still another motive, it was to keep alive and intensify the agitation of the subject of slavery, to compel the indifferent to think, for a thinking community nearly always gets to thinking right on any subject.” It was a “calm sweet joy with which they look for their reward in the life to come.”

“In 1891, before I had any thought of undertaking this work, the editor of the Guilford Collegian requested me to write a series of articles on this subject, which was done. . .” (Coffin, A. pp. 123-128, Early Settlements)

Bibliography

Primary sources vary in terms of availability and trustworthiness. Some of the richest sources, such as the Peck letters, do not provide any details on Underground Railroad activities but do lend insights into other anti-slavery activities, people, and institutions who played a role. Additional detective work brings other elements to life, such as slave deeds connected to Vestal Coffin, court records relating to individual Quakers who were investigated for educating African Americans, and other civil records that line up to verify tantalizing references to provide support for distant oral traditions. The four most directly utilized for this particular application are listed below. Addison Coffin and Levi Coffin both were directly involved with the Underground Railroad at the application location and wrote their reminiscences decades later. The Harriet Peck letters were written by her in 1837-1838 while she was living at New Garden (now Guilford College).

Browning, Mary A., ed. “Harriet Peck at New Garden Boarding School, and her North Carolina Letters, 1837-1839.” The Southern Friend: Journal of the North Carolina Friends Historical Society, XXVI (2004): 3-55.

(The full original letters and typed transcripts also available as unpublished manuscript collection in the Friends Historical Collection, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC.)

Coffin, Addison. Early Settlements of Friends in North Carolina: Traditions and Reminiscences, 1894 (unpublished typescript, 1952). Friends Historical Collection, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC. Also published as “Early Settlements of Friends in North Carolina: Traditions and Reminiscences.” The Southern Friend: The Journal of the North Carolina Friends Historical Society (1983).

Coffin, Addison. Life & Travels of Addison Coffin: Written by Himself. Cleveland, OH: William G. Hubbard, 1897.

Coffin, Levi. Reminiscences of Levi Coffin, The Reputed President of the Underground Railroad; Being A Brief History of the Labors of a Lifetime in Behalf of the Slave, With the Stories of Numerous Fugitives, Who Gained their Freedom through his Instrumentality, and many other Incidents. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1880.

Greensborough Patriot. Published by Swaim and Sherwood, Greensboro, NC.

Site specific information was gathered directly from prior research specific to Guilford College’s history and landscape.

Rogers, Abbie. “The Guilford College Woods.” Greensboro, NC: Friends Historical Collection brochure. Originally printed 2009 with revised edition 2014.

Greensboro Heritage Community Application for New Garden/Guilford College Community, 2016. (

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=31464⁠

, last accessed January 15, 2017)

National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Application for Guilford College, 1990.

McCracken, R.J. and R.B. Daniels and W.E. Fulcher, “Undisturbed Soils, Landscapes, and Vegetation in a North Carolina Piedmont Virgin Forest.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 53: 1989, 1146.

Numerous local newspaper stories and magazine stories have been published over the years. A selected list is below, including the earliest one on record from the local newspaper which provides some strong anecdotal information acquired directly from from oral tradition sources in the 1930s.

Hoskins, Katherine. “How the Underground Railway Originated: This famous system of liberating slaves and conveying them safely to the free West was inaugurated at old New Garden by Vestal Coffin and carried on by other members of the Coffin family - its work completed, the organization disbanded at conclusion of Civil War.” Greensboro, NC: Daily News. Aug. 7, 1932, 6B.

Perlmutt, David. “On a Mission: Getting City’s Black History on Record.” Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Observer. Oct. 23, 1995, C1.

Schlosser, Jim. “City honors escape route from slavery.” Greensboro, NC: News & Record. Sept. 26, 1994, A1-2.

Several secondary sources are especially well researched and written with a focus that includes extensive discussion of the New Garden Quaker community, the Coffin family, and the woods which are now part of Guilford College.

Beal, M. Gertrude. “The Underground Railroad in Guilford County.” The Southern Friend: Journal of the North Carolina Friends Historical Society, II:1 (1980): 18-29.

Bordewich, Fergus. Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2005.

Hilty, Hiram. By Land and By Sea: Quakers Confront Slavery and Its Aftermath in North Carolina. Greensboro, NC: Hiram H. Hilty, 1993.

Sieber, H. A. Drinking Gourds of Guilford: A Story of Change, 1771-2005. Greensboro, NC: Tudor Publisher, 2005.

Additional secondary sources are useful for grounding this in the wider Quaker abolitionist context, though not focusing specifically upon the Underground Railroad or North Carolina Friends.

Carey, Brycchan and Geoffrey Plank, ed. Quakers & Abolition. Urbana, Chicago and Springfield, IL: Board of Trustees, University of Illinois, 2014.

Jordan, Ryan. Slavery and the Meetinghouse: The Quakers and the Abolitionist Dilemma, 1820-1865. Bloomington: Indiana University, 2007.

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