We are creating lesson plans to accompany our new book, The Chronicle of Heroes. The Underground Railroad “station masters” were in 16 states and gave the enslaved shelter, food, and clothing before they headed on to the next location. Here are some shelter locations and “Station Masters” who helped.
- Joseph Goodrich built Milton House in Wisconsin and dug a 40-foot tunnel from the inn to his cabin. Fugitive slaves used it to enter the inn for shelter and food.
- Example of fugitive quarters in the former Lucius Reed House, now the Byron Museum in Byron, IL
- The home of Dr. Amos and Marietta Maltby is in Polo, IL. They took fugitives into their home and gave them food and clothing.
- Many homes in Sandusky had safe houses for runaways along the shores of Lake Erie. Cleveland, supported by free Blacks and Whites, made sure their network helped fugitives to escape to Canada.
- Aunt Polly fought off slave catchers with boiling water and a kitchen knife. She hid fugitives on her property known as Africa, Ohio.
- Gerrit Smith, a wealthy landowner from Peterboro, NY, bought freedom for thousands of enslaved people and gave them safe passage to Canada.
- Thomas Garrett was a thriving iron merchant businessman. As a station master, he is credited with saving 2,500 lives. There was a $10,000 bounty on his head.
- In 1818, Rev. Alexander Dobbin created sliding shelves at his home in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, so he could hide slaves in a crawl space.
- Louis and Harriet Hayden of Boston provided shelter to many fugitives, including William and Ellen Craft.
- George T. Downing, a well-known restaurateur in New York, Newport, and Washington, D.C., provided shelter for fleeing fugitives.