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 |
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abolitionism abolitionist acquainted afterward anti-slavery arrived asked attended boat brought cabin called camp Canada child Cincinnati clothing colored cotton court dollars escape Fairfield feeling felt free-labor freedmen Freedmen's Aid friends fugitive slaves gave Guilford County hear heard horses Indiana Jack Jack Barnes John John Fairfield journey Kentucky knew labor ladies learned Levi Coffin lived London Yearly Meeting Louis Louisville master miles mission Mississippi morning mulatto Nathan Thomas negro neighborhood neighbors Newport nigger night North Ohio River Osborne party passed Randolph County reached received remained replied returned road safe seemed sent servant settlement slave girl slaveholders slavery Society sold soon South stopped story Street suffering thou thought tion told took traveled Underground Railroad wagon wife William William Forster wished woman Yearly Meeting young
Popular passages
Page 565 - Thou shalt not deliver unto his master the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose in one of thy gates, where it liketh him best : thou shalt not oppress him.
Page 112 - I would cover the windows, strike a light, and build a good fire. By this time my wife would be up and preparing victuals for them, and in a short time the cold and hungry fugitives would be made comfortable. I would accompany the conductor of the train to the stable and care for the horses that had, perhaps, been driven twenty-five or thirty miles that night through the cold and rain. The fugitives would rest on pallets before the fire the rest of the night. Frequently wagonloads of passengers from...
Page 567 - I thought the spirit she manifested was the same with that of our ancestors to whom we had erected the monument at Bunker Hill — the spirit that would rather let us all go back to God than back to slavery. The faded faces of the negro children tell too plainly to what degradation female slaves must submit. Rather than give her little daughter to that life, she killed it.
Page 616 - I have not seen half a dozen who did not damn the President. You may put all the pure Unionism in Kentucky into one scale, and a ten-pound nigger baby in the other, and the Unionism will kick the beam.' "Before leaving, the old jurist condemned the President's proclamation ; declared that it had no bearing upon Kentucky, and that it was the policy of generals commanding our armies to ignore both the action of Congress and the proclamation. "From our lines the old gentleman drew a very straight line...
Page 5 - ... Garden settlers were soon reinforced by other immigrants who also came from old Quaker stock. These were the settlers from Nantucket Island, Mass. This movement began in 1771, and Libni Coffin was the first Nantucket man to arrive at New Garden. We get some particulars from the life of Elijah Coffin: " The island of Nantucket being small, and its soil not very productive, a large number of people could not be supported thereupon. . . . The population of the island still increasing, many of the...
Page 310 - When it was known by some of the prominent ladies of the village that a large company of fugitives were in the neighborhood, they met together to prepare some clothing for them. Jonathan Cable ascertained the number and size of the shoes needed, and the clothes required to fit the fugitives for traveling, and came down in his carriage to my house, knowing that the Anti-Slavery Sewing Society had their depository there. I went with him to purchase the shoes that were needed, and my wife selected all...
Page 148 - In the evening she discovered pursuers nearing the house, and with desperate courage she determined to cross the river or perish in the attempt. Clasping her child in her arms she darted out of the back door and ran toward the river, followed by her pursuers, who had just dismounted from their horses, when they caught sight of her. No fear or thought of personal danger entered Eliza's mind, for she felt that she had rather be drowned than to be captured and separated from her child.
Page 311 - ... wrote to one of my particular friends at West Elkton, informing him that I had some valuable stock on hand which I wished to forward to Newport, and requested him to send three two-horse wagons — covered — to College Hill, where the stock was resting, in charge of Jonathan Cable. . . . The three wagons arrived promptly at the time mentioned, and a little after dark took in the party, together with another fugitive, who had arrived the night before, and whom we added to the company. They went...
Page 26 - You ought to pay Mr. Hubbard double price for your tuition, for I hear that he has taught his pupils the art of courting, beside the common branches of a school education. I hear that two of his pupils have made known their intentions of marriage, or given in meeting, as you call it. How do you suppose those young Quakers feel now that they are half married ?" "Like they intended to be wholly married soon, I suppose,
Page 108 - I increased my stock and varied my assortment of goods until a large retail business was established. The next year I commenced cutting pork in a small way, besides carrying on my other business. This I continued to do, enlarging my operations every year, and kept it up as long as I remained in Newport, In the year 1836, I built an oil mill and manufactured linseed oil. Notwithstanding all this multiplicity of business, I was never too busy to engage in Underground Railroad affairs. Soon after we...