Survivors

When thinking about the Underground Railroad we often imagine an actual physical railroad that people would travel on to obtain their freedom. However, the Underground Railroad wasn’t a physical railway at all, rather it was a series of networked safe houses and secret routes all interconnected throughout the United States that enslaved people would use to escape into free states or Canada. 

In the decades before the Civil War, Michigan played an essential role in the national effort to end slavery. Michigan was one of the most significant states not only because it was a free state, but also its geographical location being so close to Canada. Hundreds of fugitives would travel through Southern Michigan on their way to Detroit and finally to Canada. These are just a few of the many:

The Detroit River in 1850. From Detroit, freedom-seekers took the ferry or steamboat across the Detroit River to arrive in Canada. 

Mrs. Caroline Quarlls Watkins

Caroline Quarlls Watkins escaped from enslavement when she was a teenager and on the 5 week journey she was continuely chased by the man that formerly owned her and they passed through many states on her way to Canada. On the way she became the first person to escape through Wisconsin on the Underground Railroad as well as stopping at the Guy Beckley House. 

Emma Nichols

Emma Nichols was an enslaved woman who escaped from a Virginia plantation and fled to Canada. On her journey, she stopped in Jackson, MI and after she married Richard Nichols, they decided to return to Jackson and settle. She is buried in Mount Evergreen Cemetery where other survivors and conductors of the Underground Railroad are buried.

Descendants of Emma Nichols

The three women pictured with Hidden in Plainsight author, Linda Hass, are the great-great granddaughters of Emma Nichols. All three women still love in the Jackson area. This is just one of the effects Emma Nichols had on the city.

Emma Nichols Garden

This was once named Victory Lane as a nod to the nearby race track, but the city of Jackson decided to pay respect to its history in helping those that escaped enslavement. This alley was renamed The Emma Nichols Garden in her honor. 

Adam Crosswhite

Survivor, Adam Crosswhite and his family escaped slavery in Kentucky sometime in 1843 to Marshall, Michigan, but were forced to flee again after they were discovered in 1847

McCoy Family

George and Milly McCoy settled in Ypsilanti, MI, living in a cabin behind the Stakweathers' house, after their return from Canada and joined an active Underground Railroad network. Mccoys business of growing, buying, and selling tobacco and making cigars required transporting products to markets in Wyandotte and Detroit. His business wagon had a concealed compartment where human cargo was stowed and forwarded on the network to freedom (Frost et al., 210). 

Perry Sanford

Escaped slave, Perry Sanford, got away from slavery to Cass County, Michigan

Elgin Association settlement

African American refugees in Canada worked hard to establish a life in their new home. Although no longer enslaved, formerly enslaved African Americans and free Black immigrants living in Canada would still be living within a deeply racist environment. Above is a picture of fugitive slaves’ settlement, Elgin Association, in Ontario, Canada.