|
C. C. Olin's Account of Caroline Quarrells
(from W. H. Siebert's The Underground Railroad in
Wisconsin)
The first underground railroad established in Wisconsin had
Waukesha for its northern termini. The first conductor on that road was
Deacon Samuel Brown, of Milwaukee. The first passenger over the line was
Caroline Quarrelles, [sic] an escaped slave from St. Louis. She first
appeared in Milwaukee in the summer of 1842, x x x Caroline was the slave
of Charles R. Hall, a merchant of St. Louis, who had formerly lived in
Kentucky. She was fifteen or sixteen years old and did fine sewing and
embroidery for her mistress and waited on her. x x [p.XXIV] One day Mrs.
Hall became angry with Caroline and cut off her hair, which was long and
beautiful. Caroline had longed to be free and now perfected her plans.
She managed to possess herself of $100, obtained permission to go and
see a sick girl of her acquaintance, threw a bundle of clothes out of
the window, called on her sick friend, went back for the clothes, then
down to the Mississippi and aboard a steamboat end bought a ticket for
Alton, Illinois. At Alton a colored man, a friend of fugitive slaves,
told her it would not be safe to stay there and next day put her on the
stage coach for Milwaukee. She rode night and day until she reached that
city. As she left the stage at the Milwaukee House she saw a negro barber
by the name of Titball, who conducted her to his house, where she remained
a week or more. [p.XXV] By that time pursuers had. come to take her back
to her master. They asked Titball about Caroline who told them she was
at his house, but he took the precaution to send a colored boy to take
her to another hiding place. The boy, suspecting Titball's honesty, conducted
her to a different place from the one designated.
One of the pursuers was Spencer, a St. Louis lawyer. He consulted
H. N. Wells, an antislavery Democrat, who would have nothing to do with
the case, but told Messrs. Finch and Lynde of the matter. These men at
once searched out Caroline and hid her in the brush until night.
Meantime, Spencer went to another lawyer, J. E. Arnold, who
agreed to help him, and they offered Titball $100 to produce the slave
girl. He was of course unable to do so, and at night Asahel Finch took
her across the Mississippi River [Milwaukee River] and put her in a hogshead,
which stood between the road and sidewalk, between what is now Grand avenue
[sic] and Kilbourn town. The hogshead stood in front of a colored mans
one-story house. These people slipped food to her, and the next night
Samuel Brown who lived on a farm a mile or more from the city, took her
to his home. The following night he started with her and a saddle, in
a rickety wagon for Pewaukee.
Just before he reached the main road they heard voices arid
stopped until several men passed on horseback. They were the lawyer Spencer,
J. E. Arnold, and several more. Brown's wagon broke down before reaching
Pewaukee, and he saddled his horse and took the girl on with him. They
thus proceeded to Father Dougherty's who lived two or three miles north
of the village. There she r[emain]ed for two or three weeks.
Meanwhile the lawyers were searching for Caroline at Prairieville
(now Waukesha) and Milwaukee. At the former they called on Deacon Ezra
Kendall, a staunch antislavery [m]an, supposed to know where the slave
girl was. They found him in a field hilling potatoes and [p.XXVIII] charged
him with harboring the girl. The Deacon remarked that a bad law was sometimes
better broken than obeyed, at the same time glancing at his rifle lying
in the grass. The slave-hunters asked permission to search his house,
which was sternly denied and the hunters marched back to Prairieville.
[p.XXIX] Kendall was born at Barre, Vermont, April 15, 1797. About 1825
he moved out to Ohio and in 1836 to Prairieville [Waukesha], Wisconsin.
He died on April 5, 1864.
When Caroline was moved from Prairieville she was placed
in charge of Lyman Goodnow as conductor. [p.XXX] his run was 700 miles.
He borrowed Daniel Chandler's te[a]m of horses & went after dark to
the woods where he was to get Caroline. He answered a whistle twice. Then
Deacon
Allen Clinton appeared with the girl on horseback, accompanied by D. Chandler
and Deacon Mendall. Goodnow chose Mendall as company and the two started
with Caroline curled down in the straw in the bottom of the wagon. On
their way they stopped and got James Rossman to go along. They drove through
Mukwonago, reached Spring Prairie about daylight, a distance of 30 miles,
and stopped at Charles Thompson's. As he was to have threshers that day,
he escorted them to another place in the neighborhood. There the conductors
left Caroline and drove home. Finally they decided that Goodnow, an old
bachelor, should go back and take her through to some station on the Underground
[R]ailroad. Goodnow rode [sic] his horse to Deacon Edmund Clinton's, as
though to get it shod, borrowed the Deacon's saddle and $5.00 and started
for the oak openings. He went on through North Prairie, Eagle, and reached
West Troy at 7 or 8 in the morning. Caroline was not there, having been
moved to Gardner's Prairie 12 miles from Burlington. So after breakfast
Goodnow rode on. [p.XXXII] On the way he was joined by Elder Manning,
a great Abolitionist, and they found the girl at Mr. Peffer's. There Goodnow
called on the Arms brothers (Abolitionists) to consult what to do. While
they were talking Dr. Dyer of Burlington came along. They all went to
the girl's hiding-place, where it was decided that Goodnow should borrow
Mr. Cheny's buggy and harness and continue the journey to freedom. Dr.
Dyer collected $12 from the men, which made a total of $20 with what Goodnow
already had, and supplied a quantity of provisions . The doctor also wrote
a recommendation and an appeal for funds to friends of humanity, in case
of emergency.
While at this place, the lawyers Arnold and Spencer passed,
still doggedly pursuing the fugitive.
At night Goodnow started for Dr. Dyer's in the buggy, Caroline
being concealed by a buffalo robe in the bottom of the vehicle. [p.XXXIII]
Cheney accompanied them for a distance and they were secreted by Elder
Fitch until night, when they and Fitch went on. In the rain they crossed
a wild prairie and stopped at the hour of a Methodist by the name of Russell.
He was not an Abolitionist, but was willing to help a human being to freedom.
Goodnow made him a station-keeper on the underground railroad, which he
established along the route.
In the morning Elder Fitch returned home, and Mr. Russell
accompanied them through Dundee to Dr. Root's. This was the first they
traveled by day. Root was a "double Abolitionist." From his
place they started at 2 P. M. and went 15 or 20 miles to Naperville &
stopped with Deacon Fowler. Some young ladies there gave Caroline some
clothes, gloves, a thick veil and a small reticule. [p.XXXIV] After leaving
Naperville Goodnow fell in with a Mr. Freeman, who directed him toward
the Underground railroad. , They passed through Lockport, a few miles
from Joliet, and drove 8 miles to Deacon
Beach's, on the regular underground route. As Mr. Beach had gone to church
meeting, Saturday afternoon, Goodnow was told to drive on to Hickory Grove,
which he did and found himself on the right road. The Grove was about
40 mile southeast of Chicago. They next went on to Beebe's Grove, where
they were welcomed by Mr. Beebe. He had just returned from Chicago, where
he had seen an advertisement on the docke [sic] offering $300 reward for
a colored girl. He had not read the description. The clerk of the steamboat
on which Caroline had left St. Louis was visiting all the lake ports to
advertise her, for the company would be compelled to pay $800 to her master
in case she was not recovered. This sum, with costs, the steamboat company
was finally compelled to pay.
After dinner Goodnow and Caroline drove on. [p.XXXV] That
night a terrific storm brought darkness earlier than usual. They stopped
at a big claim shanty occupied by a German and his wife, and were made
as comfortable as possible. Before daylight they were again on their way
to Laporte.
From this place they traveled three days x x x wholly among
Quakers. The men were absent, attending a meeting in Ohio. The women received
the travelers, but would say nothing about the underground railroad. [p.XXXVI]
They would, however, tell Goodnow where the next Quaker's house was to
be found, at a convenient distance. After leaving the Quaker neighborhood,
the travelers stopped at Climax Prairie, in Michigan. At Ann Arbor they
were entertained by the editor of the Abolitionist paper, the "Signal
of Liberty." Before reaching Detroit they met a fleshy colored woman
(an old acquaintance of Caroline) who had escaped with her husband from
St. Louis. They had previously met a gang of 32 escaped slaves on the
underground railroad near Marshall and Battle Creek. They were led by
three stout fellows, who went several miles in advance engaging work and
searching out stations.
x x x x
[p.XXXVII] Goodnow and Caroline passed through Detroit at
six o'clock, Tuesday night, about three weeks from home. They arrived
safely at Ambler's, who kept the last station on the west side of the
Detroit river, his house being separated from that stream by a narrow
street. He was absent but they were well cared for and Mrs. Ambler sent
two men to take them across the river. Goodnow paid them 12 shillings,
the first money he had paid out during the whole journey. After crossing,
Caroline began crying and asked if it was possible that she had been taken
back to St. Louis. Everything appeared to her as if she were on the bank
of the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis. She was finally convinced
that she was safe. She was left at the house of Mr. Haskell, a missionary
at Sandwich, Ontario. The clerk of the steamboat on which Caroline escaped
was in Detroit when they arrived. He had been watching the ferry boats
for a fortnight.
x x x x x
[p.XXXIX] In April, 1880, Caroline was still living in Sandwich,
and sent two letters to Lyman Goodnow at Waukesha, in one of which she
told of her marriage with a man on Col. Prince's farm by the name of Wakkin's,
[sic] nearly three years after her arrival. She had learned to read by
going to school during her first year in Canada. [p.XI] Afterward a great
many fugitives traveled by Caroline's route, and every one of them arrived
safely in the land of freedom. [p.XLI] Those who helped them on from the
Waukesha neighborhood were Deacon Samuel Brown, Lyman Goodnow, Father
Samuel Dougherty, Deacon Mendall, Edmund D. and Allen Clinton, E.D. Holten,
Vernon Tichenor, W. D. Bacon, Charles Blackwell., W.D. Holbrook, C.C.
Olin, Eilder B. F Wheelock, Asa Clark, and others. x x x x
NOTE: Page
numbers in brackets are original in Siebert's manuscript.
|
