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The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom
The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD: LEVI COFFIN RECEIVING A COMPANY OF FUGITIVES IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF CINCINNATI, OHIO. (From a painting by C. T. Webber, Cincinnati, Ohio.) The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom A Comprehensive History Wilbur H. Siebert With an Introduction by Albert Bushnell Hart DOVER PUBLICATIONS, INC. Mineola, New York Bibliographical Note This Dover edition, first published in 2006, is an unabridged republication of The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom , original
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
BY ALBERT BUSHNELL HART Of all the questions which have interested and divided the people of the United States, none since the foundation of the Federal Union has been so important, so far-reaching, and so long contested as slavery. During the first half of the nineteenth century the other great national questions were nearly all economic—taxation, currency, banks, transportation, lands,—and they had a strong material basis, a flavor of self-interest; but though slavery had also an economic side
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PREFACE
PREFACE
This volume is the outgrowth of an investigation begun in 1892-1893, when the writer was giving a portion of his time to the teaching of United States history in the Ohio State University. The search for materials was carried on at intervals during several years until the mass of information, written and printed, was deemed sufficient to be subjected to the processes of analysis and generalization. Patience and care have been required to overcome the difficulties attaching to a subject that was
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SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
Historians who deal with the rise and culmination of the anti-slavery movement in the United States have comparatively little to say of one phase of it that cannot be neglected if the movement is to be fully understood. This is the so-called Underground Railroad, which, during fifty years or more, was secretly engaged in helping fugitive slaves to reach places of security in the free states and in Canada. Henry Wilson speaks of the romantic interest attaching to the subject, and illustrates the
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ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE UNDERGROUND ROAD
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE UNDERGROUND ROAD
The Underground Road developed in a section of country rid of slavery, and situated between two regions, from one of which slaves were continually escaping with the prospect of becoming indisputably free on crossing the borders of the other. Not a few persons living within the intervening territory were deeply opposed to slavery, and although they were bound by law to discountenance slaves seeking freedom, they felt themselves to be more strongly bound by conscience to give them help. Thus it ha
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THE METHODS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
THE METHODS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
By the enactment of the first Fugitive Slave Law, February 12, 1793, the aiding of fugitive slaves became a penal offence. This measure laid a fine of five hundred dollars upon any one harboring escaped slaves, or preventing their arrest. The provisions of the law were of a character to stimulate resistance to its enforcement. The master or his agent was authorized to arrest the runaway, wherever found; to bring him before a judge of the circuit or the district court of the United States, or bef
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UNDERGROUND AGENTS, STATION-KEEPERS, OR CONDUCTORS
UNDERGROUND AGENTS, STATION-KEEPERS, OR CONDUCTORS
Persons opposed to slavery were, naturally, the friends of the fugitive slave, and were ever ready to respond to his appeals for help. Shelter and food were readily supplied him, and he was directed or conveyed, generally in the night, to sympathizing neighbors, until finally, without any forethought or management on his own part, he found himself in Canada a free man. These helpers, in the course of time, came to be called agents, station-keepers, or conductors on the Underground Railroad. Of t
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STUDY OF THE MAP OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD SYSTEM
STUDY OF THE MAP OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD SYSTEM
There are many features of the Underground Railroad that can best be understood by means of a geographical representation of the system. Such a representation it has been possible to make by piecing together the scraps of information in regard to various routes and parts of routes gathered from the reminiscences of a large number of abolitionists. The more or less limited area in which each agent operated was the field within which he was not only willing, but was usually anxious, to confine his
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ABDUCTION OF SLAVES FROM THE SOUTH
ABDUCTION OF SLAVES FROM THE SOUTH
Most persons that engaged in the underground service were opposed either to enticing or to abducting slaves from the South. This was no less true along the southern border of the free states than in their interior. The principle generally acted upon by the friends of fugitives was that which they held to be voiced in the Scriptural injunction to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. The quaking negro at the door in the dead of night seeking relief from a condition, the miseries of which he found
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LIFE OF THE COLORED REFUGEES IN CANADA
LIFE OF THE COLORED REFUGEES IN CANADA
The passengers of the Underground Railroad had but one real refuge, one region alone within whose bounds they could know they were safe from reënslavement; that region was Canada. The position of Canada on the slavery question was peculiar, for the imperial act abolishing slavery throughout the colonies of England was not passed until 1833; and, legally, if not actually, slavery existed in Canada until that year. The importation of slaves into this northern country had been tolerated by the Fren
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FUGITIVE SETTLERS IN THE NORTHERN STATES
FUGITIVE SETTLERS IN THE NORTHERN STATES
There were many fugitives from bondage that did not avail themselves of the protection afforded by the proximity of Canadian soil. For various reasons these persons remained within the borders of the free states; some were drawn by the affinities of race to seek permanent homes in communities of colored people; some, keeping the stories of their past lives hidden, found employment as well as oblivion among the crowds in cities and towns; some, choosing localities more or less remote from large c
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PROSECUTIONS OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MEN
PROSECUTIONS OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MEN
The aversion to a law for the rendition of fugitive slaves that early manifested itself in the North was perhaps foreshadowed in the hesitating manner in which the question was dealt with by Congress. The original demand for legislation was caused by the activity of kidnappers in Pennsylvania; but the first bill, reported from committee to the House in November, 1791, was dropped for some reason not now discoverable. At the end of March in the following year a committee of the Senate was appoint
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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN POLITICS
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD IN POLITICS
To set forth the political aspect of the Underground Railroad is not easy. Yet this side must be understood if the Underground Railroad is to appear in its true character as something more than a mere manifestation of the moral sentiment existing in the North and in some localities of the South. The romantic episodes in the fugitive slave controversy have been frequently described; but it has altogether escaped the eye of the general historian that the underground movement was one that grew from
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EFFECT OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
EFFECT OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
The effect of Underground Railroad operations in steadily withdrawing from the South some of its property and thus causing constant irritation to slave-owners and slave-traders has already been commented upon. The persons losing slaves of course regarded their losses as a personal and undeserved misfortune. Yet, considering the question broadly from the standpoint of their own interests, the work of the underground system was a relief to the masters and to the South. The possibility of a servile
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CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND NATIONAL ACTS RELATIVE TO FUGITIVE SLAVES, 1787-1850
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AND NATIONAL ACTS RELATIVE TO FUGITIVE SLAVES, 1787-1850
1787, July 13. Art. VI. "There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said Territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted; provided , always, that any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the original States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service aforesaid." Read first time, July 11, 1787. Passed July
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LIST OF IMPORTANT FUGITIVE SLAVE CASES
LIST OF IMPORTANT FUGITIVE SLAVE CASES
The following list is not intended to be exhaustive: it by no means includes all the cases illustrative of the work of the Underground Road, but it represents fairly well the various phases of that work, and does not intentionally omit any of the famous cases. Less than one half of the list here given will be found in Mrs. McDougall's Fugitive Slaves , Appendix D, pp. 124-128. 1. Early escape to Canada. 1748. Negro servant escapes from the English to Canada: New York Colonial Manuscripts , X, 20
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FIGURES FROM THE UNITED STATES CENSUS REPORTS RELATING TO FUGITIVE SLAVES
FIGURES FROM THE UNITED STATES CENSUS REPORTS RELATING TO FUGITIVE SLAVES
Table A Table B Showing that the Percentage of Decline of the Slave Population from 1850-1860 was Greater in the Northernmost Counties of the Border Slave States than in these States as a Whole Table B legend: A = Ratio between White and Slave Population in the Counties bordering on the Free States B = Ratio between White and Slave Population in Whole State C = Per Cent of Decline of Slave Population in Counties in 10 Years D = Per Cent of Decline of Slave Population in States in 10 Years Table
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The materials upon which in large measure this book is based are reminiscences gathered by correspondence and conversation with more than a thousand persons, many of whom were old-time abolitionists, while the remainder included the families and intimate friends of abolitionists, and a number of fugitive slaves. It was discovered by the author after only a short search for published sources that little was to be gleaned in the libraries and that information sufficient in amount for an extended s
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PRINTED COLLECTIONS OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INCIDENTS
PRINTED COLLECTIONS OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD INCIDENTS
Levi Coffin . 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. Second Edition. Cincinnati, 1880. Ascott R. Hope (a nom de plume for Robert Hope Moncrieff). Heroes in Homespun, 1894. H. U. Johnson . From Dixie to Canada. Romances and Realities of the Underground Railroad. (R
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PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS
Austin Bearse . Remembrances of Fugitive Slave Days in Boston. Boston, 1880. (Pamphlet.) Henry Thomas Butterworth . Reminiscences and Memories of Henry Thomas Butterworth and Nancy Irwin Wales, His Wife, with Some Account of their Golden Wedding. Nov. 3, 1880. Lebanon, Ohio, 1886. (Pamphlet.) Elizabeth Buffum Chace . Anti-Slavery Reminiscences. Central Falls., R.I., 1891. (Pamphlet.) James Freeman Clarke . Anti-Slavery Days. A Sketch of the Struggle which ended in the Abolition of Slavery in the
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BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS
BIOGRAPHIES AND MEMOIRS
Charles Francis Adams. Richard Henry Dana. A Biography. 2 Vols. Vol. I. Boston, 1890. George E. Baker , Editor. The Life of William H. Seward, with Selections from his Works. 3 Vols. New York, 1853, 1861, 1864. A. L. Benedict. Memoir of Richard Dillingham. Philadelphia, 1852. (Pamphlet.) William Birney. James G. Birney and his Times. The Genesis of the Republican Party, with Some Account of Abolition Movements in the South before 1828. New York, 1890. John Howard Bryant. Life and Poems. 1894. Ly
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SLAVE BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
SLAVE BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
W. I. Bowditch . The Rendition of Anthony Burns. Boston, 1850. Sarah H. Bradford . Harriet, The Moses of Her People. New York, 1886. Boston Slave Riot and Trial of Anthony Burns. Boston, 1854. William W. Brown . Narrative of William W. Brown. A Fugitive Slave. Second Edition. Boston, 1848. Frederick Douglass . My Bondage and My Freedom. Part I.—Life as a Slave. Part II.—Life as a Freeman. With an Introduction by Dr. James M'Cune Smith. New York and Auburn, 1855. —— ——. Life and Times of Frederic
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MATERIALS RELATING TO SLAVERY AND FUGITIVE SLAVES IN CANADA
MATERIALS RELATING TO SLAVERY AND FUGITIVE SLAVES IN CANADA
George Bryce . Short History of the Canadian People. London, 1887. John Charles Dent . The Last Forty Years, Canada Since the Union of 1841. Vol. I, 1881. Benjamin Drew . A North-Side View of Slavery: The Refugee, or the Narratives of Fugitive Slaves in Canada related by Themselves, with an Account of the History and Conditions of the Colored Population of Upper Canada. Boston, 1856. J. C. Hamilton . Slavery in Canada. Magazine of American History, Vol. XXV. Samuel G. Howe . The Refugees from Sl
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STATE, COUNTY, AND LOCAL HISTORIES
STATE, COUNTY, AND LOCAL HISTORIES
Illinois. A. T. Andreas . History of Chicago from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Chicago, 1884. S. J. Clarke . History of McDonough County, Ill. Springfield, Ill., 1878. History of Knox County, Ill.; with Record of its Volunteers in the late War, Portraits, Biographical Sketches, History of Illinois, etc. Chicago, 1878. Edward G. Mason . Early Chicago and Illinois. Chicago, 1890. George H. Woodruff . Forty Years Ago. A Contribution to the Early History of Joliet, and Will County, Ill.
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PERIODICALS
PERIODICALS
F. Bowen . Extradition of Fugitive Slaves. North American Review, Vol. LXXI, July, 1850. S. E. B. Fugitive Slaves in Ohio. Once a Week, Vol. VI, June 14, 1862. Richard Burton . The Author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Century Magazine, 1896. Thomas E. Champion . The Underground Railroad and One of its Operators. The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature, May, 1895. George Willis Cooke . Article on Harriet Beecher Stowe. New England Magazine, September, 1896. Fugitive Slave Law; Shal
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NEWSPAPERS
NEWSPAPERS
Andover Old and New. Boston Evening Transcript , May 16, 1896. Philip Atkinson . Anecdotes of Owen Lovejoy. New York Weekly Witness , Oct. 2, 1895. Aaron Benedict . The Underground Railroad. Sentinel , Mt. Gilead, Ohio, July 13, 20, 27, Aug. 3, 10, 1893. Robert W. Carroll . An Underground Railway. Cincinnati Times-Star , Aug. 19, 1890. The Cleveland Fugitive Slave Case. Cleveland Herald , 1861. Nathan Coggeshall . Reminiscences of the "Underground R. R." Leader , Marion, Ind., Feb. 15, 1896. Jud
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MATERIALS BEARING ON LEGISLATION
MATERIALS BEARING ON LEGISLATION
Acts and Laws of His Majestie's Colony of Connecticut, 239 (1730?). Maryland Archives, Assembly Proceedings, 147, May, 1666. Charters and Laws of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay, 750, October, 1718. New Jersey Laws, 82, May 30, 1668. Laws and Ordinances of New Netherlands, 32, Aug. 7, 1640; 32, April 13, 1642; 104, Oct. 6, 1648. Laws of New Netherlands, 344, April 9, 1658. Acts of Province of New York from 1691 to 1718; 58, 1702. Acts of Province of New York, 77, 1705; 218, 1715. La
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CONTEMPORANEOUS AND MODERN BOOKS ON SLAVERY
CONTEMPORANEOUS AND MODERN BOOKS ON SLAVERY
Rev. George Bourne . The Book and Slavery Irreconcilable. Philadelphia, 1816.—A summary of this book by Wm. Orland Bourne, under the title "Anti-Slavery Leaders; the Pioneer Abolitionist." Boston Commonwealth , July 25, 1885. William Chambers . American Slavery and Colour. London, 1857. Ezra B. Chase . Teachings of Patriots and Statesmen, or the "Founders of the Republic" on Slavery. Philadelphia, 1860. John Nelson Davidson . Negro Slavery in Wisconsin. Address delivered before the State Histori
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REPORTS OF SOCIETIES
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES
Annual Reports presented to the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society by its Board of Managers. See Reports 13, 15, 18, 19. Annual Reports of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Danvers Historical Society . Old Anti-Slavery Days. Proceedings of the Commemorative Meeting held by the Danvers Historical Society at the Town Hall, Danvers, April 26, 1893; with Introduction, Letters, and Sketches. Danvers, Mass., 1893. James H. Fairchild . The Underground Railroad. Tract No. 87 in Vol. IV. Western Res
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HISTORIES OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
HISTORIES OF RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES
A. C. Applegarth , Ph.D. Quakers in Pennsylvania. Baltimore, 1892. William Hodgson . The Society of Friends in the Nineteenth Century; a Historical View of the Successive Convulsions and Schisms during the Period. Vol. II. Philadelphia, 1875. Holland N. McTyeire, D.D. History of Methodism; with some Account of the Doctrine and Polity of the Episcopal Methodism in the United States down to 1884. Nashville, Tenn., 1887. William B. Sprague, D.D. Annals of the American Pulpit. Professor A. C. Thomas
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SECONDARY WORKS
SECONDARY WORKS
John W. Burgess . The Middle Period, 1817-1858. New York, 1897. James Ford Rhodes . History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. 3 Vols. New York, 1893. James Schouler . History of the United States under the Constitution. Vols. III, IV, V. Washington, 1880. New York, 1880-1891. H. E. von Holst . Constitutional and Political History of the United States. Chicago, 1877-1892. Rev. Austin Willey . The History of the Anti-Slavery Cause in State and Nation. Portland, Maine, 1886. George
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IMAGINATIVE WORKS
IMAGINATIVE WORKS
Harriet Beecher Stowe . Uncle Tom's Cabin. J. M. C. Simpson . The Emancipation Car, being an Original Composition of Anti-Slavery Ballads, composed exclusively for the Underground Railroad. Janesville, Ohio, 1874. Charles Humphrey Roberts . Down the Ohio (a work of fiction, containing scenes from the Underground Railroad). Chicago, 1891. John Greenleaf Whittier . Poetical Works (anti-slavery poems printed in Vol. III of the Riverside edition). Boston, 1896....
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DIRECTORY OF THE NAMES OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD OPERATORS
DIRECTORY OF THE NAMES OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD OPERATORS
ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY STATES AND COUNTIES [989] CONNECTICUT Fairfield Daskam, Benjamin Jas. Litchfield Blakeslee, Dea. Joel. Bull, Wm. Dunbar, Dea. Ferrand. Middlesex Reed, Dea. George. Windham Alexander, Prosper. Brown, Benjamin. Brown, John. Conant, J. A. Fox, Joel. Griffin, Ebeneser. Lewis, J. A. Pearl, Phillips. DELAWARE Queen Anne Hardcastle, Wm. Wilmington Flint, Isaac S. Garrett, Thomas. Hunn, John. Walker, Joseph G. Webb, Benjamin. Webb, Thomas. Webb, Wm. ILLINOIS Adams Andrew, Lewi
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MEMBERS OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS[990]
MEMBERS OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS[990]
(Organized October 14, 1850) Adams, Charles B. Adams, George. Alcott, A. Bronson. Allen, Ephraim. Allyne, Joseph W. Andrew, John A. Andrews, Erastus. Apthorp, Robert E. Atkinson, Edward. Atkinson, William P. Augustus, John. Ayres, John. Barker, Rensalaer. Baxter, Thompson. Bearse, Austin. Bigelow, Dennis. Bishop, Joel P. Blakemore, William. Blanchard, Joshua P. Bolles, John A. Botume, John, Jr. Bouve, Thomas T. Bowditch, Henry I. Bowditch, William I. Bramhall, Cornelius. Bridge, Jonathan D. Brim
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MEMBERS OF THE "LEAGUE OF GILEADITES" OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS[991]
MEMBERS OF THE "LEAGUE OF GILEADITES" OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS[991]
(Organized among the negroes by John Brown, January 15, 1851) Addams, Joseph. Burns, William. Chandler, Samuel. Dowling, B. C. Fowler, Jane. Gazam, C. A. Gordon, William. Green, Eliza. Green, William. Hector, Henry. Holmes, G. W. Howard, J. N. Johnson, Ann. Johnson, Henry. Johnson, Reverdy. Jones, H. J. Montague, William H. Odell, Charles. Robinson, Henry. Rollins, Charles. Smith, John. Strong, John. Thomas, Cyrus. Wallace, L. Webb, Scipio. Wicks, Jane. And seventeen others, whose names are unkn
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MEMBERS OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK[992]
MEMBERS OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK[992]
(Organized October 4, 1850) Agan, P. H. Barnes, George. Bates, Abner. Clary, Lyman. Levenworth, C. W. + Loguen, J. W. Putnam, H. Raymond, R. R. Sedgwick, C. B. Smith, V. W. Thomas, John. Wheaton, C. A. Wilkinson, John....
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MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA[993]
MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA[993]
(Organized December 2, 1852) Asher, J. Burr, J. P. Bustill, Charles H. Depee, Nathaniel. Goines, B. N. Gordon, Henry. Hall, Morris. M'Kim, J. M. Nickless, Samuel. Oliver, John D. Purvis, Robert. Reason, Prof. C. L. Riley, W. H. Still, William. Wears, Josiah C. White, Jacob C. Whitson, Cyrus. Wise, Charles....
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