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By Richard E. Hart

For a number of years I have beencurious about the possible pres-ence of the Underground Rail-

road in Lincoln’s Springfield. As a childon Sunday afternoon drives west ofSpringfield, my parents pointed out thesmall village of Farmingdale and toldme that there had once been an Under-ground Railroad station there. I laterlearned that in the nineteenth century,Farmingdale was known as Farming-ton1 and that indeed its reputation as anactive station on the UndergroundRailroad could be documented.

The story of the UndergroundRailroad at Farmington began onOctober 25, 1833, when a colony offifty-two New Englanders, many ofthem abolitionists, arrived at Spring-field after a ten-week journey from St.Lawrence County in upstate NewYork. The Sangamo Journal reportedon their arrival: “Emigrants are com-ing by thousands into Illinois and fromall quarters of the Union. On Fridaylast fifteen large wagons from St.Lawrence County, N. York, loadedwith emigrants, arrived in our village,and drove up in front of the markethouse, in grand style. These emigrantshad been about ten weeks on the jour-ney, and enjoyed good health duringthe time. They design to settle in Sang-amo County—to which we bid themwelcome.”2

The day following their Spring-field arrival, the colony moved eightmiles west to the Sangamon River vil-lage of Sangamo Town. They spent thewinter there and in the spring moved afew miles west to an open prairie wherethey settled, purchased farmland, andestablished the community of Farm-ington.

The colony was representative ofthe New England strain of early Illinoissettlers who in the 1830s and 1840ssettled in a random pattern of dotsacross the central and northern Illinoisprairies. Their customs and culturecontrasted sharply with that of the ear-lier settlers in Central Illinois, who hadcome from the upland South. In addi-tion to being farmers, some of themwere teachers, ministers, abolitionists,and conductors on the UndergroundRailroad. In September 1837 seven-teen men of the colony3 expressed theirstrong opposition to slavery by signingElijah P. Lovejoy’s call for Illinois’ firstantislavery convention to be held atUpper Alton on October 26. Four ofthe Farmington signers attended theconvention.4 At least four of thecolony, Dr. John Lyman, StephenChild, Luther Ransom, and ReverendBillious Pond, and several of theirneighbors, Jay Slater and ReverendThomas Galt, became active conduc-tors on the Underground Railroad atthe Farmington station.

In 1841 Samuel Willard,5 a twen-ty-year-old Jacksonville, Illinois, aboli-tionist, had his first experience inassisting a runaway slave move northon the underground railroad. Willard’swritten account of that adventure,“My First Adventure with a FugitiveSlave: The Story of It and How ItFailed,” acknowledged that he was notfamiliar with the Farmington stationon the Underground Railroad at thattime. “It seemed to my father [Julius]that the easiest thing for us would beto take her [the fugitive slave] to someone on the line of what was known asthe Under-Ground Rail-Road. But weknew nothing about it. In later adven-tures of this sort we went direct to

what was then called Farmington, nowFarmingdale, near Springfield. . . . Myfather, as well as myself, helped manyfugitives afterwards.”6

Two years later, Willard, who wasthen a student at Illinois College, suc-cessfully assisted a fugitive slave movealong the Underground Railroad fromJacksonville to Farmington. His writ-ten account, “My Second Adventurewith a Fugitive Slave: And How It wasWon,” told of secreting runaway slaveJack out of Jacksonville and on to theFarmington underground railroad sta-tion.

A few days later the conductors of theUnder-Ground R.R. were ready. Lewisknew the way to Laurie’s so I went withhim one night to take the negro over thenext stage. We had to come back to theMovastar bridge, and then to take anoblique course across fields thru groves andthickets to a certain school-house a mile ormore east of the town, on the old railroadtrack and near the high road to Springfield.On the way Jack sighed and said, “it’s along way to Canada!” We assented. Once alittle noise in the bush near us startled him:out came his pistol and I heard the click ofthe cocking. When we struck the railroad,we were near the rendezvous: there weremy father [Julius A. Willard] and [William]Chauncey Carter7 on horses, leading a thirdhorse for the negro: he was soon mountedand the trio were on the way to Farming-ton; while two over-tired men trudgedback to College, but I had to meet myclasses next day as usual.8

As a result of this activity, Samuelwas arrested and charged with assistingin the escape of a runaway slave. Hiscase went to the Supreme Court and

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continued on page 4

the time for photographs. Throughoutthe course of the two days it is estimat-ed she signed over eight hundredbooks. Her banquet address was drawn

2 For the People

LLiinnccoollnn BBiirrtthhddaayy EEvveennttss CCuullmmiinnaattee wwiitthhDDoorriiss KKeeaarrnnss GGooooddwwiinn AAddddrreessss

The Abraham Lincoln Associa-tion celebrated the 197thanniversary of Lincoln’s birth

in grand fashion. The theme of the

symposium was “The Lincoln Family,”with thought-provoking papers fromCatherine Clinton, Daniel MarkEpstein, and Joshua Wolf Shenk, andcommentary from Gerald Prokopow-icz. Lincoln curator Kim MatthewBauer presided over the symposium forthe final time as he leaves for a positionas Lincoln heritage coordinator for thecity of Decatur, Illinois, where heresides. Paper topics included “Wife v.Widow: Clashing Perspectives on MaryLincoln’s Legacy,” “The Road toWashington, 1847,” and “Lincoln’sEmotional Life.” Doris Kearns Good-win, the banquet speaker, spent mostof February 11 and 12 signing copiesof her best-selling book, Team ofRivals. She graciously signed everycopy presented to her and even took

Richard Norton Smith

Shown above are the Lincoln symposium organizers and participants:(l to r) Old State Capitol superintendent Justin Blandford, Gerald Prokopow-

icz, Catherine Clinton, Joshua Wolf Shenk, Daniel Mark Epstein,and Kim Matthew Bauer.

Outgoing President Roger D. Bridges Doris Kearns Goodwin

from her book in which she detailedhow Lincoln’s abilities and characteroutshined those of his fellow Republi-can rivals for the 1860 presidency.

Mark your calendar now for the2007 events. The symposium theme is“Lincoln in the 1850s,” and the ban-quet speaker will be Newsweek colum-nist Jon Meacham, author of therecent book American Gospel: God, theFounding Fathers, and the Making of aNation.

THE ABRAHAM LINCOLNASSOCIATIONRICHARD E. HART

PresidentBARBARA HUGHETTROBERT J. LENZROBERT WILLARDVice-Presidents

THOMAS F. SCHWARTZSecretary

ROBERT A. STUART JR.Treasurer

ROGER D. BRIDGESImmediate Past-President

MARY SHEPHERDExecutive AssistantBoard of Directors

Kenneth L. AndersonMolly M. Becker

Michael BurlingameBrooks Davis

Rodney O. DavisRobert S. EckleyAllen C. GuelzoKathryn M. Harris

Earl W. Henderson Jr.Fred B. Hoffmann

David JoensRon J. KellerLee McTurnan

Richard W. MarocMyron MartyRichard Mills

Susan MogermanGeorgia NorthrupPhillip S. PaludanJames W. Patton IIIMark Plummer

Marvin SandermanWilliam G. ShepherdBrooks D. SimpsonDaniel W. StowellNicky StrattonLouise Taper

Donald R. TracyAndy Van Meter

Margaret Van MeterDaniel R. WeinbergStewart L. WingerKenneth J. WinkleHonorary Directors

Governor Rod R. BlagojevichSenator Richard DurbinSenator Barack Obama

Congressman Ray LaHoodCongressman John Shimkus

Justice Rita GarmanMayor Timothy J. Davlin

Emeritus DirectorsCullom DavisJohn J. Trutter

Harlington Wood Jr.Distinguished DirectorsMario M. Cuomo

David Herbert DonaldJohn Hope Franklin

Harry V. JaffaRobert W. Johannsen

Garry Wills

For the People 3

By Richard E. Hart

February 12, 2006, will beremembered as one of ALA’smost popular celebrations of

Lincoln’s birth. Doris Kearns Good-win arrived in Springfield on Saturdayevening and began a whirlwind ofspeaking engagements and signings ofher best selling book, Team of Rivals-The Political Genius of Abraham Lin-coln. On Sunday afternoon prior to theSymposium, Doris signed her book atthe Old State Capitol. Admirersarrived early and formed a line fromthe first floor, up the grand stairs,around the second floor rotunda, andinto the room where Doris was gra-cious to every signature seeker. So notto interfere with the Symposium,Doris and her team of fans moveddown the street to the Abraham Lin-coln Presidential Museum where shefinished the signings. It is estimatedthat she signed well over eight hun-dred books.

Symposium attendees packed thechamber of the House of Representa-tives in the Old State Capitol whereKim Bauer welcomed Catherine Clin-ton, Daniel Epstein, and Joshua Shenk.They each presented thought-provok-ing glimpses into the lives of Mary andAbraham. Gerald Prokopowicz’s com-ments were insightful.

On Sunday evening the banquetwas a sell out. After dinner and beforeDoris began to speak, GeorgiaNorthrup was able to squeeze a fewmore waiting-list people into the cen-ter aisle of the banquet hall. Doris’sspeech confirmed her reputation as amaster storyteller. She attributes thatskill to her father. As a young girlDoris lived in Brooklyn, New York.While her father was off at work dur-ing the summers, he required Doris tolisten to the radio broadcasts of theBrooklyn Dodger baseball games. Atthe end of the work day when herfather returned home, Doris wouldgive him a play-by-play recount of theafternoon game. Years later Doris con-

PPrreessiiddeenntt’’ss MMeessssaaggee

For the People (ISSN 1527–2710) ispublished four times a year and is abenefit of membership of theAbraham Lincoln Association1 Old State Capitol Plaza

Springfield, Illinois62701

Editorial and design services byWilliam B. Tubbs

(wbt60@ameritech.net)

tinued to hone her skills on many asummer afternoon at Boston’s FenwayPark by telling her three sons abouttheir grandfather, who died before theboys got to know him.

The ALA has two big events in thenear future. In 2008, we will celebratethe one-hundredth anniversary of theAbraham Lincoln Association, and in2009 we will participate in the nationalcelebration of Lincoln’s two-hundredthbirthday. The ALA’s Bicentennial Com-mittee has started planning for bothevents and the preliminary plans areexciting. If you have any thoughts orideas on how to best celebrate theseimportant events, please e-mail them tome at rhart1213@aol.com. If you preferthe mail, you can write to me c/o Abra-ham Lincoln Association, 1 Old StateCapitol Plaza, Springfield, IL 62701.

We all thank our past President,Roger Bridges for his service not onlyas President, but also for more thanthree decades of Abraham LincolnAssociation leadership. Roger waspresent at the beginning of the Sympo-sium and was responsible for its form-ative years.

I look forward to being your Pres-ident during these exciting days andwelcome your continued participationand support. Please feel free to contactme at any time to offer your ideas andsuggestions. The best is yet to come.

he eventually plead guilty and wasfined $1.00.9

In a later written reminiscence,Willard identified Reverend BiliousPond, Dr. John Lyman, and LutherRansom as among his active allies onthe Sangamon County UndergroundRailroad.10 Helen Blankmeyer’s 1935history, The Sangamon Country, con-tains a brief account of the Under-ground Railroad and also identifies theconductors at the Farmington station.“In Sangamon county there were atleast two of these [Underground Rail-road] stations near Farmingdale. Dr.John Lyman and a few of his neighbors(including Jay Slater, Stephen Child,Luther Ransom, Rev. Billious Pond,Rev. Gault, and probably others),agreed to help each other hide anyslaves brought to them, and to takethem further on their way to free-dom.”11

So who were these men thatWillard and Blankmeyer deemed con-ductors on the Underground Railroadat Farmington?

Dr. John Lyman, a New Englanddoctor, was born on April 2, 1780, atLebanon, New Hampshire. He mar-ried there to Martha Storrs and attend-ed medical lectures at Dartmouth Col-lege. He practiced medicine in NewHaven Township, Vermont, and dur-ing the War of 1812, was an Army sur-geon. In 1824, John moved with hisfamily to Potsdam, New York,12 and in1833, came to Farmington with thecolony of fifty-two. John signed thecall for and attended Elijah Lovejoy’s1837 antislavery convention at UpperAlton. On February 26, 1839, TheGenius of Universal Emancipation, anabolitionist newspaper published atHennepin, Illinois, reported that JohnLyman was one of five SangamonCounty delegates to the Illinois Anti-Slavery Society annual meeting.13

A neighbor described “Dr.Lyman’s Underground Depot” atFarmington: “Down the hill near the

road and near the branch, he [Lyman]had a little shanty, and a family of dark-ies living in it. It had the name of Dr.Lyman’s Under-ground Depot. He wasaccused of secreting run-away slaves, ontheir way to Canada. It was said that thesouthern slave holders offered a thou-sand dollars for the Dr.’s scalp.”14

Jay Slater, a farmer, was born onFebruary 25, 1795, in Massachusetts.He was married on March 12, 1826, inSangamon County, to Lucretia Car-man, who was born in 1806 in NewYork. Slater was a conductor on theUnderground Railroad and his home,a small, neat brick house that stillstands just a short distance from Farm-ington,15 was most likely an active sta-tion on the Underground Railroad.

Stephen Child, a farmer andteacher, was a New Englander, bornon June 12, 1802, in Waitsfield, Ver-mont. In 1820 Child moved to Pots-dam, New York, where he taughtschool. He married Lyman’s daughter,Hannah, and they had two childrenwhile living in Potsdam. Child and hisfamily came to Sangamon County in1833 as a part of the colony of fifty-two and settled near Farmington.Child was a conductor on the Under-ground Railroad who helped hundreds

of runaway slaves move north from theFarmington station. John Carroll Pow-ers’s 1876 Early Settlers of SangamonCounty described Child:

Mr. [Stephen] Child was a farmer andteacher all his life. He was an original abo-litionist, and as an agent of the under-

ground railroad, he assisted hundreds ofcolored people in their flight frombondage. He conducted a company oftwenty-one at one time. It was his customto go as far as he could travel in one nightand return, but on some occasions he hasgone as far sixty miles, and then left themin the hands of friends who would conductthem onward. The last time the writer ofthis, conversed with Mr. Child, heexpressed special satisfaction that he hadassisted so many human beings on theirway to freedom, and gratitude that he hadlived to see the day that there was not aslave in the United States of America.16

Reverend Billious Pond, whoacted as the pastor for the colony offifty-two during their ten-week journeyfrom upstate New York, was a NewEnglander, born on June 26, 1781, inPlymouth, Connecticut. From 1842 toJanuary 1844 Pond was pastor of theFarmington Presbyterian Church.17

4 For the People

continued from page 1

LLiinnccoollnn’’ss SSpprriinnggffiieellddTThh ee UUnnddeerr gg rr oouunndd RR aaii ll rr ooaadd

Residence of Jay Slater on North Lincoln Trail, Gardner Township,Sangamon County, Illinois

For the People 5

continued on page 6

Pond and his son, Marvin, were con-ductors on the Underground Railroad.On June 11, 1845, Abraham Lincolnappeared in the Menard County Cir-cuit Court as an attorney for MarvinPond, who had been indicted for har-boring a slave.18 The jury found himnot guilty.19

Thomas Galt, a Presbyterian min-ister, was born on September 12,1805, in Lancaster County, Pennsylva-nia. He was educated at Jefferson Col-lege in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, andat the Presbyterian Theological Semi-nary in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania.In 1834 he was licensed to preach bythe Presbytery of Ohio, and shortlythereafter married Sarah Happer. Inthe spring of 1835 they moved west toPeoria, Illinois, where Galt preachedfor a few months, and in the autumn ofthat year moved to Springfield. OnApril 10, 1836, he became the firstpastor of the Farmingdale PresbyterianChurch. The Galts lived one mile eastof Farmington where they set apartthree acres of ground for a church anda cemetery, now the FarmingtonCemetery. Galt signed the call for andattended Elijah Lovejoy’s 1837 anti-slavery convention at Upper Alton. Hewas also was one of five SangamonCounty delegates to the 1839 IllinoisAnti-Slavery Society annual meeting.20

Galt remained pastor at Farming-ton until April 1842, when the Farm-ington Presbyterian Church split overthe issue of slavery. The “Old School”advocates, who wanted a slow resolu-tion of the slavery issue, retained con-trol of the Farmington church. Galt, a“New School” advocate who wantedthe immediate abolition of slavery,resigned his pastorate, and in July1842 became pastor of the CenterPresbyterian Church, a “New School”Presbyterian church. Sangamon Coun-ty’s first antislavery convention washeld at Center Church.21

Coming back to Springfield fromthose Sunday afternoon drives, I imag-ined runaway slaves being taken in andhidden at Farmington and then trans-ported in the dead of night to the nextstop on the Underground Railroad.How noble these people were to risktheir all for the freedom of another

soul and how brave the runaway slaveswere to risk their lives to escape slavery.I wondered if there was anyone inSpringfield, just eight miles east, whoshared this nobility. Was there anUnderground Railroad station inSpringfield? If so, who were the con-ductors and where were the stationslocated? Was Lincoln aware of its pres-ence?

Perfect answers to these questionswill probably never be given. Successof the Underground Railroad restedupon a strict code of secrecy and it isdifficult to find primary source materi-als on the Underground Railroad. Thename of one underground conductorwas often not known to the next con-ductor along the line. Because of thesecrecy, the Underground Railroad’spresence in Lincoln’s Springfield hasbeen shrouded in mystery.22

Over the years, I have collectedinformation that refers to Springfield’sUnderground Railroad. It is often aserendipitous experience as I will findsomething while researching an unre-lated topic. When these random find-ings are pasted together, a pictureemerges that leads one to the conclu-sion that there was an active Under-ground Railroad system in Springfieldfrom at least 1841 until after Lincoln’sdeparture in 1861. The Springfield sta-tions had a close connection with thoseat Farmington. One station existednear the Globe Tavern at the time thatnewly married Abraham and Mary Lin-coln lived there in 1841. In the 1850sat least two stations were close to theLincoln home at Eighth and Jackson.These two stations and two others notas close to the Lincoln home wereoperated by African Americans whoknew and had close contacts with Lin-coln. Lincoln must have known of theUnderground Railroad activities ofthese African American friends. Yes,there were a few noble souls in Lin-coln’s Springfield who conducted anactive Underground Railroad system.

Luther N. Ransom

Luther N. Ransom was born about1800 in Clinton County, New York.He and his wife, Zerviah, and two chil-

dren came to Farmington in 1833 withthe colony of fifty-two. Luther wasClerk of Session of the FarmingtonPresbyterian Church from 1834 to1835.23 In 1835 Luther sold his prop-erty at Farmington and moved eightmiles south of Springfield to what isnow Chatham. Here he purchasedtwenty-one hundred acres, laid out thetown of Chatham, built a house,organized Chatham PresbyterianChurch and hired an abolitionistpreacher. Luther appears to have envi-sioned a New England town on theprairie.

Luther was an early abolitionist.He signed Elijah Lovejoy’s 1837 callfor an antislavery convention at UpperAlton, Illinois, and attended that con-vention in October 1837. He was alsowas one of five Sangamon County del-egates to the 1839 Illinois Anti-SlaverySociety annual meeting.24 John CarrollPowers’s 1876 Early Settlers of Sanga-mon County, described Luther thus:“He was an original abolitionist, anuncompromising temperance man,scrupulously honest in his dealings,and it was believed by those who knewhim well, that he was honest and con-scientious in all he did. His erraticcourse was regarded more as the man-ifestations of an unsettled mind than ofa depraved disposition.”25

In 1840 Luther moved toSpringfield, and by October 18, 1841,he operated an Underground Railroadstation there at his boarding housenear the Globe Tavern.26 Luther’s par-ticipation in Springfield’s undergroundrailroad is evidenced by a St. Louisslave owner’s October 18, 1841, hand-bill offering a $200 reward for thereturn of an African American woman,Rittea or Henrietta Jones, and her chil-dren, Martha, age six, Sarah, age four,and James, age two, and her husband,Nicholas, a “free dark mulatto.”27 A“P.S.” at the end of the handbill statedthat Rittea and her family were “seenat L. N. Ransom’s boarding house, atSpringfield Ill., on yesterday morn-ing.”28

Samuel Willard remembered thatin 1843 Luther, “noted as a very stren-uous abolitionist,” advised his father,

6 For the People

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continued from page 5Julius A. Willard, in selecting an attor-ney to represent them in a case charg-ing them with assisting in the escape ofa fugitive slave at Jacksonville. “Inpreparation for the trial of our case itwas necessary to get lawyers to defendus . . . friends thot it best to have coun-sel of eminence from outside, myfather went to Springfield, taking mewith him. We were the guests ofLuther Ransom, noted as a very stren-uous abolitionist. . . . Lincoln wasmentioned by L. Ransom, who dismisthim with the remark that he did not[have] any reputation, and we wanteda man of note. L. Ransom added thatLincoln was not afraid of a negrocase.”29

* Part 2, which will include more sto-ries of those involved in Springfield’sUnderground Railroad, will appear inthe summer issue of For the People.

1James N. Adams, comp., IllinoisPlace Names, ed. William E. Keller,Occasional Publications 54 (Spring-field: Illinois State Historical Society,1968), 360.

2Paul M. Angle, Here I Have Lived(Springfield, Ill.: Abraham LincolnAssociation, 1935), 40.

3The Farmington signers were:Peter Bates, Asahel Stone, AzelLyman, Alvan Lyman, HarooldusEstabrook, Ezra Lyman, Bishop Seely,B. B. More, Jay Slater, H. P. Lyman,Oliver Bates, Stephen Child, O. L.Stone, A. S. Lyman, Joel Buckman,John Lyman, and T. Galt.

4The Farmington attendees at thefirst Illinois antislavery conventionheld at Upper Alton on October 26,1837, were: C. [Cornelius] Lyman,John Lyman, L. [Luther] N. Ransomand Thos. Galt.

5Doctor Samuel Willard was bornon December 30, 1821, in Lunenburg,Essex County, Vermont. On the nightof November 7, 1837, he witnessed

some of the events around the proslav-ery mob killing of Elijah P Lovejoy.Henry Tanner, The Martyrdom of Love-joy. An Account of the Life, Trials andPerils of Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, Who WasKilled by a Pro-Slavery Mob, at Alton,Ill., on the Night of November 7, 1837.By an Eye-Witness (Chicago: FergusPrinting Co., 1881). Samuel con-tributed several pages to Tanner’s book.Samuel and his father, Julius A. Willard,were charged with assisting in theescape of a fugitive at Jacksonville, in1843, while Samuel was a student inIllinois College. “The National Corpo-ration Reporter,” gave an account ofthis affair, together with a letter fromSamuel, in which he states that, afterprotracted litigation, during which thecase was carried to the Supreme Court,it was ended by his pleading guiltybefore Judge Samuel D. Lockwood,when he was fined one dollar and costs.He enlisted in the Illinois Ninety-sev-

enth Infantry Regiment on September5, 1862, and acted as the surgeon forthe regiment. He resided in Spring-field, Illinois, from October 1863 toSeptember 1870, when he moved toChicago. Doctor Samuel Willard diedon February 9, 1913, in Chicago, Illi-nois. Kim Torp, trans., The Under-ground Railroad, Historical Encyclope-dia of Illinois, 1901, http:// genealogy-trails.com/ill/underground-road.html.

6Samuel Willard, “My First Adven-ture with a Fugitive Slave: The Story ofIt and How It Failed,” TS, AbrahamLincoln Presidential Library, Spring-field, Ill.

7William Chauncy Carter was bornin New Canaan, Connecticut, on April2, 1820, and died in Jacksonville, Illi-nois, on December 9, 1896. At agethirteen William was brought by hisparents to Illinois. In the spring of1834 the family located on a farmabout four miles south of Jacksonville,

NNeeww MMeemmbbeerrss

Thomas P. Abbott, Hampstead, MDMr. Kelly Bailey, Des Moines, IAPaul E. Bender, Normal, ILLarry Binkovitz, New Albany, OHVicki Bonnett, Havana, ILRoberta Booher, Henning, ILRobert Bray, Bloomington, ILSteve Edison, St. Louis, MOPaul Essington Bloomington, ILCurt Evoy, Springfield, ILPaul Finkelman, Tulsa, OKJoseph R. Fornieri, Fairport, NYRobert H. Forsyth Jr., Springfield, ILJohn R. Gehlbach, Elkhart, ILRobert C. Gilbert, Kennesaw, GABeth Gilliland, Mooresville, INRob Gilliland, Mooresville, INBetty Green, Springfield, ILClifford & Shirley Greenwalt,

Springfield, ILMark Irving, O’Fallon, MO

Mark Janus, Springfield, ILSusan Fox Larson,

La Grange Park, ILPatrick McKenna, Springfield, ILMildred A. Meyer, Springfield, ILTracy Meyer, Chatham, ILErika Nunamaker, Lincoln, ILPatrick Oberholtzer, Washington, DCDavid O’Reilly, Palo Alto, CACarlos E.Rivera, San Juan, PRJeff Roquen, Palatine, ILMichael Ross, New Orleans, LAWilliam Sawisch, Oak Park, ILPeter W. Schramm, Ashland, OHMark Skesavage, Freehold, NJMark D. Streed, Woodbury, MNDr. Gerald Trigg,

Colorado Springs, COMrs. Gerald Trigg,

Colorado Springs, CODixie Watterson, Evanston, IL

For the People 7

AAPPPPLLIICCAATTIIOONN FFOORR MMEEMMBBEERRSSHHIIPP

Please enroll me as a member of theAbraham Lincoln Association in thecategory indicated:

Railsplitter $35($25 Student)Postmaster $75Lawyer $200Congressman $500President $1,000

Members residing outside the U.S. add$3.00.

Mail this application (or a photocopy)and a check to:

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continued on page 8

where his father had purchased eightyacres. William graduated from IllinoisCollege in 1845. For four years, hefarmed and taught school near Jack-sonville during the winter. He pur-chased a farm and spent his active lifefarming. William’s barn was an Under-ground Railroad station. HistoricalEncyclopedia of Illinois and History ofMorgan County (Chicago: MunsellPublishing Co., 1906).

8Willard, “My Second Adventurewith a Fugitive Slave: And How It wasWon,” TS, Abraham Lincoln Presiden-tial Library.

9“Beecher Hall Added to NationalUnderground Railroad Network,” ICNews & Events, http://www.ic.edu/alumni/news/news_story.asp?iNewsID=775&strBack=%2Falumni%2Fnews%2Fnews_archive.asp.

10Martyrdom of Lovejoy; WilburSiebert, The Underground Railroadfrom Slavery to Freedom (New York:Macmillan Co., 1898). A book reviewby Samuel Willard was published inThe Dial of Chicago.

11Helen Van Cleave Blankmeyer,The Sangamon Country (Springfield,Ill.: Sangamon County Historical Soci-ety, 1965), 126–28.

12John Carroll Power, History ofthe Early Settlers, Sangamon County,Illinois (Springfield: E. A. Wilson &Co., 1876), 467–68.

13The Genius of Universal Emanci-pation, an abolitionist newspaper pub-lished by Benjamin Lundy at Hen-

nepin, Illinois, reported on February26, 1839, that the Sangamon Countydelegates to the Illinois Anti-SlaverySociety annual meeting were: ThomasGalt, L. [Luther] N. Ransom, E.[Erastus] Wright, J. W. Little, andJohn Lyman.

14Taken from “diary pages typed in1926–27 by James A. Stone,” JamesAsahel Stone, “The Memoirs of JamesAsahel Stone,” comp. Marilyn ReedPierson, 2001, 22, Sangamon ValleyCollection, Lincoln Library, Spring-field, Illinois.

15The house may be reached bygoing west on Route 97 (JeffersonStreet) from Springfield to Bradford-ton; two miles from the intersection ofJefferson Street and Veterans Parkway.At Bradfordton, continue west for onemile on Route 97 to the first road onthe right (north), Lincoln Trail. Theintersection of Lincoln Trail and Route97 is marked as 5.5 West and 1.95North, being the distance from theintersection of First and Washingtonstreets in Springfield. Turn right onLincoln Trail and go one mile north.The house sits back on the left (west)side of the road.

16Power, 198.17Mary E. Stone, “Communicant

Register of Farmington-FarmingdaleUnited Presbyterian Church,” TS, 82,Sangamon Valley Collection.

18Earl Schenck Miers and WilliamE. Baringer, Lincoln Day By Day, AChronology, 1809–1865 (1960; rpt.

Dayton, Ohio: Morningside, 1991),253.

19Ibid., 259; Power, 576–77. Mar-vin B. Pond, born on November 3,1807, in New York, married there andcame to Sangamon County in 1837. In1839 he moved to Menard County,where he died in July 1871.

20Genius of Universal Emancipation.21Farmingdale Presbyterian Church

Website, http://www.farmpreschurch.org/History.dsp.

22Pamela R. Peters, Journey to theUnderground Railroad in Floyd County,Indiana, http://www.statelib.lib.in.us/www/ihb/ugrr/pampeters.html.

23Stone, 69.24Genius of Universal Emancipation.25Power, 593.26Lincoln to Joshua F. Speed, May

18, 1843, in Roy P. Basler, ed., TheCollected Works of Abraham Lincoln(New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Uni-versity Press, 1953–1955), 1:323–24.

27The handbill is in the HenryHorner Collection, Abraham LincolnPresidential Library.

$200REWARD

Ran off from the subscriber on Thurs-day morning, 14th inst, one NegroWoman, named Rittea or Henrietta Jones,with her three children, Martha, Sarah andJames. The woman is large and fleshy, of adark complexion and very sullen counte-nance; the oldest daughter, Martha is six

8 For the People

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Nonprofit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDSpringfield, IllinoisPermit No. 263

years old, the second Sarah is 4, and theson James is 2. The children are of a lightercolor than their mother.

The husband of Rittea, NicholasJones, is a free dark mulatto about thirty-five years old, slightly spotted with thesmallpox, about 5 feet 8 or 9 inches high,and quite impertinent when spoken to.Said Nicholas had a white man at Alton, tocarry his family to Carlinville Ill. in a twohorse box wagon, covered with white linenor cotton.

I will give One hundred dollars for thedelivery of Nicholas in St. Louis, if takenout of the State, or fifty dollars if appre-hended in it, or the latter sum if confined inany Jail in the United States, so that I canget him. I will also give One hundred dol-lars for the delivery of Rittea and her chil-dren in St. Louis, if taken out of this State,or fifty dollars if apprehended in it, or thelatter sum if confined in any Jail in theUnited States so that I can get them. Inaddition to the above reward all reasonableexpenses will be paid by me.

St. Louis, Mo.JOHN FINNLY.

continued from page 7

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P. S. Since the above was written Ihave been informed that Nicholas, his wifeand three children were seen at L. N. Ran-som’s boarding house, at Springfield Ill.,on yesterday morning.

Springfield, October 18th, 1841.

28On May 18, 1843, Abraham Lin-coln wrote a letter to Joshua F. Speed,part of which addressed business mat-ters. In explaining his attempts to col-lect on a debt owed Speed, Lincolnreported that the debt was to be paidfrom all rent due a Mr. Jewett after theprevious January 12. Lincoln wrote:“The rent is for the house Ransom didlive in just above the Globe [the GlobeTavern where the Lincoln’s thenlived].” The reference to “Ransom” ismost likely Luther N. Ransom and thereference to “Jewett” was probablyBenjamin F. Jewett. A review of therecords of the Sangamon CountyRecorder of Deeds records reveals thaton March 3, 1838, Benjamin F. Jewettpurchased property at the northwestcorner of First and Washington streets,just three blocks northwest from the

Globe Tavern. Would that be “justabove the Globe”? Was this Ransom’sboarding house referred to in the 1841handbill for the runaway slaves? InAugust 1844 Luther’s wife, Zerviah,died, and Luther and his two sonsmoved to Utopia, Ohio, on the OhioRiver. There he joined a group of 250Frenchmen who were members of acommunal society known as theFourierite Association. He marriedthere and he and his new wife had onechild, Albert. In December 1847 theOhio River flooded and a very largebrick building, owned and occupied bythe Fourierites, was flooded and col-lapsed killing one hundred persons,including Luther’s wife and two eldestchildren. Albert survived. In 1848Ransom and his baby son left theFourierites and joined the Shakers atLebanon, Ohio. He remained with theShakers until August 1859, when heand his son moved west to Lawrence,Kansas, where Luther lived until hisdeath in July 1872.

29The Underground Railroad, His-torical Encyclopedia of Illinois, 1901.