In the years prior to the Civil War, many slaves successfully escaped aboard ships leaving from ports in the Upper South, especially Norfolk. In the 1870′s, many former abolitionists published books about their Underground Railroad operations. William Still, an ex-slave who worked as an operator in the Underground Railroad, collected and recorded a number of narratives and letters from Norfolk’s slaves who became fugitives in the 1850′s. Still kept records of the collected slave stories hoping to bring together the former slaves who were in search of long-lost family members. During the slavery and Civil War period, Still guarded his accounts and at one point, hid them in a cemetery building. In 1872, Still decided that with the new challenges facing blacks, the time was right to publish his accounts of the efforts, difficulties, and achievements that were made by blacks in their attempt to secure their freedom.
One such account involved a narrow escape of twenty-one fugitives aboard Captain Fountain’s ship which left Norfolk in 1855. It seemed Captain Fountain frequently secreted slaves to the North from southern ports where he traded wheat, grains, and other items. One day, word got around Norfolk that a boat was harboring fugitive slaves. Norfolk’s mayor and a posse boarded the ship, and after an ineffective search, the men departed leaving the Captain and his stowaway cargo in place. Upon leaving Norfolk, the ship headed for Philadelphia where the Vigilance Committee awaited their arrival to give aid and protection to runaway slaves who crossed the Mason-Dixon line.
For Further Reading…
William Still Underground Railroad Foundation
This Vignette Provided By
Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Associate Professor of History, Norfolk State University
