Timothy Prescott, a professor at Park University, shedded some light on just what the Underground Railroad may have been like in Kansas back in the 1850s and ’60s.
The event room at the library was packed to the brim Tuesday night with history buffs and those interested in the secret organization that helped escaped slaves find their freedom. Prescott began by calling the railroad what it was.
“Let’s keep in mind, this was illegal,” he said.
Nevertheless, some very brave individuals helped slaves sneak across the Missouri border (which was a slave state) to Kansas, and then north, potentially to their freedom. He showed the audience examples of letters written by the “conductors,” those who were in charge of harboring the escapees. Just a few of the many names involved in the Kansas movement were: Augustus and John Wattles, John Brown, James Montgomery, August Bondi and Richard Mendenhall. Prescott showed letters these individuals had written as they recounted the events of hiding and avoiding the Missourian patrols.
Prescott, who received his doctorate from the Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, said there is not as much information about the western lines of the Underground Railroad as those along the east coast. He, along with his colleagues, are just beginning to uncover some of the details of the operation.
“There is very little written on the western route,” Prescott said.
The Kansas Underground Railroad operated from 1854 to 1865 and covered a total of 425 miles. While no official numbers on escaped slaves have been agreed upon, 41,120 slaves left Missouri from 1860 to 1863.
“They weren’t there anymore, they had to go somewhere,” Prescott said.
Along the railroad, slaves knew which houses were safe and which were not by different signals. Some of the postings included small statues, quilt patterns hung on railings, etchings on trees and fence posts, as well as how men wore their belts and how women wore their handkerchiefs.
Prescott said secrecy was key among the railroad supporters, and the conductors kept information to a minimum — all for safety’s sake. But, as Prescott pointed out, there were only a few requirements to help on the railroad and only two questions:
“Are you in favor of the rights of men? If so, are you willing to render assistance to all such who ask you for assistance to obtain those rights?”
THE PROGRAM concluded with a question-and-answer session. Prescott handed out contact information to those who had more information on the underground railroad in Allen County, as well as those who believe their family members were involved in the operation.
