—Isaac Mason, preface to Life of Isaac Mason as a Slave (1893)
Working Collaboratively Alongside Others
Chester County had a strong network of African American abolitionists who provided sanctuary for freedom seekers while also challenging the moral conscience of the nation to significantly impact the ultimate abolition of slavery. They worked within the Underground Railroad network and within the larger community in a number of different ways.
They sometimes worked collaboratively with Quakers and other antislavery advocates to forge interracial alliances. Many others worked independently within their own network of African American churches and safe houses, while still others spoke out publicly against slavery and oppression.
All of these courageous acts speak to the power of collective action and grassroots resistance in the face of systemic injustice.
Serving As a Beacon of Hope: “Just Over the Line”
Even though the actions of these African American abolitionists were critical to the success of the operations of the Underground Railroad in Chester County, the story of their actions has been underappreciated and mostly untold. Much of the reason for this is that the activity of African American abolitionists had to be clandestine and as a result, went undocumented.
When the 1850 Fugitive Act passed, every African American, whether free or freedom-seeking, was in jeopardy of being captured and accused of being a runaway, having only to be accused by any white person of being so.
In spite of the risk to their own lives and their freedom, these heroic men and women served as conductors who guided freedom seekers to their next stop and station masters who provided safe havens. In addition, the lives of free African Americans in Chester County, although fraught with danger, served as a beacon of hope to freedom seekers, illustrating what was possible “just over the line.”
Harriet and Levi Hood
Though not extensively documented in contemporary records, Harriet and Levi Hood played a significant role in the Underground Railroad in the decades preceding the Civil War. Their contributions have been pieced together through local history and the writings of their son, Bishop James Walker Hood.
Born around 1791 in Maryland, Levi Hood ultimately served as the minister of the Bucktoe Church for forty years, preaching about freedom by day and coordinating antislavery activities by night. His wife, Harriet Hood, nee Walker, born in Delaware and raised mainly in Philadelphia, was literate and a strong educational advocate. After marrying Levi in 1813, the couple settled in Wilmington before moving to New Garden in Kennett Township in 1820.
Their son James described his parent’s house as a bustling waystation and his father’s preaching to the Black congregation as instilling “an immense hatred for the institution of slavery” and “an intense love for his afflicted race.” Levi Hood’s visible presence at the 1864 event to celebrate British emancipation of their enslaved, hosted by African American churches in Wilmington, illustrates his commitment to the abolitionist cause.
Harriet Hood’s antislavery activities were remarkable, considering all the other known African American agents in the Kennett area were men. As an enthusiastic public speaker, she routinely gave antislavery lectures and was actively involved in abolitionist activities. The fact that she spoke at the 12th Annual Meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society in 1849, was a notable achievement for a woman of color at the time, or for any woman for that matter.
Their son James described his parent’s house as a bustling waystation and his father’s preaching to the Black congregation as instilling “an immense hatred for the institution of slavery” and “an intense love for his afflicted race.”
…the memoirs of formerly enslaved James Williams, portray him as a member of the “African stockholders” – a pivotal group that provided crucial support to the network.
Nelson Wiggins
Nelson Wiggins was another prominent abolitionist minister who served the African Union Church of New Garden. Born in Delaware in 1815 or 1822, he lived most of his life in Chester County, devoted to the cause of the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad in which he, alongside his brother Reuben, worked tirelessly and openly to aid freedom seekers.
Unlike the Hoods or James Walker, Wiggins does not appear to have been affiliated with any formal antislavery group. Instead, the memoirs of formerly enslaved James Williams, portray him as a member of the “African stockholders” – a pivotal group that provided crucial support to the network. This involvement was not just a passive endorsement but an active, risky engagement in an intricate system of escape routes, safe houses, and strategic planning.
James H. Walker
James H. Walker was born in Delaware in 1800, although exactly where is not known. Even though by 1842 he had purchased a home in Kennett Square, where or how he made his money is unknown. At the time of his death in 1875, he was likely the wealthiest African American in Chester County. As a prosperous man and member of the Longwood Progressives, Walker not only championed abolition, but also voting rights, property rights, and equal citizenship. Much of the surviving documentary evidence of his political involvement comes from newspaper accounts.
One particular incident that illustrated his commitment was aiding a freedom seeker who was fleeing north by train in 1855. When he reached Wilmington, Delaware, he jumped off a moving train believing that he would be captured or discovered by his owner. The badly injured fugitive was taken to Walker’s house who tended to the man’s wounds and summoned Dr. Isaac D. Johnson, a member of the Longwood Progressive, for further assistance.
Walker was known for close collaboration with other Underground Railroad agents in the Longwood area, actively sending freedom seekers to Quaker safe houses. Even though much of James Walker’s story remains shrouded in history’s fog, his legacy, carved out in the shadows of the Underground Railroad, continues to inspire and illuminate the path toward justice and equality.
As a prosperous man and member of the Longwood Progressives, Walker not only championed abolition, but also voting rights, property rights, and equal citizenship.
Residing on the border between New Garden and Kennett Square, in what was described as “primitive stone cottage,” their home became a sanctuary for many freedom seekers.
Joseph and Jane Wilson
Much of the history of the Wilsons was shrouded in mystery, but it appears that Joseph came to Chester County by the 1830s, and Jane, his second wife, was alternatively listed in census reports as “colored”, “mulatto”, and “white.” She claimed to have emigrated from Ireland.
Residing on the border between New Garden and Kennett Square, in what was described as “a primitive stone cottage,” their home became a sanctuary for many freedom seekers. A local newspaper at the time detailed an account of a fugitive, described only as a “tired, frightened, young colored girl” named Mary, who by chance stumbled into the Wilson home one evening in 1852.
When slave hunters approached the couple’s cottage, Jane directed Mary to the nearby Red Clay Creek, sending her own children along with her because they “bore the dark skin of their father” and felt “the slave hunters would be less suspicious of a white woman harboring human property.
After the house had been searched and the slave hunters moved on, Mary returned. Later, Joseph took her to a neighbor’s house, and he and the neighbor escorted her to the home of John and Hannah Cox at Longwood Farm.
David and Perry Augustus
Originally from Wilmington, Perry Augustus was a member of the Bucktoe Church. Even at age 80, he was listed on census records of New Garden as a laborer. It was not known if David, who was 27 at the time, was his son or grandson. David made his living as a peddler buying produce in Delaware and selling it in the Kennett area. He used his trade to disguise the fact that he was moving peaches and other fruit along with freedom seekers between Wilmington and Kennett Square, since there was nothing remarkable about his being accompanied by another Black man on his travels. When he arrived back in New Garden with freedom seekers, Perry coordinated the next leg of their Underground Railroad journey.
Unlike many African American abolitionists in Chester County who worked closely with the Quakers, David and Perry Augustus relied exclusively on members of their congregation and a network of Black churches throughout the northern part of the county. Freedom seekers traveled between various African American communities until they reached Philadelphia or traveled northwest through the network of other communities that brought them to the iron furnaces in the industrialized area near Coatesville, where many could be hidden “in plain sight.”
Unlike many African American abolitionists in Chester County who worked closely with the Quakers, David and Perry Augustus relied exclusively on members of their congregation and a network of Black churches throughout the northern part of the county.
He and James Walker helped plan Wilmington’s “First of August Celebrations” to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833…
Abraham Shadd
Abraham Shadd’s journey as an abolitionist began in Wilmington, where he worked before moving to West Chester to become a central figure in Underground Railroad operations in the area. Even though he was not a Quaker, Shadd was one of only two Black founding members of the Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting.
He and James Walker helped plan Wilmington’s “First of August Celebrations” to commemorate the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833 and was well known enough in his community to have been mentioned by name in numerous historical studies of the period as what we would call today “a mover and shaker.”
John Gladman
Gladman’s willingness to outwardly challenge authority and advocate for the rights of his community exemplifies the courage and determination of African American abolitionists of that era who at great peril to themselves worked to end the abhorrent practice of enslavement and improve the lives of African Americans in Pennsylvania.
Gladman’s willingness to outwardly challenge authority and advocate for the rights of his community exemplifies the courage and determination of African American abolitionists of that era…