Decatur County, Indiana - Chapter 17: The Underground Railroad, 1915

For at least thirty years before the opening of the Civil ^^'ar there \va^. in parts of Decatur county, pronounced opposition to the institution of slavery. The early settlers of the Kingston and Spring Hill neighborhoods came from that part of Kentucky where there was a violent hatred of slaver)- and they had not been in Decatur county many years before they began to voice, in no uncertain manner, their opposition to the slave traffic. About 1830 these worthy people took the lead in the organization of the Decatur County Colonization Society, a branch of the National Colonization Society. The ostensible purpose of this organization was to assist in freeing men of color and providing them with the means of finding a home in a new country, where the colored man might have a chance to develop himself. A few years before this time, Liberia, Africa, had been prepared for the reception of such colored people of the United States as could be induced to make it their home. However philanthropic such a scheme might have been, it did not work out well in practice and only tended to alienate many people who were really opposed to slavery. The South naturally regarded the Colonization Society with an intense hatred and the result was that they watched their slaves only the more carefully and punished the more severely those who escaped and were recaptured. Many people in the North thought that there was too much stress placed on getting a few colored people out of the country, when the energy of those opposed to the traffic had better be given to ultimate emancipation.

Many persons in Decatur county took the latter stand, with the result that, about 1835 or 1836, the more radical of the anti-slavery people of the county (most of whom li\-ed in Fugit township) withdrew from the Colonization Society and united in the organization of the Decatur County Anti- Slavery Society. Among the leaders in this movement were Samuel Donnell, Sr., John C. McCoy, Thomas Hamilton, Alexander McCoy, Campbell McCoy, Samuel A. Donnell, Luther A. Donnell, Andrew Robison, Jr., Angus C. McCoy, and Cyrus Hamiltnn, of the Kingston neighborhood, and the Rankins, Andersons, Logans and others, of Spring Hill. The creed of the anti- slavery people was, in short, that slavery was a sin - a sin for which the whole nation was responsible, and for which there was but one cure - immediate emancipation. The consequence of this second organization was a bitter and unrelenting fight between the supporters of the two societies, the creation of bickerings between neighbors, friends and relatives, and, finally schisms in the churches. It is not necessary here to say which side was in the right - they both hated sla\ery and differed only in their methods of dealing with it.

It is enough to say that abolitionism gradually grew and, notwithstanding the persecution and ostracism which its adherents were forced to undergo, they finally saw their fondest hopes realized. The Free-Soil part}- and the subsec|uent Republican party, founded on the remnants of the Whig and Free-Soil parties, finally forced the issue and January i, 1863, saw the emancipation of all the slaves in the United States - and only thirty years after Decatur county had taken up the agitation in earnest.

The purpose of the present article is to deal with one phase of the antislavery fight in Decatur county, the so-called "underground railroad." One of the main trunk lines of this famous railroad was through the eastern part of Decatur county. Its ofiicers and conductors were sworn to secrecy and it was manv years after the close of the Civil War before some of these brave men and women told of the part which they had borne in helping to get the poor negroes through the count}' on their way to freedom. The story of the "underground railroad"' has never been, and probably never will be told in detail. Its work was done under cover of darkness and those who received negroes at one point often did not know who had brought them that far along the line. Southward from Decatur county, the railroad branched off into several different directions. The main crossing places from Kentucky into the southeastern ]Dart of Indiana seemed to have been near Madison, \'evay and Rising Sun. Those coming across near Madison were shifted through New Marion, in Ripley county, and Zenas, in Jennings county ; those landing at Vevay and Rising Sun were taken past Milan, in Ripley county! The three roads seemed to have effected a junction in Decatur county south of present McCoy's Station. From this place the route led northward along the Decatur-Franklin county line, through a small colored settlement a short distance east of Clarksburg, and thence northeast through Fayette and Wayne counties. Fugitives, on crossing the Ohio ri\-er, were met by a trained conductor - sometimes one of their own color, but oftener by a white man - who took them to the next station. Here the runaways stayed in hiding all day and on the second night another conductor took the colored passengers on to the next station. Thus was the journey made to Canada and freedom, the nightly trips being continued until the fugitives were safely over the border. How many negroes were thus transported to Canada will never be known, but the number ran up into the thousands, and very few of them were ever captured en route or apprehended once they set foot in Canada. The passage of the fugitive slave law in 1850 so outraged the North that the business of the underground railroad increased by leaps and bounds and it became positively dangerous for slavecatchers to appear on free soil. In the escape of these runaways, the good people of Decatur county bore no small part and it is fortunate to find available a personal account of one case which is typical of scores of others which took place. This particular case, known as the "Donnell Rescue Case," was described l^y the late William ]M. Hamilton, who was one of the participants:

"I will try to relate in detail the history of the escape, capture, rescue and final escape to Canada, of a colored woman and four children, claimed as the property of George Ray, of Kentucky, in which Mr. Donnell and myself became involved in litigation before both the state and federal courts.

"In the fall of 1848, probably in October, Caroline and her four children made their way across the Ohio river near the city of Madison, Indiana. From there she was assisted on her way to Decatur county by a man named Wagoner, who was one of the regular conductors in charge of fugitives between Madison and this county. Wagoner delivered his passengers at what is now McCoy's Station, probal^ly about two or three o'clock in the morning. Mr. McCoy at once mounted the poor woman and her four children on horses and started for the colored settlement near Clarksburg, which was not far from the home of Luther A. Donnell.

"On the way to the colored settlement, McCoy and his party came by way of my father's (Cyrus Hamilton) and asked me to accompany and assist him on to the colored settlement. ^Vhen we were within a mile and a half of Clarksburg we found that we could not make the desired goal before daylight, so we stopped at the house of a colored man Ijy the name of Pernell, who lived near. McCoy then returned home. Pernell was uneasy and seemed afraid to keep the fugitives, so I rode over to Donnell's and awakened him, telling him 'what was up,' and that Pernell was afraid to keep the people.

"Donnell said he would go over to the colored settlement and have them come and get the woman and her children. WHiereuixDn I started back home, but soon met Pernell with the fugitives mounted on horses. It was then daylight, and he hurried on to the house of a colored woman, Jane Speed, who lived where George Warlow now Hves. The woman and children were secreted in an old house which had some hay in it. This house was located on a remote portion of her (Jane Speed's) place and not far from where Woodson Clark lived.

"This Clark was reputed to be a slave-catcher and hunter and was ever ready to obstruct the pathway of those seeking their freedom. During the day Clark saw Jane Speed's boy come away from the old house, whither he had been sent to convey food to the fugitives. This was enough to prompt an investigation of the contents of the old house by Clark. He took in the situation at a glance and told the woman she was in a very unsafe position and that he would conduct her to the colored settlement, but, instead of doing so, he took the colored woman and her children to his own house.

"The colored woman, suspecting that all was not right, asked him ( Clark ) where the colored people were to whom he had promised to guide her. It was then late in the evening, and he, suspecting that her friends would miss her and the children from their place of concealment and that he would be suspected, resolved to secrete them in an old fodder house on the farm of his son. At the same time Clark decided the safest thing for him to do was to tell the colored people to come and get her and the children. After several hours of waiting in the fodder house, the woman concluded that she had been betrayed, and, knowing that there was a colored settlement in the neighborhood, left her children and started out in quest of her friends. The night was dark and she, a stranger to the fields, soon lost her way.

"Leaving the woman and her children for the time, the reader's attention is called to what was being done by her friends. As soon as the fugitives were missed from the hut on Jane Speed's place (otherwise known as the Peyton place), the colored people tracked them to Clark's yard gate. They then informed Luther A. Donnell, who advised them to secure enough assistance to watch Clark's premises so as to prevent the escape of the fugitives. Mr. Donnell then held an interview with my father, and they determined to apply for a writ of habeas corpus and by legal intpiir}' find by what authority the fugitives were detained by Clark.

"By this time darkness was setting in. My father and Mr. Donnell applied to John Hopkins, then associate judge of Decatur county, for the required writ, which was granted. But it was found necessary to go to Greensburg to obtain the seal of the court and the attendance of the sheriff to serve the writ. The sheriff was Michael Swope, who sent the writ to a deputy named John Imlav, then living in Clarksburg, with orders to serve it. (26)

When my father and Mr. Donnell started for Greensburg I was detained to look after the party who were watching Clark's premises. I found about twenty colored men assembled. They were very much excited and were armed with corn knives, clubs and, maybe, more deadly weapons. It was with difficulty that I restrained them from making a forced search.

"At length the deputy sheriff came, and with him Robert Hamilton, to assist in the execution of the writ. It had been arranged to have the colored men rush in a body on to the sheriff and take the fugitives by force as soon as they could be brought out of Clark's house. But the search proved fruitless and we were all 'chop fallen,' as it looked as thought we had been outgeneraled. Clark appeared greatly offended and said he would see some one through with this business. He went to Clarksburg and tried to get a writ from a justice of the peace, by which he could take the slaves back to Kentucky, but, of course, failed to get one.

"Mr. Donnell, R. A. Hamilton, myself and the colored people then held a council and decided to extend the search to the premises of the two sons of Clark, who lived, one on the north and the other on the south of their father's farm. Meanwhile Mr. Donnell and myself went to Mr. Donnell's house to await developments. A short time before daylight a squad came and reported that they had found the woman near one of the Clarks. She was rambling about the fields in a state of bewilderment and did not know where her children were. She told the story of her removal to the hut and subsequent concealment in the Clark fodder house. Of course, the colored men soon found the children, and the party was once more intact and with friends.

"The colored men took the fugitives down into their neighborhood and secreted them in a deep ravine on the Bull fork of Salt creek, in Franklin county, intending to start them on their way the next night. We were greatly rejoiced at the turn things had taken, yet we felt assured that the slave-catchers would press hard after their game, having once had them in their possession.

"R. A. Hamilton returned home as soon as the search was over. After remaining at Donnell's house until the colored men had reported, I started for home, and on my way met four or five men whom I knew were slave hunters. Some were from Greensburg, and one was a stranger, who, as I afterwards learned, was the man Ray, of Kentucky, who owned the slaves. A son of Clark and a man by the name of Hobbs had been to Greensburg for a writ to enable them to secure possession of the fugitives and had given the alarm. All this had happened while the woman and children were being found and while I was at the home of Donnell, as before related. I hurriedly changed horses and kept a watch over the slave hunters. They went through Clarksburg, and I went to Donnell's house and reported what I had seen. He proposed that we mount our horses and skirmish around the Clark premises and the colored settlement in order to see what might happen.

"We went to a horse-mill in the edge of the colored settlement. There we remained some time, but learned nothing more than that there was quite a party at Clark's house. In the afternoon the slave hunters made some demonstrations in and about the settlement and did attempt to search one or two houses, but, finding it an unsafe business, they abandoned the expedition.

"The colored people were naturally very much excited and determined. The woman was almost helpless, encumbered as she was with her children, the youngest of which was a nursing babe. They could not be moved like adults. Now, there was a colored man and his wife who had recently moved from Union county to the settlement, who had two children about the age of two of the fugitive children. Accordingly they made a bold daylight trip, with the slave woman's children instead of their own, and arrived safely at the home of William Beard, an underground railroad man and a godly Quaker, who lived beyond the reach of the pursuers.

"But the woman and two of her children were still to be disposed of. About sunset, word came that the slave hunters had discovered the hiding place of the remaining fugitives, and again we were disconsolate. We reasoned that they would bring her to Clark's house for safe keeping over night, and we resolved to tiy our writ again and see if it woiild not give us possession of the fugitives.

"Meanwhile, we had assembled at Donnell's house for supper. \\'hile we were thus mourning over our ill luck, a colored man came and announced that matters were all right - that the man who was on guard had mistaken a party of men who were returning home from a 'raisin' for the slave hunting party, but that they passed by without observing the woman's hiding place. Again our drooping spirits revived and we set ourselves to the task of planning the successful evasion of the pursuers.

"The route over which the underground railroad passengers were conveyed was through Laurel and Blooming Grove (Franklin county), crossing the East fork of White river at Fairfield, and thence on to William Beard's home in Union county. This line had been discovered by the enemy and was well watched; besides, the excitement was running high and spreading wide by this time, while our rescuing party was more determined than ever.

Heretofore we had depended upon the colored people to do the work, while we made the calculations, hut Donnell's determination was now fairly aroused, and he proposed to me that we take this matter in hand and see the slaves safely through, let it cost what it might.

"Accordingly, we instructed the colored people to disguise the woman in male attire and for three or four of them to accompany her, mounted, and others on foot, to Peyton's corner, where we would meet them. They executed the details promptly and were on hand in time. We found it necessary to press through Clarksburg to reach the point we had in mind. It was a dangerous place to enter, as there were plenty of watchful slave hunters there, so we instructed her to ride to the middle of the road, flanked by a trusty colored man on either side. We had the children taken around the village of Clarksburg to about one mile beyond the town. The exit was easily made and the proposed point reached without any trouble. We then dismissed the colored men and resolved to keep our own council.

"The woman was mounted on a horse with one of us and the children with the other, and thus we rode through Spring Hill and to the home of Thomas Donnell, about one mile west of that village. Day was breaking and Luther A. Donnell awakened his brother, Thomas, who assisted him in hiding the slaves in an out-of-the-way building, while I took charge of the horses. During the next day the refugees were fed by two children of the Donnell family. Luther Donnell and myself returned to our homes with the understanding that we were to meet at the house of John R. Donnell that night at ten o'clock for the purpose of making final disposition of the fugitives.

"We met pursuant to our agreement and at this juncture we pressed Lowry Donnell and John R. Donnell into service. The latter entered into the arrangement with a hearty good will by bringing out his fine carriage, with closed top and side curtains. The woman and children had been provided with plenty of warm woolen clothing, and, being doubly veiled, were placed in the carriage and started on their way to freedom.

"The party was composed of Luther A. Donnell, John R. Donnell, Lowry Donnell, Robert Stout, Nathaniel Thompson and myself. Stout and Thompson only went with us as far as New Salem, Rush county."

The narrative of Mr. Hamilton goes on to tell of the details of the journey, which was devoid of any striking incidents. After a drive of twenty-four hours, with only a short rest to feed the horses, the party arrived at William Beard's home in Union county, where they received a warm welcome. The rescuers returned home the next day, with men and horses worn and jaded, carriage springs broken, and with the experience of one of the most interesting incidents of the underground railroad which ever occurred in the state. The poor slave woman was given her four children, reached Canada eventually, and in after years wrote to Donnell, expressing her great thankfulness for his assistance.

But Donnell was not yet through with his connection with the case. The slave hunters were determined to ha\e their revenge for the shrewd way in which they were outwitted. Having lost their chattels and been defeated in their attempts to recover them, the slave owner and his sympathizers resolved to take advantage offered by a state statute then supposed to be in force in Indiana. Accordingly, a few days later, a grand jury of Decatur county indicted Luther A. Donnell for "aiding and abetting the escape of fugitives from labor," etc. The case came up for trial at the ]\Iarch term of court, 1849. George H. Dunn was the presiding judge and John Hopkins and Samuel Ellis, associate judges. The jury was composed of twelve men of the county. The state was represented by John S. Scobey, prosecuting attorne}-, and Andrew Davidson, later a supreme judge of Indiana. The defense was in the hands of John Ryman, of Lawrenceburg, and Joseph Robinson and Philander Hamilton, of Greensburg.

On the calling" of the case, the defense moved to cjuash the indictment on the grounds set forth in the case of Prigg vs. Pennsylvania, in which it was held that state legislation for the recovery of fugitives from labor in other states, or for aiding the escape of such, was unconstitutional. The motion was overruled and the trial proceeded. The evidence is too voluminous for the i)urpose at hand and only a summary of it will be given. The evidence in the case seemed to turn on the positive statement of Richard Clark (one of the sons mentioned), who testified that the woman and children were placed in his fodder house about two o'clock of ]\Ionday and that l^etween three and four o'clock the next morning they were taken out by Luther A. Donnell and William Hamilton, which the reader will notice is widely at variance with the facts, as stated in Hamilton's account. But in those days, a man could not testify in his own behalf, neither could a colored man testify in a case where a white man was interested. There was some conflicting testimony in this case, but the popular voice was unfavorable to the defense and the verdict was against the defendant. Donnell appealed the case to the supreme court of Indiana. The result is here given in the words of the record :

"This was an indictment against Luther A. Donnell, containing two counts; one charging him with inducing the escape of, and the other with secreting a woman of color, called Caroline, then being the slave of and owing service to George Ray, of Kentucky. The defendant was convicted. The section of the statute of our state upon which the indictment was grounded, according to the decision in Prigg vs. Pennsylvania, is unconstitutional and void. The conviction on it was, therefore, erroneous." (Porter's Indiana Reports, Vol. Ill, page 480.)

Encouraged by the advantages gained here in a criminal action, and by the popular clamor, Ray brought suit in the United States court at Indianapolis, to recover the value of his property, and obtained a judgment for fifteen hundred dollars, which, with costs, amounted to about three thousand dollars. This was promptly paid by the defendants to the last dollar. It is interesting to note that this full amount was refunded to the defendants by the anti-slavery men of the state and neighborhood, aided by some who were publicly known to be in sympathy with the movement.

Thus ended one of the most exciting legal contests ever held in the state ; in fact, the effect on the popular mind was rather unfavorable to the slave-catching interests here, and caused many who had before been indifferent toward the anti-slavery agitators to take a decided stand for or against that issue. No other efforts were made to recover escaped slaves in Decatur county, although from then to the outbreak of the war the "underground railroad" was in full operation. It is said that not one slave in a thousand was ever recovered by the owners in the decade preceding the Civil War.

The fugitive slave law of 1850 was heartily denounced in many pulpits in Decatur county immediately after its passage, and a minister of Kingston probably voiced the sentiment of a majority of the people of the ' county when he said in the pulpit at the end of one of his sermons: "It is well known to you that the fugitive slave bill has become a law. To a law framed of such iniquity I owe no allegiance. Humanity, Christianity and manhood revolt against it. For myself - I say it solemnly - I will shelter, I will help, I will defend the fugitive with all my humble means and power. I will act with any Ixidy of decent and serious men, as the head, or foot, or hand, in any mode not involving the use of deadly weapons, to nullify and defeat the operation of this law." While this courageous preacher undoubtedly expressed the sentiments of most of the people of the county, yet there were not a few who had no sympathy whatever with the slave. Many of the early settlers of the county came from Kentucky and Tennessee and, if the facts were known, it could be shown that some of these Southerners brought slaves here with them and held them as such. The government census of 1830 disclosed the startling fact that there was one negro girl in Decatur county who was returned as a slave.

The Knights of the Golden Circle had a large following in Decatur county during the Civil War and were especially strong in Jackson township. They were responsible for most of the depredations committed in that township during the latter part of the war. Apropos of this traitorous organization, an interesting story is told of old "Uncle" Dan Pike, who lived in Jackson township near Alert. The worthy old gentleman was an avowed Southern sympathizer and a great lover of fine horses, of which he had a large number. At the time Morgan made his raid through southern Indiana in the summer of 1863, Uncle Dan had some misgivings about the safety of his fine horses. He thought, however, that he was too far north for Morgan, but he was destined to change his opinion of the safety of his horses. On a sweltering day in July a detachment of Morgan's men actually appeared before his home and in no uncertain manner demanded some of his fine horses. Southern sympathizer that he was, he was determined that no horse of his should leave the barn if he could help it. Taking his trusty old flint-lock in his hands, he stationed himself near the stable door and defied a man to attempt to take a single horse out of the stable. "The first man who goes into that stable door gets a slug of hot shot." The soldiers told him that he would only bring about his own death and in no way save his horses. "That don't make no difference - it will not save the man who goes into my stable," retorted the old man. The upshot of the matter was that they left Uncle Dan safe in the possession of all of his beloved horses.