Dublin Core
Title
Sugar Grove's Historic Role in the Kane County Anti-Slavery Association and Underground Railroad
Subject
"Elgin: An American History" by E. C. Alft
"The Illinois tracks of the "Liberty Line" started at such river towns in Chester, Alton, and Quincy and led toward Chicago...The nearest main line ran from Princeton through Sugar Grove, Aurora and Hinsdale to the lake terminus."
"The Illinois tracks of the "Liberty Line" started at such river towns in Chester, Alton, and Quincy and led toward Chicago...The nearest main line ran from Princeton through Sugar Grove, Aurora and Hinsdale to the lake terminus."
Description
Excerpts from:
"Elgin: An American History"
by E. C. Alft
Published online by ElginHistory.com
Copyright 2000 - All Rights Reserved
Chapter II. The Dividing Line
...
1. Anti-Slavery
The slavery question was argued in Elgin from the earliest days of the settlement. Abolition sentiments were not popular at first, and an Elgin Free Discussion meeting in 1840, during a series of abolition meetings, resolved that "when any person who does not break the law proposes peaceably to express his views in this community by lecturing on any subject, we feel bound to protect him in his constitutional rights"2 The chairman of the meeting was Dr. Joseph Tefft, and the secretary, James T. Gifford.
One morning William G. Hubbard, a storekeeper, found on his veranda a full-sized coffin, placed there during the night. A note pinned to it warned that if he did not stop talking so much against slavery he would need the coffin. Hubbard used it for kindling and kept on talking. Despite the desire of many to let the effort to elect the Liberty Party's local candidates in the Elgin subject rest, a growing number joined Hubbard and took a stand precinct. It resulted in one of the first Liberty Party victories at against what they considered the injustice of slavery. Their opposition became part of their religious beliefs, and it soon shaped their political attitudes as well.
The Liberty Party had been organized in upstate New York in 1840. Not all Liberty men agreed on the particulars of a program, but they generally rejected the argument that slavery was recognized by the Constitution, and they opposed its further extension. One of the members of the new party in Elgin was James T. Gifford, who was appointed to its state central committee at a Chicago convention in 1842. There were only 32 Liberty votes cast in Kane County in the gubernatorial election of that year, less than three percent of the total. Six of these votes were in the Elgin precinct. In the Congressional election four years later, the Kane County vote for the Liberty candidate swelled to 533 about twenty-nine percent of the total. The third party was gathering momentum.
The Kane County Anti-Slavery Society furthered the movement. Among the Elgin members were Dr. Anson Root, R. W. Padelford, the Rev. N. C. Clark of the Congregational Church, and William G. Hubbard. In 1844 a new pastor for the Baptist Church, the Rev. Adoniram Judson Joslyn, arrived in Elgin. The preceding year he had served as secretary of the DuPage County Anti-Slavery Society. Fiery, aggressive and outspoken in his opposition to slavery, Joslyn's energies were not confined to the pulpit. The Western Christian, which he helped edit, advocated repeal of the Illinois black laws which restricted the rights of free Negroes. A Liberty convention at Aurora in October 1846 moved "that we recommend to hungry, destitute, naked and plundered emigrants to tarry through the winter, or longer, if they choose, in Kane County, being assured that it is as safe and secure an asylum as Canada itself."3
The abolitionist Owen Lovejoy, brother of the martyred Elijah, was a principal speaker at an Anti-Slavery Convention held in Elgin in February 1847. "If the people of Elgin can withstand what he has said," wrote Caroline Gifford to her father, "and still cling to their parties, I cannot think what they are made of. I do not see how they can help being good Anti-Slavery people - I mean real strong Liberty party folks. We had a fugitive here only 30 days from slavery who gave his narrative which was very interesting."4 This meeting resolved to make a special effort to elect the Liberty party's local candidates in the Elgin precinct. It resulted in one of the first Liberty party victories at the polls in Illinois.
In August 1848, A. J. Joslyn was a delegate to the national convention in Buffalo, New York, where the Liberty men broadened their program beyond the anti-slavery issue and adopted the new title of Free Soil party. That fall their candidate for president, Martin Van Buren, captured Kane County with 1,220 votes to 855 for the Whig and 783 for the Democrat. In Elgin the vote was Free Soil, 222; Democratic, 147; and Whig, 140.
Not all of the Van Buren vote could be considered anti-slavery, since the numerous emigrants from "York State" may have been voting for one of their own. On the other hand, Free Soil votes were not a true indication of the anti-slavery sentiment in northern Illinois, since there were many opponents of the institution who continued to vote Whig or Democratic. The year of the Free Soil plurality in Kane County marked the zenith of its political fortunes. The Illinois Whigs now also declared themselves against the extension of slavery and recovered many of the moderates among the Free Soilers. In 1852 Kane County returned to its traditional Democratic allegiance, and the Free Soil party lost almost half the votes it had won four years before.
"We were all in favor of the underground railway to Canada," recalled Harriet Gifford.5 The extent of local participation which may have accompanied this sympathy is not definitely known. Since those who harbored a fugitive slave were subject to criminal penalties, little evidence remains of Underground Railroad operations in Elgin. The Illinois tracks of the "Liberty Line" started at such river towns in Chester, Alton, and Quincy and led toward Chicago. Elgin was too far north of the more direct routes into Chicago from the south to have served as a major station. The nearest main line ran from Princeton through Sugar Grove, Aurora and Hinsdale to the lake terminus.
SOURCE: http://www.elginhistory.com/eaah/eaah-ch02.htm
"Elgin: An American History"
by E. C. Alft
Published online by ElginHistory.com
Copyright 2000 - All Rights Reserved
Chapter II. The Dividing Line
...
1. Anti-Slavery
The slavery question was argued in Elgin from the earliest days of the settlement. Abolition sentiments were not popular at first, and an Elgin Free Discussion meeting in 1840, during a series of abolition meetings, resolved that "when any person who does not break the law proposes peaceably to express his views in this community by lecturing on any subject, we feel bound to protect him in his constitutional rights"2 The chairman of the meeting was Dr. Joseph Tefft, and the secretary, James T. Gifford.
One morning William G. Hubbard, a storekeeper, found on his veranda a full-sized coffin, placed there during the night. A note pinned to it warned that if he did not stop talking so much against slavery he would need the coffin. Hubbard used it for kindling and kept on talking. Despite the desire of many to let the effort to elect the Liberty Party's local candidates in the Elgin subject rest, a growing number joined Hubbard and took a stand precinct. It resulted in one of the first Liberty Party victories at against what they considered the injustice of slavery. Their opposition became part of their religious beliefs, and it soon shaped their political attitudes as well.
The Liberty Party had been organized in upstate New York in 1840. Not all Liberty men agreed on the particulars of a program, but they generally rejected the argument that slavery was recognized by the Constitution, and they opposed its further extension. One of the members of the new party in Elgin was James T. Gifford, who was appointed to its state central committee at a Chicago convention in 1842. There were only 32 Liberty votes cast in Kane County in the gubernatorial election of that year, less than three percent of the total. Six of these votes were in the Elgin precinct. In the Congressional election four years later, the Kane County vote for the Liberty candidate swelled to 533 about twenty-nine percent of the total. The third party was gathering momentum.
The Kane County Anti-Slavery Society furthered the movement. Among the Elgin members were Dr. Anson Root, R. W. Padelford, the Rev. N. C. Clark of the Congregational Church, and William G. Hubbard. In 1844 a new pastor for the Baptist Church, the Rev. Adoniram Judson Joslyn, arrived in Elgin. The preceding year he had served as secretary of the DuPage County Anti-Slavery Society. Fiery, aggressive and outspoken in his opposition to slavery, Joslyn's energies were not confined to the pulpit. The Western Christian, which he helped edit, advocated repeal of the Illinois black laws which restricted the rights of free Negroes. A Liberty convention at Aurora in October 1846 moved "that we recommend to hungry, destitute, naked and plundered emigrants to tarry through the winter, or longer, if they choose, in Kane County, being assured that it is as safe and secure an asylum as Canada itself."3
The abolitionist Owen Lovejoy, brother of the martyred Elijah, was a principal speaker at an Anti-Slavery Convention held in Elgin in February 1847. "If the people of Elgin can withstand what he has said," wrote Caroline Gifford to her father, "and still cling to their parties, I cannot think what they are made of. I do not see how they can help being good Anti-Slavery people - I mean real strong Liberty party folks. We had a fugitive here only 30 days from slavery who gave his narrative which was very interesting."4 This meeting resolved to make a special effort to elect the Liberty party's local candidates in the Elgin precinct. It resulted in one of the first Liberty party victories at the polls in Illinois.
In August 1848, A. J. Joslyn was a delegate to the national convention in Buffalo, New York, where the Liberty men broadened their program beyond the anti-slavery issue and adopted the new title of Free Soil party. That fall their candidate for president, Martin Van Buren, captured Kane County with 1,220 votes to 855 for the Whig and 783 for the Democrat. In Elgin the vote was Free Soil, 222; Democratic, 147; and Whig, 140.
Not all of the Van Buren vote could be considered anti-slavery, since the numerous emigrants from "York State" may have been voting for one of their own. On the other hand, Free Soil votes were not a true indication of the anti-slavery sentiment in northern Illinois, since there were many opponents of the institution who continued to vote Whig or Democratic. The year of the Free Soil plurality in Kane County marked the zenith of its political fortunes. The Illinois Whigs now also declared themselves against the extension of slavery and recovered many of the moderates among the Free Soilers. In 1852 Kane County returned to its traditional Democratic allegiance, and the Free Soil party lost almost half the votes it had won four years before.
"We were all in favor of the underground railway to Canada," recalled Harriet Gifford.5 The extent of local participation which may have accompanied this sympathy is not definitely known. Since those who harbored a fugitive slave were subject to criminal penalties, little evidence remains of Underground Railroad operations in Elgin. The Illinois tracks of the "Liberty Line" started at such river towns in Chester, Alton, and Quincy and led toward Chicago. Elgin was too far north of the more direct routes into Chicago from the south to have served as a major station. The nearest main line ran from Princeton through Sugar Grove, Aurora and Hinsdale to the lake terminus.
SOURCE: http://www.elginhistory.com/eaah/eaah-ch02.htm
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