The Underground Railroad and the Adirondacks

In Contested Terrain, Terrie discussed the romanticism of the Adirondacks. It became a place for tourists, a place to go to get a break from the stress of a busy life. However, that was clearly not a very common thought a couple hundred years ago. The Adirondacks posed a difficult terrain for not only early settlers attempting to farm, but also fugitive slaves seeking refuge in the north. In class this week we talked a lot about the role of the Adirondacks in the Underground Railroad after reading parts of Cloudsplitter. I honestly had never realized how the region might have been utilized in this way and decided to do some more research on the subject.

            In recent years many historians have started to piece together the hidden passageways and legends of the Underground Railroad in an effort to understand the role of the Adirondacks in the anti-slavery movement in the north. In 2005, the North Star Underground Railroad Historical Association was founded. This association was created to research and preserve the history of the Underground Railroad along the Upper Hudson River-Champlain and Lake Champlain part of northeast New York. There is a museum called the North Star Underground Railroad Museum that has exhibits and success stories about various fugitive slaves that sought passage through the Adirondacks to freedom.

One story that I came across that I found interesting was the story of a slave named John Thomas. He was born into slavery in Maryland and in 1839 managed to escape to the north. He was given 40 acres of land in Franklin Falls from Gerrit Smith, a wealthy abolitionist. Later, he sold that land and bought 50 acres in the Adirondacks near Bloomingdale. By 1872, he owned 200 acres of land. Against all odds and the difficulties facing him, John Thomas was able to find success and freedom in the Adirondacks. Perhaps one of the most remarkable parts of the story is that one researcher—Don Papson—discovered two of John Thomas’ great-great grandsons still living in the Adirondacks today. They are the first Adirondack descendants of fugitive slaves to be identified.

The Adirondacks have been a horizon of hope, holding the potential for success. Despite failures and harsh winters, the earliest farmers held onto the hope that they would find success in the Adirondacks. For fugitive slaves it was a trail to freedom. John Thomas found it was a place to live and succeed, a place where his descendants still live.

Works Cited:

R, “Lighting Freedom’S. “Lighting Freedom’s Road” THE NORTH COUNTRY                           LANTERN (n.d.): n. pag. The Northern Country Lantern. North Country Underground RailroadHistorical Association. Web.   <http://northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/newsletters/Newsletter-Winter-Spring-2006-07.pdf>.

"North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association." North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. <http://www.northcountryundergroundrailroad.com/index.php>.