CHAPTER XXIX
SOON after the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Law, with its barbarous penalties, many humane persons in Iowa, who could not resist the impulse to assist slaves from Missouri, escaping from bondage, organized lines of stations across the State by which they could coöperate in affording shelter, aid and transportation to fugitives. Beginning at Tabor, in Fremont County, near the State line, the Abolitionists had stations known only to trusted friends, extending by way of Des Moines, Grinnell, Iowa City and Springdale to Davenport. When the escaping slaves reached any station on this line (which was called the “Underground Railroad”) the keeper of that station would secrete the fugitives, furnish them food, clothing, money and transportation to the next station. The train usually consisted of a well equipped canvas-covered lumber wagon and a good team of horses, driven by a cool, courageous man, well armed. The colored passengers were concealed beneath the cover and traveling was in the shelter of night. Arriving at a station, the slaves were concealed and kindly cared for until night when they were again conveyed on their journey. The trains were run with such secrecy that their coming and going was very seldom discovered by the slave catchers in pursuit of their human chattels. Hundreds of slaves from Missouri found paths to freedom over the Iowa prairies, from 1850 to 1860, by the various lines of the “Underground Railroad. The men and women, who from feelings of humanity and without compensation kept the stations, well knew the risk of ruinous fines and imprisonment they were taking, but with the true John Brown spirit that moved them to aid men, women and children to freedom, they never shrunk from danger.
