The+UGRR+in+Geneseo

**The Underground Railroad in Geneseo** Original Author: Amanda Wheeler, ENG206 SP10 Revision Author:

Before starting this project, I didn’t know what an interesting history Geneseo has on the Underground Railroad. In this paper, I will be discussing a brief history of the founders of Geneseo and what part they had on the abolitionist movement. I will also share what lies within the Geneseo Historical Museum. Finally, I will talk about a certain resident of Geneseo who has a very personal connection to the Underground Railroad and slavery. For a small town like Geneseo, I was surprised to uncover as much as I did about its history concerning the Underground Railroad.

Where the community of Geneseo lies today was part of the “far west” more than 150 years ago and then eight families from Geneseo County in New York, settled in Geneseo, Illinois (Geneseo Chamber of Commerce 1). Caught up in a religious fervor that swept through the eastern and middle states during the 1830s, they had decided to establish a colony in the Midwest so as to bring religion and education to the region (Geneseo Chamber of Commerce 1). Though the Congregationalists who were descendants of Puritans played a lead role in the founding of Geneseo, the group that also traveled west included Presbyterians and Methodists (Depies 2). The year was 1836 when the first five families arrived; the other three came the next year (Geneseo Chamber of Commerce 1). They included: Cromwell K. and Catherine Bartlett and their seven children; William C. Bartlett and his wife, six children; Elisha and Eliza Cone, four children; Reuben and Harriet Cone, two children; Roderick R. and Clarissa Stewart, seven children; John C. and Mary Ward, two children; Harry and Lucy Manville, six children; and Rufus Hubbard and his wife and five children (Geneseo Chamber of Commerce 1).

These founders were known to be ardent abolitionists; however, a document found many years later shows just how against slavery the early settlers were (Depies 1). While still in New York, the future founders of Geneseo signed a covenant vowing not only to be against slavery, but to do everything in their power to end slavery (Depies 1). They had a belief in Christian perfection, which meant through their actions they could be right with God (Depies 2). The group felt that it was their duty to “Christianize the west” (Depies 2). When they arrived, they dismantled their wagons and reassembled as a church and school near the present-day location of First Congregational Church (Depies 2). Geneseo’s history and the Congregational Church are very entwined (Depies 2). Fittingly, it was the Congregational Church that discovered the original covenant (Depies 2). The document was among various items in the church’s archives (Depies 2). The covenant was signed by thirteen men, though their wives were referenced in the document, the covenant demonstrated the group’s commitment to abolitionism (Depies 2). As part of their commitment, the citizens of Geneseo were active in helping slave escape via the Underground Railroad (Depies 2). Not only did Geneseo play its part on the Underground Railroad, but the community was founded on the principles of being anti-slavery (Depies 2). They had a very strong faith and because of that, the founders felt that slaves were humans and they had an obligation to help them (Depies 2). They were dedicated to help end slavery (Depies 2). Geneseo was well connected to the national abolitionists’ leaders (Depies 2). Geneseo was one of the most well known, unknown towns in that era connected to the Underground Railroad (Depies 2). The founders of Geneseo remained committed to helping slaves, despite the fact that it was illegal (Depies 3). The abolitionist nature of the town continued and the idea for social justice became a root to the community (Depies 3). Artifacts from the settlers’ trip west, including a foot warmer and trunk, as well as early documents, are all part of the Geneseo Historical Museum’s collection that can be seen today (Depies 3).

There were several local “stops” on the Underground Railroad in Geneseo, including a hiding spot in the Geneseo Historical Museum’s basement, which still remains in existence today (Depies 2). In the back room of the maze-like basement is a crumbling section of brick wall (Ickes 1). At its top is the old wooden frame of what looks like a window (Ickes 1). When the people at the museum opened the window several years ago, is when they found the jaw-dropping discovery of the hiding hole (Ickes 1). A state preservationist was called in to confirm their suspicions…that the double-walled crawlspace was, in fact, a hiding hole used by daring abolitionists to hide runaway slaves (Ickes 1). Inside the cramped crawlspace is a partial wooden ceiling from which half of the slats were removed, creating another shelf-like hiding space called the “keeping room” (Ickes 1). It was for fugitives, most likely used to shelter young children, especially babies, who would be sedated to prevent their cries from alerting those in search of slaves (Geneseo Chamber of Commerce 1). The dirt and brick space, which still contained a copper candlestick holder when it was uncovered, was a boxcar so to speak, for Geneseo’s part in the Underground Railroad (Ickes 1).

The Geneseo Historical Museum’s curator, Angie Snook, gives tours to many including grade school children (Ickes 1). She helps them to climb the couple of feet of the crumbling brick that leads into hidden crawlspace (Ickes 1). Once they’re inside, Snook urges the children to imagine what it must have been like to spend days on end crouched in the damp, dark hole with little to eat or drink and nowhere to go to the bathroom (Ickes 1). “This is the truth of it all,” she explains (Ickes 1). The decadence of the Victorian-era wealth that occupies the first two sprawling floors of the 150-year-old house could not possibly reveal the scandalous circumstances of the humanity who once lived below in the basement (Ickes 1). In fact, Snook suspects the Underground Railroad was in George Richards’ plans when he built the house/museum in 1855 (Ickes 2). While some descendants of other Geneseo settlers continue to deny their families ever kept slaves, despite records to the contrary, several of the town’s oldest homes contain evidence of slave sympathizers (Ickes 2).

Resident of Geneseo, Darline Holland, can trace her family history back to 1855 (Geneseo Republic 1). When her ancestors arrived in that year, they were soon to learn that the man who bought them as slaves at auction was about to set them free (Geneseo Republic 1). Darline Holland’s great-grandfather was Christopher Columbus White, the eldest of three sons born to a slave mother by the name of Ashby in North Carolina (Geneseo Republic 1). His father was a full-blooded Mohawk Indian (Geneseo Republic 1). At the age of seventeen, Christopher Columbus White decided to run away and work his way North (Geneseo Republic 1). He traveled by night and slept and hid by day, making his way to Kentucky through the help of the Underground Railroad (Geneseo Republic 1). He swam across the Ohio River (Geneseo Republic 1). In Michigan, he met Laura Montgomery who was born to a slave family in Missouri (Geneseo Republic 1). Her stepfather was the master’s coachman, Philip Montgomery (Geneseo Republic 1). Their master once cut off young Laura’s braids (Geneseo Republic 1).

When Laura was fifteen, her mother, Johanna, father, brother and herself were sold on the auction block (Geneseo Republic 1). Laura, her mother and father were bought by John Hammond (Geneseo Republic 1). John Hammond had also wanted to buy her brother, Daniel, but he was sold to someone from down south (Geneseo Republic 1). That was the last time Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery ever saw their son (Geneseo Republic 1). John Hammond came to Geneseo with his brother Joseph in 1855 (Geneseo Republic 1). The Hammonds bought 1,800 acres in Henry County (Geneseo Republic 1). The group went up the Mississippi River and then boarded a train for Geneseo then going to Munson Township by horse and wagon (Geneseo Republic 1). After arriving at the Munson Township, Mr. and Mrs. Hammond told the Montgomery’s they appreciated them (Geneseo Republic 1). They lived and worked on the Hammond farm for about two years until Mr. Hammond’s death (Geneseo Republic 1). Mr. John Hammond stated in his will that the Montgomery’s were free (Geneseo Republic 2). Mr. Hammond’s widow then decided to return to her former home while the Montgomery’s bought a three and a half acre lot in the Pillsbury addition on the west side of Geneseo where Darline Holland still lives (Geneseo Republic 1). They later decided to move to Michigan, where Laura met her husband-to-be, Christopher Columbus White (Geneseo Republic 1).

Christopher Columbus White enlisted in the Union Army in 1864, going as a substitute for a man who had been drafted and who paid him $300 to go in his stead, a fairly common practice at the time (Geneseo Republic 1). All his children looked upon him as quite a hero for returning to the South to fight for the freedom of those remaining slaves, and he received a wound in his left arm from fighting (Geneseo Republic 1). When peace was declared, he mustered out and returned to New Buffalo, Michigan to join his wife and four children (Geneseo Republic 1). Mrs. Holland’s grandfather was Alexander White, born August 3, 1860 to Christopher Columbus White and Laura Montgomery White (Geneseo Republic 1). After the close of the war, Mrs. Holland’s grandfather returned to Geneseo with his brother Franklin and his grandparents Philip and Johanna Montgomery (Geneseo Republic 1). Philip Montgomery died in 1875, Laura Montgomery White died in 1883 and Johanna Montgomery died in 1901 at the age of 97 (Geneseo Republic 2).

Alexander White went to Kansas in 1885 and met Gertrude Copeland; they were married on October 25, 1888 in Lawrence, Kansas (Geneseo Republic 2). They moved to Geneseo where three children were born to them, Floyd, Flossie, and Eugenia (Geneseo Republic 2). Flossie attended school back in Kansas and returned to Geneseo, taking up dress making (Geneseo Republic 2). She married Elmer Underwood of Moline on November 18, 1914 and they had six girls (Geneseo Republic 2). Darline Holland was the youngest (Geneseo Republic 2). Mrs. Holland still lives on the land her relatives bought so many years ago (Geneseo Republic 2). As shown, Geneseo does have a unique and interesting history of the Underground Railroad. Whenever one can uncover something about the past, it can be very enlightening to know what the past was like. This is especially true when it is in your area. I was born in Geneseo and lived there with my family till I was in second grade. And I still attend church in Geneseo as well. So, still being a part of the Geneseo community and learning this type of history was very interesting to me. It is really fascinating to know what went on so long ago around in a community you grew up in.

**Works Cited ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Depies, Lisa. "Discovered document proves anti-slavery past." //Geneseo Republic// 31 July 2009, Print. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">"Heritage recalled: Darline Holland's relatives arrived here to find freedom." //Geneseo Republic// 14 May 1993, Print. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">"History and Culture." //Geneseo Chamber of Commerce//. Foresight Consulting, Inc., n.d. Web. 29 April 2010. [] <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ickes, Barb. "Stage 1: Geneseo's "hiding hole"." //Quad-City Times// Print.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Return to UGRR <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Return to Home