Battle Creek, Michigan

| Erastus Hussey House | Charles Merritt House | Sojourner Truth Gravesite |
| Sojourner Truth Monument | Underground Railroad Sculpture |
 

 
Erastus Hussey House
Linear Park between Capital Avenue and Division


From 1830 History of Calhoun County, MI
 

 Erastus Hussey was a Quaker and conductor on the Underground Railroad in Battle Creek; the stop located in his home. He helped to move fugitive slaves to Marshall, the next stop on the line. Along with his wife Sarah, he helped more than 1,000 slaves escape. During the "Kentucky Raid" in Cass County, the Husseys provided shelter and food for 45 people escaping recapture at the hands of raiders, who had invaded their community. Erastus Hussey was Battle Creek's mayor and a state senator, as well as one of Michigan's most prominent citizens and editor of the Liberty Press, an abolitionist publication. He was also a member of the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society. In 1855, along with other state senators, Hussey introduced P.A. 162, the Personal Freedom's Act, which restricted the legal actions of anyone claiming ownership of African Americans living in Michigan, by preventing state and local officials from cooperating with agents of slavery, instituting fines and jail time for attempting to capture African Americans and providing legal assistance to those accused of escaping from slavery ("Battle Creek"). For additional information on Erastus Hussey, see these excerpts from Biographical Review of Calhoun County, Michigan Containing Historical, Biographical, and Genealogical Sketches of Many of the Prominent Citizens of To-Day and Also of the Past. Chicago: Hobart & Mather, 1904. 450-452, 617-620 and 1830 History of Calhoun County, Michigan with Illustrations... Philadephia: L.H. Everts, 1877. A house no longer stands at this location.
 

A state historical marker was erected in 1992 on East Michigan Ave. in Battle Creek in memorial to Hussey: Erastus Hussey came to Michigan from New York State in 1824 and purchased land in Wayne County. Hussey returned to New York for a time, but in 1839 he and his wife, Sarah, purchased a building located about 125 feet east of this site to house their dry goods store and residence. As Quakers, the Husseys had strong antislavery sentiments, and in 1840, Erastus became stationmaster of the Underground Railroad's Battle Creek station, located in his home. He was assisted by fugitives like Samuel Strother who settled in Battle Creek after escaping slavery. As a Free-Soiler, Hussey served in both houses of the state legislature in the 1850s. On July 6, 1854, he attended the "Under the Oaks" convention in Jackson, where the Republican party was founded.
 

The opposite side of the marker reads: A May 1885 edition of the Battle Creek Sunday Morning Call featured and interview with "the Abolitionist patriarch," Erastus Hussey. The eighty-five-year-old former editor of the antislavery Michigan Liberty Press recalled Battle Creek's role with the Underground Railroad, beginning in 1840. The Central Michigan route began in Cass County and had stations every twelve to fifteen miles in communities like Climax, Battle Creek, Marshall, Albion, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Plymouth and on to Detroit. Hussey stated "I have fed and given protection to over 1,000 fugitives, and assisted them on to Canada." After 1855 the Michigan underground was less traveled -- the runaways took shorter routes through Ohio. When asked if any stationmasters received pay, Hussey replied "No . . . . We were working for humanity."
   
   
Charles Merritt House
327 Capital Ave. NE


From History of Calhoun County Michigan...Vol. II

 Charles Merritt was born in Saratoga County, New York on October 14, 1820. His father, Joseph Merritt, moved the family to Battle Creek in 1836. Joseph was also actively interested in the slavery question and frequently entertained many of the prominent abolitionists of the day as they came through Battle Creek to lecture on antislavery: William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Philips, Parker Pillsbury, and Henry C. Wright. Joseph Merritt was a member and vice president of the Michigan Anti-Slavery Society. Both Joseph and Charles gave donations to the Society during the 1850s.

William Lloyd Garrison was the founder of the Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper in Boston. Under Garrison's leadership, the American Anti-Slavery Society was organized in Philadelphia in 1833. Garrison advocated the immediate release of all slaves, an unpopular opinion even in the north during the 1830s. Garrison also believed that the Constitution was pro-slavery document, that women should be allowed to participate in the Anti-Slavery Society, and that the Anti-Slavery society should not ally itself with any one political party. These beliefs later caused a schism within the American Slavery Society, which split in 1840.
 

The Merritt family belonged to the Society of Friends, and accepted Sojourner Truth into their home when she visited Battle Creek. She frequently lived with them, acting as nurse or domestic in exchange for board. Charles Merritt married Elizabeth Margaret Chandler in 1857. They had four children. Charles Merritt was known for his orchards and blackberry patch, from which he shipped fruit to Chicago and Detroit markets. To augment her income, Sojourner Truth would carry a tray, loaded with boxes of these berries, on her head to sell in town. For more information on Charles Merritt, please see these excerpts from Biographical Review of Calhoun County, Michigan Containing Historical, Biographical, and Genealogical Sketches of Many of the Prominent Citizens of To-Day and Also of the Past. Chicago: Hobart & Mather, 1904. 61-64 and Gardner, Washington. History of Calhoun County Michigan...Vol. II. Chicago: Lewis, 1913.

Today, the Merritt House is owned by Dr. Stephen Robinson and is the site of the Historic Northside Family Practice.

 
 
Sojourner Truth Gravesite
Oakhill Cemetery
255 South Ave.

From Picturesque Detroit and Environs. Northhampton, MA: Picturesque, 1893.
 

Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree, circa 1797. In 1815, she married a fellow slave, known as Thomas, and had five children by him. She was sold to four additional owners before walking to freedom in 1826, carrying her infant daughter Sofia on the journey. She adopted her new name ("a traveler for truth") when she gave her first national speech of hundreds, in New York City in 1843. Truth was well known for her views on emancipation, women's rights and suffrage, rights of freemen, prison reform and the abolition of capital punishment. She moved to the Battle Creek area in 1857, in the village of Harmonia with a community of Quakers and Spiritualists (now the location of Fort Custer Industrial Park). In 1867, she and her family moved into town, converting a barn on College St. into a home for herself and two of her daughters, Diana and Elizabeth, where she lived until her death in 1883. Her funeral service was reported to have been attended by 1,000 people. It was held at Congregational-Presbyterian Church.

In Memoriam Sojourner Truth Born a Slave in
Ulster Co. N.Y. in the 18th Century Died in Battle Creek Mich. Nov. 26, 1883 Aged About 105 Years "Is God Dead" S.T.

      

Sojourner Truth Renowned lecturer and reformer who championed Anti-Slavery, Rights of Women and the Freedmen rests here. Beside her lie two of her five children: Elizabeth Banks Boyd, Died, Jan. 6 1893; Diana Corbin, Died, Oct. 25 1904; and two grandsons: Samuel Banks, Died, Feb. 14 1875; William Boyd, Died, Nov. 3 1887.

 
 
 
Sojourner Truth Monument
Corner of Division and Hamblin Ave.
The 12-foot high sculpture of Sojourner Truth was dedicated in 1999. The monument is outdoors and free to the public. Parking is available.



 
Because it was illegal to teach slaves, Sojourner Truth never learned to read or write. This is the only known example of her signature, which she wrote in an autograph book owned by Hattie Johnson, a local high school student, on April 23, 1880.


 
This monument was dedicated by the people of Battle Creek, Michigan, on September 25, 1999, to preserve the image and honor the legacy of Sojourner Truth (1797-1883), who lived in this area for the last 27 years of her life. Although she could neither read nor write, this charismatic ex-slave was empowered by a deep religious faith to carry her message of social reform and individual rights across the country. Using humor, wit and song in her oratory, Sojourner Truth transformed national attitudes and institutions. The community inspired the vision of truth which is embodied in this sculpture by internationally reknowned artist Tina Allen. It is for each of us who stand here to carry on the work of truth.
 
 

Sojourner Truth (1787-1883)
Sojourner Truth was born as the slave Isabella in New York State about 1797. As a child she spoke only low Dutch and, like most slaves, she never learned to read or write. While she was in bondage, she married Thomas, a fellow slave, and had five children. She was sold to four new owners before walking away to freedom in 1826. Isbella then settled in New York City until 1843, when she changed her name to Sojourner Truth. Relying on her deep religious faith, she was determined to travel the land as an itinerant preacher, speaking the truth and fighting against injustice. She became a prominent figure in several national social reform movements, working for the abolition of slavery, women's rights, temperance, prison reform and the rights of former slaves. Sojourner first came to Battle Creek in 1856 to speak to the Quaker Friends of Human Progress. She moved to the area a year later and lived here for the last twenty-six years of her life. She died on November 26, 1883, and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery. Sojourner Truth was perhaps the most famous African American woman in 19th century America. For over forty years she was a passionate advocate for the dispossessed, using her quick wit and fearless tongue to fight for human rights. May her legacy live on.
 
 

Underground Railroad Sculpture
1 Michigan Ave. East

South of Linear Park

One side of this 28-foot long and 14-foot high bronze monument depicts Harriet Tubman, by far the most famous Underground Railroad conductor, leading a family of slaves out of a forest and towards a river. Tubman led fugitives into Canada after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law Act in 1850, which made it too dangerous for escapees to stay in the northern states for fear of being returned to slavery. The other side of the monument shows the aforementioned Erastus Hussey and his wife ushering fugitive slaves into their cellar.

 

The monument was funded by the Kellogg Foundation and sculpted by Ed Dwight. It was dedicated in 1993 and installed in 1994. The sculpture is the largest monument to the Underground in the United States. It is free and open to the public. Parking is available.
 

 
From the 1830's to 1861, thousands of slaves in the southern United States courageously escaped northward to freedom on what became known as the Underground Railroad. Along the secret network, "conductors" like Battle Creek's Erastus and Sara Hussey, whose liknesses are captured in this memorial, took great personal risks to ensure the safety of escaping slaves. Hariett Tubman, known as the Black Moses, was a national heroine of this epic struggle and is depicted leading another brave family away from the shackles of slavery. This memorial honors the Underground Railroad and is dedicated to the strength of the human spirit in the quest for freedom. Ed Dwight, Sculptor, Denver, Colorado 1993. This sculpture was made possible by a gift from the Glenn A. Cross Estate and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
   
   

Resources

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Created for Central Michigan University's HUM 797 Special Topics in Humanities:
The Underground Railroad in Literature, History, Film, and the Arts, with Dr. Maureen Eke

Last updated December 17, 2007 by Jennie Thomas