|
Ypsilanti, Michigan
| Leonard Chase House |
William W. Harwood Farm |
George McCoy Farm | Justin Norris House |
Leonard Chase House
Summit of Cross St. Hill
Leonard Chase supposedly
housed fugitive slaves here. Mrs. Eurolas Morton claims to have baked
bread at night and carried it to the Chase home to feed runaways hiding
there. |
| |
| |
William W. Harwood Farm
Textile and Campbell Roads |
|
Slave fugitives were often
directed by Levi Coffin, purported "President of the Underground," in
Cincinnati, Ohio to assistance in Adrian and Ypsilanti in Michigan.
Those escaping from Missouri, Arkansas or Texas would also find shelter
in Ypsilanti as they passed through Battle Creek and Jackson to Detroit.
The farm of William W. Harwood was one such station on the Underground.
Harwood was named an agent by Lenawee County Underground operator, Fitch
Reed.
A Washtenaw County
Historical Marker on the site reads:
This peaceful parcel of land, named for the
family who donated it, is the final resting place of a key figure in the
founding of Ypsilanti as well as prominent participants in the
Underground Railroad. William Webb Harwood came to the area from
Palmyra, New York with his wife, Sally and their children in 1824. With
Augustus Woodward and John Stewart, Harwood platted the village of
Ypsilanti. In 1829, he erected a dam and established a grist mill and,
the following year, built Ypsilanti's first schoolhouse. Moving to
Pittsfield Township in the mid-1830s, Harwood became a supporter of the
abolitionist movement and offered sanctuary to escaping slaves. In this
endeavor, he was joined by Asher Aray, a man of mixed race whose family
farmed east of the Harwoods on the Chicago Road (now US-12). Aray
sheltered a group of 28 slaves whose flight to freedom was documented
nationwide. The Arays and their relatives, the Days, are both buried
here in an unusual show of tolerance for the time. Harwood Cemetery,
once the central burial ground for Pittsfield Township, also contains
the remains of Robert and William Geddes, two of the area's original
land patentees.
This location is a part of
the Ann Arbor "Journey to Freedom" Underground Railroad Tour.
|
|
|
|
|
|
George
McCoy Farm
Michigan Ave
George McCoy was an escaped
slave from Kentucky, who farmed tobacco and sold cigars for a living in
Ypsilanti. George McCoy's daughter, Anna, was interviewed in the early
20th century about her family's efforts to hide and transport escaping
slaves through Ypsilanti. Anna remembered retrieving important letters
that would inspire her mother to bake bread and cook hams. Shortly
thereafter, her father would be taking a trip in his covered wagon,
which contained a false floor used to shelter fugitives. McCoy would
travel with the slaves to Detroit and Wayndotte, where he would sell his
cigars. Upon arrival at Wyandotte, the slaves were moved with the help
of a African American man, named Mr. Bush, to a ship called the "Pearl,"
bound for Canada. As George's cigar business grew, more slaves were
slaves were shuttled to freedom, until a second wagon had to be
purchased, which George's son William drove. After the enactment of the
Fugitive Slave Law, the McCoy family moved to Colchester, Ontario,
Canada. After service in the Canadian army, George was given 160 acres
of land in Colchester. One of George's twelve children is Elijah McCoy,
famous for his inventions and designs relating to railroad locomotives.
It is possible that the expression "the real McCoy" refers to Elijah.
|
|
|
|
|
Justin Norris House
213 North River St |
|
The Justin Norris House is
also claimed to be an Underground Railroad station. Today, it is a
private residence split into townhomes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Resources
-
Chandler, M. "Ypsilanti's Rich in Black
History." Detroit Free Press 9 February 1984: 7A.
-
DeRamus, Betty. Forbidden Fruit:
Love Stories from the Underground Railroad. Atria, 2005.
-
Doyle, Dennis. "'The Journey to
Freedom' Underground Railroad Tour." Michigan Tourism Business
3.5 (2004). 13 December 2007 <http://www.imakenews.com/tourism/e_article000254525.cfm>.
-
"Harwood Cemetery." Pittsfield Township
Historical Society. (2007). 13 December 2007 <http://pittsfieldhistory.org/index.php?section=sites&content=harwood_cemetary>.
-
Mann, James. "The 'Real McCoy' May Have
Been Elijah by Name, Ypsilanti Resident, Inventor." The Ann Arbor
News. (10 April 2006). 13 December 2007 <http://www.talesofeloise.com/NEWS/mccoy41006.htm>.
-
"McCoy, George and Mildred." Notable
Kentucky African Americans Database. (2007). University of
Kentucky Libraries. 13 December 2007 <http://www.uky.edu/Libraries/NKAA/record.php?note_id=1446>.
-
Newsletter of the Genealogical
Society of Washtenaw County, Michigan 21.2 (14 January 2003). 13
December 2007 <http://www.hvcn.org/info/gswc/society/GSWCNews21-2.doc>.
-
"United States 1860." Along the
Tracks: Michigan and the Underground Railroad. 3 October 2007 <http://www.si.umich.edu/
CHICO/AlongtheTracks/background.html>.
-
"Wild Swan Theater Study Guide:
Along the Tracks: Michigan and the Underground Railroad." Wild
Swan Theater. 29 October 2007 <http://old.wildswantheater.org/documents/AlongtheTracksstudyguide.pdf>.
-
William Siebert Papers. Ohio Historical
Archives, Columbus, OH.
-
"Ypsilanti." Michigan Pulses of
Underground Slavery and Anti-Slavery Activism. (2004).
Underground Railroad Flight to Freedom. 3 December 2007 <http://www.the-ugrr.org/home/pulses.asp?ID=&CityID=3>.
|
|
     
  
   
            
|
