CNJ+ June 2024

The Underground Railroad NEW JERSEY’S PATH TO FREEDOM By Pam Teel

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses that were es tablished in the United States during the early to mid-19th century. Its purpose was to help enslaved African Ameri cans escape from the southern states, where they were held in bondage, to get to the north ern states and also to Canada. Most people are familiar with the Underground Railroad knowing that it was not an ac tual railway but a route linking slave states in the South to free states in the North by utilizing abolitionists’ homes, churches, and other properties as places to hide and seek food and shel ter along the path to freedom. Among white abolitionists were many free African Amer

Four main starting points in New Jersey for the Under ground Railroad were, Cape May, Greenwich/Springtown, Salem, and Fort Republic. From there, escape routes led north to Camden, Mount Hol ly, and Central New Jersey, then eventually connecting to Northern New Jersey’s path to freedom. By the 1850’s ap proximately 100,000 slaves had escaped via the Underground Railroad. New Jersey had certain ly played a significant role in helping escapees find freedom. Here are some notable places associated with the Under ground Railway in New Jersey. Peter Mott House- Located in Lawnside, NJ: The Mott House is a museum and a renovated

icans who helped create isolated communities, mostly in rural areas, to hide those escaping; thus risking their lives and safety to aid those seeking free dom. While Canada was a common destination, other routes led to Mexico and to the islands in the Caribbean, which were not part of the slave trade. The Underground Railroad began in the late 18th century and ended when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Runaway slaves often entered New Jersey by crossing the Delaware River or the Delaware Bay at night using small boats operated by local conduc tors (those who guided the escapees.) These boats used a signal of signal lights, yellow on top and blue on the bottom, to indicate safety for landing. Some escapees arrived in canal boats transporting coal from Pennsylvania. These boats had hidden compartments under the cabin covered with coal. New Jersey was an integral part of the eastern corridor of the Underground Railroad as southern slaves traveled through the state to head further north. Several Underground Railroad routes existed in the State. New Jersey was also an active section of the Underground Railroad be cause of its location between two urban centers, Philadelphia and New York City, and because of its close proximity to the slave states of Delaware and Maryland. Although slavery was not extensive in the North, it did exist. Northern states began abolishing slavery in 1774. New Jersey was the last northern state to pass a law that enacted a gradual emancipation of enslaved people in 1804, which allowed children born after the law’s passage to be free at 21 for females and 25 for males. It wasn’t until New Jersey’s 1846 “Act to Abolish Slavery” was passed that slavery became illegal and current en slaved people within the state, instead, could become “apprentices for life.” So, during the 19th century, there were both free and enslaved black resi dents living in New Jersey.

station along the Underground Railroad. It was part of a network that fa cilitated the escape of fugitives in the 19th century. Located in Lawnside, this historic home is the oldest standing residence. Peter Mott was a freed black farmer, carpenter, pastor, and a stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. In 1844, he purchased his first lot in the newly found community of Free Haven (now Lawnside.) This was land set aside by Quaker abolition ists for an African American community. The 1870 census listed him at age 60 along with his wife Eliza. He was listed as owning real estate worth 1000 dollars and he was among one of the richest people in the area. Mott was born in Delaware and was probably a slave at one point before escaping. He died in 1880. According to local evidence, nothing in writing, the Motts were involved in the Underground Railroad and used their home in Snow Hill as a station to help other people of color escape to freedom. The house narrowly escaped demolition in 1992 when a Pennsylvania developer pur chased it to build townhouses on, but people from the community formed the Lawnside Historical Society and saved the house from demolition. The home is now listed on the Register of Historical Places in New Jersey. Historic Underground Railroad Museum of Burlington County operates in the city of Burlington. This museum was a private enterprise by Louise Calloway who made it her life’s work and passion to preserve and share the often hidden history of Black Americans and their struggles for freedom and equality. Callaway was always conversing with patrons in her café where she housed her private collection of African artifacts. Her café was right behind a pharmacy that had a reputation as a stop along the Underground Rail road. She enjoyed educating the patrons on black history and slavery and the fight for freedom through the Underground Railroad. Due to financial struggles, she had to close her café/museum, but in 2013, the Burlington

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CNJ+ | FORMERLY THE MILLSTONE TIMES

JUNE 2024