This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/7/2024
[UNDERGROUND RAILROAD]. [THE KENTUCKY RAID OF 1847]. An Archive of Autograph Letters Signed or Documents Signed by People Involved in the Underground Railroad During the Kentucky Raid of 1847. [Cass County, MI, Ca. 1830s-1840s]. A group of 20 letters or documents, all related to business transactions or contracts (none are directly related to the Raid or the Underground Railroad). 4to and 8vo pages. Generally worn, soiled, all with creases. Generally excellent. Letters or documents are from the related parties as follows: Ismael Lee (1 letter), D. M. Howell (9 documents or “Indentures”, which he witnessed as Registrar), James Brown (1 document, witnessed as Notary Public), A. Dow (2 letters to Asa Kingsbury), Asa Kingsbury (3 letters from him and one to him), one to C. H. Kingsbury, one letter from Ezekiel S. Smith, 2 letters or documents from James Sullivan. Beginning in 1829, various residents of Cass County, MI (several of whom were Quakers), became part of the Underground Railroad, helping fugitive slaves flee the United States into Canada. This route on the Underground Railroad was commonly known as the “Quaker Route,” they were instrumental in getting many former slaves to Canada. In 1847, emboldened by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, 13 slave catchers or owners from Kentucky came to Cass County and captured nine former slaves, with the object of taking them back to Kentucky. However, these slavers were surrounded by the Quakers and other abolitionists, and were stopped. Before violence broke out, the Kentuckians surrendered to local authorities, because they believed they were legally correct in their attempted kidnapping of the former slaves. The people involved in this raid and the aftermath are as follows: D. M. Howell, Justice of the Peace and presiding judge in the kidnapping trial, Ezekiel Smith and James Sullivan, attorneys for the former slaves with James Brown assisting, Asa Kingsbury and Amos Dow were accepted as sureties for the bail for the slavers, Ishmael Lee’s home was a station on the Underground Railroad (he was later sued by the slavers for theft of property). An excellent collection.