The Underground Railroad, an informal network of operations to remove slaves to freedom, operated within Missouri during the 1840s and 1850s.Meyer (1982), 328. Initial destinations out of Missouri included Cairo, Galesburg, Godfrey, Quincy, and Sparta in Illinois; Cincinnati, Tabor, and Grinnell in Iowa; and Fort Scott and Osawatomie in Kansas. Among the successful attempts to free slaves was conducted by John Brown in December 1858.Meyer (1982), 329. While living at the Osage Settlement, Brown was approached by a slave who asked for help in freeing his family; the next night, Brown led a raid into Vernon County, Missouri, then freed eleven slaves and led them to Canada. Another raid was conducted by John Doy, a Kansas physician, in Buchanan County, Missouri in July 1859. Doy was initially successful in freeing a group of slaves, but his group was captured and he was jailed at St. Joseph. A band of Kansans, including Silas Soule, broke into the jail and freed Doy before he began to serve his prison sentence. More general statements about the success of the Underground Railroad in the state are difficult to make with accuracy, but the frequent complaints among the population against those assisting runaways indicates the practice occurred with some frequency.
The Underground Railroad, an informal network of operations to remove slaves to freedom, operated within Missouri during the 1840s and 1850s.Meyer (1982), 328. Initial destinations out of Missouri included Cairo, Galesburg, Godfrey, Quincy, and Sparta in Illinois; Cincinnati, Tabor, and Grinnell in Iowa; and Fort Scott and Osawatomie in! Kansas. Among the successful attempts to free slaves was conducted by John Brown in December 1858.Meyer (1982), 329. While living at the Osage Settlement, Brown was approache,d by a slave who asked for help in freeing his family; the next night, Brown led a raid into Vernon County, Missouri, then freed eleven slaves and led them to Canada. Another raid was conducted by John Doy, a Kansas physician, in Buchanan County, Missouri in July 1859. Doy was initially successful in freeing a group of slaves, but his group was captured and he was jailed at St. Joseph. A band of Kansans, including Silas Soule, broke into the jail and freed Doy before he began to serve his prison sentence. More general statements about the success of the Underground Railroad in the state are difficult to make with accuracy, but the frequent complaints among the population against those assisting runaways indicates the practice occurred with some frequency.