This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. -
Abraham Lincoln

The Underground Railroad, a network of pro active people opposed to slavery prior to the Civil War was quite active in the Capital District. The area was a major location for helping funnel runaway slaves north to their freedom.

While many in the UGRR did their work behind the scenes, research from groups like Albany's Underground Railroad Workshop and others are revealing that many of the participants were quite "public" about their work.

Several people locally participated in the UGRR movement as individuals or members of anti slavery groups called 'vigilance committees' and all walks of life participated.

Albanians include Rev. John Sands of the Second Wesleyan Church (African); Edward Delavan, owner, Delavan House; William Topp, black tailor; Dr. Thomas Elkins, black pharmacist; Minos McGowan, Lumber Merchant; Lydia and Abigail Mott, Quaker sisters; Captain Abraham Johnson, black ferry boat operator; barber William Henry Johnson and Stephen Myers, both black, and others.

Myers published the Northern Star and Freeman's Advocate, an arm of the Northern Star Association, a vigilance committee, and it appears he became the local leader of UGRR operations.

The Rev. Able Brown from Sand Lake published the Tocsin of Liberty (Albany Patriot) and listed the slaves he helped free (over a 1,000). Rev. Charles T. Torrey assisted. Torrey, a white abolitionist became a martyr after a trial in 1844 dying in jail in 1846.

A letter carried by a runaway from Brown, which he signed as "cor Secy of Eastern N.Y. Aslavery Socy," to his Vermont friend Charles Hicks, a UGRR operator near Bennington, says it all:

"Dear Sir
Please receive the Bearer as a friend who needs your aid and direct him on his way if you cannot give him work he come to us well recommended was a slave a few weeks since."

Albany's Gen. William L. Chaplin was also an agent of the New York Anti Slavery Society. Chaplin took over Torrey's job as local correspondent of the Albany Patriot and UGRR conductor. In 1850, he was arrested in Rockville, Maryland with two other men who had been held in slavery by members of the US Congress from Georgia. Chaplin was held on bail and married Theodosia Gilbert, business partner of James Caleb Jackson, while incarcerated. He escaped north after friends posted bail. Gilbert's partner, James Caleb Jackson, was the editor of the Albany Patriot and the Liberty Press, both abolitionist papers.

Another UGRR engineer was a Jesuit priest who served both Albany and Troy, named John J. Kelley. He is credited with writing the following broadside around 1850:

"We call on our fellow citizens, here and elsewhere, to aid us in funds to help the poor, unfortunate fugitives who come to us daily, in many cases destitute of clothing, weary of traveling and hungry, We appeal to the sympathy of ladies and gentlemen everywhere. We are in want of material aid and cast off clothing. All funds forwarded to Stephen Myers, William H. Topp, or any gentleman of the committee will be faithfully applied. All letters directed to this office will be duly answered."

This broadside also stated that 287 fugitives were helped through Albany in the ten months prior to July 15, 1856. It also listed the members of the committee as well as an address of the group.

The vigilance committee kept watch for "slave catchers" or "man hunters" coming into the area looking for runaways. Members would let the fugitives know that the hunters were in the area. Many who were working on farms or in businesses would then go into hiding.

There is less known about UGRR activities in Rensselaer County, In addition to Father Kelley, there was the Rev. Fayette Shipherd. Shipherd (1797-1878) and his brother John Jay Shipherd (1802-1844) were Congregational ministers and active abolitionists.

Shipherd in a letter to the same Charles Hicks in Vermont suggests strongly that the Champlain Canal was a northern route to Canada from Troy. In 1842 he writes, "As the canal has closed I shall send my Southern friends along your road & patronize your house." He further stares: "We had 22 (slaves) in two weeks 13 in the city at one time."

Henry Highland Garnet, a Troy resident in the 1840s gained a national and international reputation as an anti-slavery reformer at the Liberty Street Presbyterian Church .

Also in the Troy area were John H. Hooper, a black fugitive from Maryland. His Troy home served as an UGRR station. The Fox mansion in Sand Lake was a haven for runaways.

Researchers have identified more than 60 local sites with UGRR connections.