|
By Jesse Klein
WOOLWICH TWP. – “What is freedom to a nation, but
freedom to the individuals in it?” --Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s
Cabin (1852)
In 1786 New Jersey Legislation banned the further
importation of slaves, but it was not until 18 years later in 1804 that
New Jersey passed an Act that was considered a feeble effort toward
emancipation of the slaves that would allow for the “gradual” abolition of
slavery.
New Jersey then took another 42 years to enact their
second abolition law that made remaining slaves “apprentices” for life, in
essence just another form of servitude.
Due to its location laws and attitudes, New Jersey
behaved like a border slave state, and geographically the southern tip of
the state actually brushes with the Mason Dixon Line. In spite of the
second Act of 1846 when the state chose to change the terminology from
“slave” to “apprentice”, black Americans were still considered property,
and New Jersey made little attempt to prevent slave catchers from
arbitrarily capturing African Americans whether they had papers that
proved they were free men or not.
Yet thankfully there was a group of otherwise
law-abiding South Jersey folk largely made up of Quakers, who abhorred the
notion of slavery. The influence of these brave men and women was
particularly strong in setting up the Greenwich leg of the Underground
Railroad.
They along with free African Americans helped
countless runaways, especially from border slave states like Maryland and
Delaware, escape a life of abuse and bondage.
Because the actions of these brave abolitionists were
illegal, little documentation exists of the activities of the Underground
Railroad, thus most of its history has been recorded from memories of
those that participated.
The 1852 publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by
Harriet Beecher Stowe served to arouse many a drowsing Christian. The
book’s indictment of slavery and its dramatic description of the plight of
runaways served to awaken the conscious of many an apathetic New Jerseyian,
and their efforts combined with the already actively abolitionist Quakers,
helped Southern Jersey become a safe passage to freedom for many fugitives
fleeing the bonds of slavery.
In 1860, 18 slaves were still on record for New
Jersey making it the last state in the North where slaves could be found,
and Jersey was the last state to finally outlaw slavery. And when it came
time to choose sides in the Civil War, New Jersey struggled with whether
or not they were ready to at last completely abolish slavery, or not to
secede the Union. At last they voted to side with the North.
This polarity is best stated in a quote of Abraham
Lincoln who said in his second inaugural address of 1865, “The prayers of
both could not be answered.” Neither New Jersey nor the South could have
it both ways. The outcome of the Civil War at last allowed the United
States to live up to its promise of being “the land of the free and the
home of the brave.”
Yet right up until the Civil War began in 1861, New
Jersey continued to pursue the “fundamentally flawed” gradual emancipation
of slaves. Despite facing great prejudice, free African Americans were
able to build successful lives mostly by creating self-sufficient
communities set apart from white society.
In fact as far back as 1790 there were 342 free
non-whites living in Gloucester County. And while most of the 18th
century property laws prevented free or enslaved blacks from owning land,
many members of the Society of Friends sharecropped, leased or as soon as
it was legal sold small parcels of land to free blacks.
The presence of these free African Americans backed
by the Quaker abolitionists attracted slaves in search of freedom.
One community in particular was the hamlet of Small Gloucester that lay
just north of Swedesboro, and now would be considered part of Woolwich.
There, a vibrant African American community sprung up
and thrived. Some African American residents of Small Gloucester were
given land by the sympathetic Quakers or became sharecroppers learning to
survive independently and peacefully alongside white neighborhoods.
Through these determined hard working
individuals, Small Gloucester became a confirmed and important stop of the
Underground Railroad. It is in this very area that the Mt Zion
African Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in 1834 on Hendrickson Mill
Road (now known as Garwin road). The small building houses one of the
oldest AME congregations in New Jersey. The church played a significant role in the development of the community
as well as a safe haven and key stop on the Underground Railroad. Little
Mt. Zion not only provided Small Gloucester a community center but it
provided refuge and its secret trap door a safe hiding place for those
fleeing the bonds of slavery.
In fact, the publication New Jersey’s Underground
Railroad Heritage “Steal Away, Steal Away” a Guide to the
Underground Railroad in New Jersey, cites Mt. Zion as a strong link in the
underground railroad stating that one of its strengths was that some of
the residents of the community itself were runaways who were not only
welcomed refugees but were knowledgeable in ways to assist those African
Americans that were seeking safe passage.
In fact even today Mt. Zion has members whose
ancestors were fugitive slaves that chose to stay and settle in Small
Gloucester. And Mt. Zion, unlike other congregations, has written first
hand documentation that at least two members of the congregation, Pompey
Lewis and Jubilee Sharper, were UGRR operatives.
Legal documents from the Gloucester County Historical
Society prove that in spite of the burgeoning population of free blacks in
the area, many residents continued to keep slaves. For instance Reverend
Simon Wilmer of Swedesboro did not free his slave, Lydia Bradley, until
1820.
Another very prominent resident, James Stratton whose
brick colonial mansion still rest along Kings Highway in Woolwich, did not
free his slave Marinda Duffield until 1809.
Marinda, then 25, married Doran Wilson and Doran
helped farm the significant lands owned by the Strattons.
As years went by, the Stratton house changed hands
but the Wilson family continued to farm and sharecrop with the subsequent
owners. Percy Wilson a direct descendant of Miranda and Doran, resides to
this day in neighboring Paulsboro.
The vibrant 95 year old remembers fondly living with
his parents and six brothers and sisters in the home with then owner Ike
Wallace who he recalls as “a good man.”
“We ate together and slept under the same roof.
Discrimination we just didn’t have it.” Percy recalls walking to school
with all the other children including his best friend who was white.
At that time the Stratton mansion had been converted
into a stagecoach stop and Kings Highway ran right up to the door of the
house. Percy remembers exploring the land around the farm where he and his
siblings would find stone axe heads and darts dating back to the Indians.
One of Percy’s favorite memories is when he and his
sister Mary went into the cellar and started pulling all the ropes that
were attached to bells in the former mansion that was now converted to a
Stage Coach House.
The ropes attached to bells of each of the sleeping
rooms were intended to wake lodgers. When the rope was pulled the bell
would ring in their room giving them time to ready themselves before their
stage arrived. Percy laughed as he recalled that he and Mary had the whole
house “A ring ding dinging.”
Another time he remembers asking his father Dan about
a strange noise that sounded like an animal coming from the woods. He
described to his father the around as a “whoop whoop.” His father then
brought him down and showed him the source of the noise, one of the
earliest forms of hydraulic pumps called a Rams Head that was used to pump
water into the mansion so that occupants could take baths.
|
