About a month ago, a New York writer revealed that what he believes to be the first reference to the “underground railroad” appeared in an abolitionist newspaper published in Albany, New York, in 1842.
The writer seems to have resolved an old question. Researchers in Columbia, Lancaster County, and Ripley, Ohio, have suggested the term originated here or there but their references are not solid.
In contrast, Scott Shane, a former New York Times writer, found his reference printed in black and white in 1842.
Shane is writing a biography about Thomas Smallwood, a formerly enslaved man who helped many others escape slavery in Washington, D.C., and vicinity. At the same time, he wrote letters assailing slavery to the editor of the Tocsin of Liberty in Albany.
In an Aug. 10, 1842, letter, Smallwood said he had chastised a Washington slaveholder who was concerned his “walking property had walked off.”
Smallwood reported he had told the slaveholder: “It was your cruelty to him, that made him disappear by that same ‘under ground rail-road’ or ‘steam balloon’ about which one of your city constables was swearing so bitterly a few weeks ago, when complaining that the ‘d____d rascals’ got off so, and that no trace of them could be found!”
Smallwood proceeded to mock all slaveholders, suggesting they search for their property at the “office of the underground railroad” in Washington.
As far as the Scribbler knows, no one has questioned Shane’s assertion that this is the first reference to the term “underground railroad.”
Shane says “the advent in recent years of massive collections of digitized American newspapers made it possible to resolve this old puzzle.”
Shane undoubtedly searched all available newspapers to find the earliest reference. But what about newspapers that are not yet digitized? More significant, what about other primary documents that may exist in obscure academic collections? Isn’t it possible someone else, even earlier, used the term in a personal letter or other writing?
American railroads were not new in 1842. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad began operating in 1832, the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad in 1834. Several other railroads, north and south, began running in the 1830s. British railroads predate all of them.
So the possibility of referencing a railroad transporting fugitive slaves, above or below ground, existed at least a decade before Smallwood referred to it.
Another thing: The constable quoted by Smallwood also referred to a “steam balloon” as possibly whisking away fugitives to freedom. John Pennington of Baltimore invented the steam balloon (something like a small dirigible) in 1838 — four years before Smallwood’s letter to the editor.
Why was the term “underground railroad” popularized instead of “steam balloon”?
“Underground railroad” clearly captured the popular imagination. Escape by balloon did not, largely because, although both forms of escape were metaphorical, an underground tunnel seemed more plausible than experimental flight by air.
More important, Underground Railroad “agents” as early as 1838 used above-ground railroad cars of the Philadelphia and Columbia to help transport fugitives from Columbia through Lancaster to Philadelphia and freedom.
None of this Scribblerish musing should be taken as suggesting that the Underground Railroad was anything less than a lifeline to enslaved Africans, many of whom were forced into hard labor, beaten and raped as long as they lived.
When and where the term “Underground Railroad” originated is incidental to the operation. The Underground Railroad might have been called the “Great Escapeway” at any time and place without altering in any way its objective.
Jack Brubaker, retired from the LNP staff, writes “The Scribbler” column every Sunday. He welcomes comments and contributions at scribblerlnp@gmail.com.
