Charles A. Garlick

Because of the importance of secrecy to the Underground Railroad, many of the more detailed descriptions of its operations appeared retrospectively, especially in the decades immediately following the Civil War. One such account was composed by Charles A. Garlick, who published his autobiography in 1902. The following selection from Garlick's memoir conveys how closely those involved in the Underground Railroad, black and white alike, worked in concert to help runaways navigate the journey from the South to the North or to Canada. Specifically, Garlick and the white abolitionist whose name the former Abel Bogguess adopted in tribute, continued to assist fugitives even after the author's own successful escape. Garlick's account also demonstrates the constant threat posed by bounty hunters through their regular incursions into free states in pursuit of their quarry.

I, ABEL BOGGUESS, now CHARLES A. GARLICK, was born...