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Harriet Tubman: The Moses to American Slaves

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

No account of the Underground Railroad can be complete without the mention of one Harriet Tubman. Ms. Tubman is perhaps the most famous escaped slave who helped others on the Underground Railroad as a "conductor." She was considered to be "Moses" to her contemporaries. During a ten-year span she made 19 trips into the South and escorted over 300 slaves to freedom. And, as she once proudly pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in all of her journeys she "never lost a single passenger."

Harriet Tubman (nee Ross) was born into slavery in 1819 or 1820, in Dorchester County, Maryland. Conditions were harsh, even as a child. At the age of 12 Harriet was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to assist in tying up a man who had attempted escape. For the rest of her life she suffered from blackouts.

In 1844, when she was 25, she married John Tubman. Tubman was a free African American. Harriet, though still a slave, was allowed to live with her husband. However, five years later she feared she would be sold and made a break for freedom. She only told her sister about her plans. (She would later make a trip to get her husband, but he had remarried and had no plans to move.)

Harriet made the 90 mile trip to the Mason-Dixon line with the help of contacts along the Underground Railroad. She had to hike through swamps and woodland. Harriet's trip was successful, and she settled in Philadelphia. She worked as a dishwasher and made plans to rescue her family. In 1851 she began relocating members of her family to St. Catharines, (Ontario) Canada West. North Street in St. Catharines remained her base of operations until 1857. While there she worked at various activities to save to finance her activities as a Conductor on the UGRR, and attended the Salem Chapel BME Church on Geneva Street. Harriet traveled back to Maryland and rescued her sister's family. She then returned to transport her brothers to the North. In 1857, Harriet finally returned for her parents and settled them in Auburn, New York.

Harriet had originally settled in Philadelphia where she met William Still, the Philadelphia Stationmaster on the Underground Railroad. Through Still and members of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society she learned about the secret Underground Railroad. She would make 19 trips in all, and believed to have aided over 300 people in gaining freedom. Harriet became well known and huge rewards were offered for her capture. Harriet was the master of disguise-a former master did not even recognize her when they ran into each other on the street! She was nicknamed the "Moses of her people" for leading them to freedom.