Home » History » Underground Railroad » Captain Jonathan Walker, Part I

Captain Jonathan Walker, Part I

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

When we talk about the Underground Railroad, we often think of the northerly migration of American slaves into Canada. Northern states weren't always safe havens given that bounty hunters had the protection of the federal government to capture runaway slaves. Canada, being a territory of the United Kingdom, had outlawed slavery.

But along the southern coasts slaves used a seaway Underground Railroad. Here again a British territory was the destination, usually the Bahamas. And it was just such an attempted escape that has captured my attention to the Underground Railroad. This escape attempt included an ancestor of mine.

Meet my great-great-great uncle, Captain Jonathan Walker. To be sure, this is "shirt-tail" relativity. My grandfather's sister married Captain Walker's grandson, Lloyd Garrison Walker, Jr. And if that name sounds familiar, it's because Jonathan and Jane Walker named their children after leading abolitionists of the day: John Bunyan Walker, Altamera Walker, Nancy Child Walker, Sophia Walker, Mary Gage Walker, the twins Maria and Lloyd Garrison Walker, William Wilberforce Walker (the original WWW?), and George Fox Walker.

Walker had come to a realization that something was very much wrong with slavery. He worked with Africans that did the same work for far less pay. He was nursed back to health by strangers who had dark skin. He saw the evils of slavery in the fields. When he became convinced to take an active role in the activity of the abolition of slavery is hard to pinpoint. His notes indicate an epiphany sometime during the attempted journey to the Bahamas! Starting out on the journey, Walker considered the activity one of honoring a request of a friend and not necessarily a blow against slavery.

Born and raised in Harwich, Massachusetts, Jonathan Walker grew up in an area that was against slavery. John Adams, a leading delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776, desired slavery outlawed in the new nation and spelled out in the Declaration. Politics being what it is, and the vote making any resolution of revolution unanimous to pass, slavery was upheld to keep the thirteen colonies united for independence. The Constitution spelled out that slavery was the decision of states-and took an amendment to abolish slavery once and for all. (Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation only applied to southern states in rebellion and they had to be conquered to put the document in force; southern border slave states were not affected by the Emancipation.)

Walker became a sailor and ultimately owned his own boat (hence the title "Captain"). He soon set up residence in Pensacola, Florida. Florida at that time was a territory, not yet a state. Whether he aided slaves in escaping before his infamous journey is never known. It was alleged by others, but no mention is ever found in Walker's writings. Walker biographer Alvin Oickle believes Walker was not active in the Underground Railroad before 1844. Walker was known in Pensacola to be a man who considered African-Americans his equal. He often employed them and was known to be a fair man. That Walker would be approached for freedom would only be natural.

The copyright of the article Captain Jonathan Walker, Part I in Underground Railroad is owned by . Permission to republish Captain Jonathan Walker, Part I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.