Caroline County Visitor Center

Caroline County Visitor Center. Abolitionists Abound. , With more free than enslaved blacks and a sympathetic Quaker population, Caroline County was a hotbed of Underground Railroad activity until slavery was abolished in Maryland in 1864., Slaves, freemen of color, and whites often came in contact with each other at bustling wharves along the Choptank River and mills where wheat was ground. This mingling enabled a flow of news, gossip, and secret information about people who would assist freedom seekers on their journeys north. Harriet Tubman's parents were accused of being involved with these underground activities before she rescued them from their home at Poplar Neck., Along the byway, you will find a number of buildings from that era, including the home of freeman James Webb, the Linchester Mill, Jacob Leverton's safe house, and the slave quarter where the Still family lived before fleeing around 1806. The Still's youngest son William was born free in New Jersey and worked in Philadelphia for an organization that helped escaped slaves. It was there that William first met his own brother Peter who had been sold to the Deep South years before., [Captions:] , Above: As the artist Mark Priest explains, often Harriet and her passengers on the Underground Railroad would have to wait near a location that was known to be a station or safe-house on the Underground Railroad, until the area seemed relatively safe before proceeding on their journey., Right: William Still compiled his meticulous records and vivid descriptions of the experiences of more than 1,000 escaped slaves in The Underground Railroad (1871) one of the most important books on American slavery.