Alexander Majors Residence

Alexander Majors Residence. Network to Freedom-Site of Escape. , In 1858, Alexander Majors and his family moved from Kansas City, Missouri to Nebraska City where he purchased several blocks in the Prairie City Addition. Here he established the new headquarters of the Russell, Majors, and Waddell Freighting Company (the building in front of you) and built his new home one and a half blocks north of this spot at 516 N. 14th Street. Mr. Majors was a very religious man who had a Bible issued to every man of the freighting company. However, despite his deep moral and religious convictions, he saw nothing wrong with the institution of slavery. , Slavery was not officially prohibited in Nebraska Territory until 1861, so Mr. Majors brought with him six enslaved African Americans: one 40 year-old black female, one 40 year-old mulatto female, one 20 year-old mulatto female, one 14 year-old black female, one 14 year-old mulatto male, and one 12 year-old mulatto male. They remained in his household less than two years before escaping on the Underground Railroad in the summer of 1860. Majors offered a $1,000 reward for their capture and return, but the six were never recovered. The Nebraska City News attributed the escape to "the nasty Abolitionists of Civil Bend and Tabor." While not much is known of their escape, it is documented in a letter written by conductor, Josiah B. Grinnell, that the escaped slaves/freedom seekers made it to Grinnell, Iowa, a prominent Underground Railroad station.