Former Site of the Alston and Hunn Farms

Former Site of the Alston and Hunn Farms. . Near this location were the farms of John Alston (1794-1872) and John Hunn (1818-1894), cousins who shared the Quaker faith and were well documented operatives on Delaware's Underground Railroad. John Alston sometimes employed fugitives as laborers on his farm and in 1850, sheltered a young woman named Molly who was later captured there by bounty hunters. In his diaries, Alston wrote this prayer, "Enable me to keep my heart and house open to receive thy servants that they may rest in their travels." The most notable act of civil disobedience to take place at Hunn's farm occurred in December 1845 when Samuel D. Burris, a free African American man from Kent County, DE led a group of twelve fugitives escaping from Queen Anne's County, MD to Hunn's farm. Pursued by bounty hunters on their way north to freedom, the group included Samuel and Emeline Hawkins, along with their six children. For abetting their escape, an illegal activity according to the laws of the time, Hunn was sued by the owners and severely fined. The expense caused Hunn to lose his farm and other assets. He continued with his Underground Railroad activities in Delaware until the outbreak of the Civil War. After the Union Navy captured the South Carolina Sea Island in 1862, Hunn relocated there, and continued his work aiding the newly freed. In 1872 Hunn wrote, "I ask no other reward for any efforts made by me in the cause than to feel I have been of service to my fellow-men."