George DeBaptiste
George DeBaptiste | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1815 caterer |
Known for | Underground Railroad |
Political party | Republican |
George DeBaptiste (c. 1815 – February 22, 1875) was a prominent African-American conductor on the
DeBaptiste moved to
In the late 1850s, DeBaptiste worked with nationally known abolitionists Frederick Douglass and John Brown. During the American Civil War, DeBaptiste helped recruit black soldiers from Michigan for the Union Army. After the wars he continued to work for African-American civil rights, helping gain admission of black children to Detroit public schools.
Early life
George DeBaptiste was born about 1815 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Different sources identify different parents, and they differ on whether George was born free. The encyclopedia, The Underground Railroad (2015), names John Debaptist and Frances "Franky" as his parents. They were both said to have been born into slavery, but had gained freedom before their son George was born. Because his mother was free, George was born free.[2] Betty DeRamus names George DeBaptiste and Maria as the boy's parents. She said that George legally owned Maria and their son, but set them free on March 12, 1823.[3] William J. Simmons and Henry McNeal Turner, writing in 1887, identified the young George DeBaptiste as brother to Richard DeBaptiste, who became a noted minister in Chicago, and as son of William and Eliza DeBaptiste.[4]
George learned the barbering trade in Richmond, Virginia. In his mid-teens he married Marie Lucinda Lee, a slave, and purchased her freedom with his earnings as a free black person.[2] On January 22, 1835, DeBaptiste obtained a free movement pass for the state of Virginia in the office of Hustings in Richmond, Virginia. It described him as, "a mulatto boy, about five feet seven and a half inches high, and about twenty years of age, who was born free." He later said he used the certificate 33 times to help slaves escape.[5]
Move to Madison, Indiana
As a young man, DeBaptiste moved with his wife to Madison in the free state of Indiana. Around 1836 he invested in businesses. He also began to harbor black fugitive slaves as a conductor in the Underground Railroad. Located along the Ohio River, Madison became a destination for slaves escaping to freedom from Kentucky. It is located nearly halfway between the larger cities of Cincinnati, Ohio and Louisville, Kentucky, both of which are river cities.
DeBaptiste's network of supporters included Dr. Samuel Tibbetts in Madison and William Beard, a
Valet to William Henry Harrison
Before his election to US President, William Henry Harrison was living in North Bend, Ohio.[7] DeBaptiste became his valet during his campaign and, after Harrison was elected president, he appointed the young man as White House steward.[8][9]
Harrison's term was the shortest of any presidency, as he died of illness after one month in office. DeBaptiste had become very close with the president and cared for him during his illness.[7] An obituary of DeBaptiste said that at Harrison's death, DeBaptiste was at his side and held the president in his arms at his last breath.[10] After Harrison's death, DeBaptiste returned to Madison.[2] His barbershop became "the nerve center" of the Madison, Indiana underground railroad.[9]
Fugitives along the Ohio River
DeBaptiste was still living in Madison in 1843, when he conducted Adam and Sarah Crosswhite and their four children to freedom. (A few years later he aided them in Detroit, when they crossed the Detroit River into Canada in 1847).
Move to Detroit, Michigan
At age 34, in 1846, DeBaptiste moved to Detroit where he continued to work as a barber and also sold clothes at Robert Banks' store. His former comrade William Lambert had also moved to Detroit, and the two men began to work closely together. They were both members of The Order of Men of Oppression and the Order of Emancipation, groups which fought slavery and raised money to aid fugitives.
In 1848, DeBaptiste took work as steward on the steamship Arrow, which traveled on the Great Lakes between Sandusky, Ohio and Detroit.[10] In 1859 together with William Whipper,[14] DeBaptiste purchased a lake steamship, the T. Whitney. He could not hold a captain's license, so he hired a white captain named Atwood. The boat ran a similar route to the Arrow. It regularly stopped at Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada to load up on lumber and, presumably, to offload fugitives.[2][10] Samuel C. Watson worked on the boat as a clerk and part manager.[14]
DeBaptiste's activism extended beyond his work as a conductor. He was an occasional correspondent to various anti-slavery journals, including the
Senator
Civil war and after
During the American Civil War, DeBaptiste worked with Detroit civil rights activist John D. Richards in recruiting Michigan's first black regiment.[2] He also served as a sutler.[11]
After the war, in the late 1860s, DeBaptiste worked with the Freedmen's Bureau.[2] He also opened a catering business in Detroit.[11][15] He won first prize for his wedding cakes in the 1873 Michigan State Fair.[10]
Continuing to work on civil rights for African Americans, he advocated for the right of black students to attend
Death
DeBaptiste died February 22, 1875.[10] He was survived by his second wife, one son, and one daughter.[17]
References
- ^ a b Underground Railroad, US Department of Interior, National Park Service, Denver Service Center. DIANE Publishing, 1995, p168
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. The Underground Railroad: An Encyclopedia of People, Places, and Operations. Routledge, 2015. p154
- ^ DeRamus, Betty. Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad. Simon and Schuster, 2005. p11
- ^ Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. pp352-357
- ^ Mull, Carol E. The Underground Railroad in Michigan, McFarland, 2015. p60
- ^ "Resisting Slavery/Robert J. Cromwell", L2150, Flint, Michigan; Michigan Historical Markers, 2015
- ^ a b c Calarco, Tom. People of the Underground Railroad: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2008. p253-255
- ^ Lause, Mark A. A Secret Society History of the Civil War. University of Illinois Press, 2011. p71
- ^ a b c Hudson, J. Blaine. Fugitive Slaves and the Underground Railroad in the Kentucky Borderland. McFarland, 2002. p117-118
- ^ a b c d e f g h Tobin, Jacqueline L. From Midnight to Dawn: The Last Tracks of the Underground Railroad. Anchor, 2008. p200-209
- ^ a b c d e Frost, Karolyn Smardz. A Fluid Frontier: Slavery, Resistance, and the Underground Railroad in the Detroit River Borderland. Wayne State University Press, 2016.
- ^ a b c Toledo, Gregory. The Hanging of Old Brown: A Story of Slaves, Statesmen, and Redemption. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. p75
- ^ Calarco, Tom, and Cynthia Vogel. Places of the Underground Railroad: A Geographical Guide. ABC-CLIO, 2011. p55
- ^ a b Simmons 1887, p862-863
- ^ Advertisement, Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan), July 11, 1872, p. 2, accessed October 3, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6877462/advertisement_detroit_free_press/
- ^ Katz, William Loren. Black Pioneers: An Untold Story. Taylor & Francis, 1999. p123
- ^ Death of George DeBaptiste, Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan) February 23, 1875, page 1. accessed October 3, 2016 at https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6877579/death_of_george_debaptiste_detroit/