Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 752, May 25, 1878

A vivid, first‑person account brings listeners into the world of a 19th‑century Quaker whose childhood encounter with a chained slave gang sparked a lifelong devotion to freedom. From his earliest years in North Carolina, he feels the injustice of bondage and begins acting, even as a teenager, to aid escaped men. The narrative’s plain, honest tone lets the listener hear the moral urgency that guided his choices.

Later, after establishing a prosperous shop and oil‑factory in Indiana, he transforms his home into a crucial “station” on the secret network that would become known as the Underground Railroad. He describes the careful coordination of wagons, hidden routes, and quiet signals that helped fugitives slip past relentless pursuers under cover of night. The memoir offers a compelling glimpse of courage, community, and the quietly heroic work that shaped a pivotal chapter of American history.