The Underground Railroad in DeKalb County, Illinois

by Nancy M. Beasley

This book is about previously unidentified people who became Abolitionists involved in the antislavery movement from about 1840 to 1860. Although arrests were made in nearby counties, not one person was prosecuted for aiding a fugitive slave in DeKalb County, Illinois. First, the area Congregationalist, Universalist, Presbyterian and Wesleyan Methodist churches all had compelling antislavery beliefs. Church members, county elected officials, and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786472006
• ISBN13: 9780786472000
• Release Date: March 2013
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.9" x 9.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

It's So Much More than DeKalb County History

Nancy Beasley has researched and written an excellent history of the Underground Railroad. Her research was extensive. Though the focus of her book is on one county in Illinois, it covers the reasons for support of the Abolitionist cause across the Northern states, as well as throughout the nation. It is a comprehensive explanation of the religious motivations of the antislavery movement and of the methods of those Abolitionists who went one step further. There are detailed profiles of individuals who defied the Fugitive Slave Law and took risks to assist the refugees from servitude and violence who were fleeing through the Northern Illinois region on their way to Canada and freedom. Though Beasley’s book can be difficult to find, it is well worth the effort for anyone interested in the UGRR. As another reviewer observed, and I agree, her storytelling and writing are in league with Doris Kearns Goodwin or David McCullough. The essence of Beasley’s narrative of the nonviolent resistance of the UGRR is best captured in her own words; “For an undercover operation like the Underground Railroad to even exist, there had to be people willing to help in numerous and diverse capacities…God-fearing haters of oppression …Among thousands across the nation, they were the unknown antislavery proponents bringing hope to those in chains. These quiet heroes, the unreasonable men and women who called themselves Abolitionists, worked together without notoriety...”