READFIELD CONNECTION to the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Did the Underground Railroad (URR) pass through Readfield?  I believe it did, but to my knowledge there is nothing on record to prove that. The URR was such a secret activity that documentation is practically non-existent and nearly all identification of URR stations is based on evidence and oral tradition.

After the enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850 not only were southern slaves vulnerable to punishment and returned to their captives, but there were African Americans living in the northern states who were captured without recourse and lost their freedom as well. The bounties and rewards, offered by the southern plantation owners, made the chase too tempting for some unscrupulous would be captors. At the same time, the Fugitive Slave Act also made service as URR “conductors” and “stationmasters” a federal crime so anyone who aided slaves, who were fleeing towards freedom in Canada, were at risk for government fines and imprisonment. That federal law even placed URR helpers living this far north in jeopardy, thus everyone was extremely guarded about publically acknowledging their involvement in any URR activity. 

 

Traffic via the URR began in the early 1800’s and lasted until President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, when it promised freedom for slaves as soon as the Union troops reached them. Many slaves escaped before that, however, to seek freedom behind the Union lines. From the early years of the Civil War, hundreds of thousands of African Americans managed to escape to safety in the northern states. So many that some Union Army commanders created camps and schools where both adults and children could find shelter and learn to read and write.  One way of escape was on the line of General Sherman's Army as they marched north from Atlanta. Sidney F. Russell was one such person. He was born into slavery in Coventon, Georgia in 1850 and died in Readfield in 1876. Russell is buried in Kents Hill Cemetery and his gravestone inscription reads: “Escaping from slavery, he followed General Sherman’s Army north. Friends in Boston became interested in him, and sent him to Maine Wesleyan Seminary (Kents Hill School) to fit himself for ministry in the South.” How many others found their way to and through Readfield we will never know, but it seems almost certain many did!

 

In 1999 the Maine Underground Railroad Association released a Maine map indicating 75 possible URR station locations throughout the state towards Canada where slavery was abolished in 1833.  Clearly, there were routes that led through Readfield towards Quebec.  Several people from the surrounding area have shared information with me about houses thought or known to be used as URR stations. Some stories were passed on through former homeowners or through family oral tradition. Others, to their surprise, discovered secret spaces during home renovations. In all cases these secret spaces were behind closets, between walls, in the cellars or behind fireplaces – sometimes only 2 feet deep. Many of those homes were occupied by ministers or people with strong church affiliations. The Baptists, Methodists and Universalists were all known to have strong connections to the antislavery movement. All of these denominations had a presence in Readfield during the URR era, as did a man named Dr. Ingalls Kittredge, who had great notoriety in URR circles within northern New England.

 

Two brothers - Dr. Ingalls and Peter Kittredge of Beverly, MA bought 90 acres of undeveloped land at Readfield Corner in 1821.  Their land acquisition was bordered by Church Road and Main Street (from Church Road east) – all devoid of houses except for two.  Before Peter moved to Readfield he lived in Augusta for some time, in a house “at the corner of where the road from Augusta to Winthrop and the road from Hallowell to Augusta cross.”  Peter sold that in 1801 and moved to Readfield where he built a home and tavern near the crossroads at Readfield Corner. He was well established by the time Ingalls came on the scene in 1821. Ingalls lived in Readfield for a few years himself but returned to Beverly between 1830 and 1840. There he achieved great success as a doctor and surgeon, but he continued to own land here in Readfield.

 

From 1836 through 1845 Dr. Kittredge developed twelve house lots on Main and Church Streets.  In some cases he paid to have the houses built before he sold the land. Meanwhile, in 1836 his nephew, Alvah Kittredge of Roxbury MA, built a grand Greek revival home and established a neighborhood that attracted the likes of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and the author, historian and Unitarian minister Edward Everett Hale. That association alone would give rise to speculation that Dr. Kittredge was an abolitionist but confirmation is found in the History of Essex County MA which says that Dr. Ingalls Kittredge was “…among the first ardent temperance advocates and a strong anti-slavery man. He was a friend of the avid abolitionists and spokesmen John Greenleaf Whittier, Wendell Phillips, Senator Charles Sumner, William Lloyd Garrison and others of significance in the movement. He aided Frederick Douglas and George Latimer in planning (Underground Railroad) escapes to freedom.” According to Essex County historians, “Dr. Ingalls Kittredge managed the line of "underground railroad" through Essex County and could always be counted upon in his work for the runaway slave.”

 

Knowing all of this, how can there be any doubt about the Underground Railroad’s presence in Readfield?

 

If you have ever been told about the presence of the URR in Readfield, made aware of hidden areas, discovered unexplained artifacts between walls or in secret spaces, or found unexplained underground tunnels in or near old homes you may have some vital pieces to this puzzle.  Secret spaces were sometimes in attics, between walls, behind closets or fireplaces or in cellars. If you have information please contact Dale Potter-Clark at crossings4u@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page “Underground Railroad in Kennebec County, Maine” to read more and to share your input.

(c) 2014 All Rights Reserved by Dale Potter-Clark

This article appeared in Lakes Region Reader April 11, 2014

Postscript: Since this article was written the author was contacted by a Readfield native whose g-g-grandfather was a leader in the Freewill Baptist Church, built in Readfield in 1844. On the barn wall at his farmstead hung a slave collar that the children in the family were forbidden to touch. A professional appraisal and research revealed it was made at the Froggart Foundry in England, that made slave collars, leg irons, prison chains and shackles. A tag on the collar is engraved with S. Burgess and #144. The name is the same as that of a large, slave owning plantation owner in the Carolinas. The Readfield native still has the collar in her possession. She also related there was a hidden room under the stairs in the farmhouse that no one knew about except members of the family.