Cass Morgan, IL-2020 Telco

JACKSONVILLE’S UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Asa Talcott Home

Asa Talcott was a bricklayer who was known for his par- ticipation in the Underground Railroad and devotion to the anti-slavery movement through- out Jacksonville. One night in February 1844, Illinois College students helped a slave fleeing from his pursuers. They found him hiding in a small sub-com- munity of Jacksonville called Africa, where former slaves and free Negroes peacefully existed. As news of the search spread, he was quickly hustled out of the Negro houses across a ropewalk to a hiding place in the hay of Asa Talcott’s barn.

859 Grove Street

Photo courtesy of the Jacksonville Area Visitors & Conventions Bureau

Woodlawn Farm

Michael Huffaker established Woodlawn Farm in 1824. Huffaker was a cattle farmer who employed freed Negro laborers. They lived in cab- ins on the farm. The state- ly structure is located about five miles east of Jacksonville along the Mauvaisterre Creek, and it was known as one of the safest stations along the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves traveled along the creek and were hidden in the basement of the home or in cabins with the Negro laborers. When the Civil War ended, the identity of the farm as a station along the Underground Railroad remained a secret.

Photo courtesy of the Jacksonville Area Visitors & Conventions Bureau

Want to Learn More? Please contact the Jacksonville Area Visitors & Conventions Bureau at 217-243-5678 or 1-800-593-5678. Their website address is www.jacksonvilleil.org .

29