Peter H. Michael

Guide to Freedom: Rediscovering the Underground Railroad in One United States County Peter H. Michael

Guide to Freedom: Rediscovering the Underground Railroad In One United States County reveals Underground Railroad sites of Frederick County, Maryland, which lies amidst a major group of Underground Railroad routes just to the east of the Appalachians. Frederick County, a border county in a border state during the Civil War, directly adjoins the slave state of Virginia and the free state of Pennsylvania. Despite the geographic centrality of this county to Underground Railroad activity, most of its fascinating Underground Railroad history had nearly been lost to time. The recently rediscovered history of the Underground Railroad in the county presents one of the very few detailed pictures of the Underground Railroad in any border or southern state. Guide to Freedom lists all confirmed or suspected Underground Railroad safe-houses and routes in the county and rates each according to the likelihood that its oral tradition or documentation is authentic. What has emerged is a network of six confirmed routes, more than fifty confirmed or suspected safe-houses and a number of Underground Railroad safe-house operators and conductors. Of high interest to readers will be the stories of freedom seekers identified by name who passed through Frederick County including several who were sheltered at the author's own safe-house.