Thomas Garrett
© House Divided Project, Dickinson College
Thomas Garrett was a prominent abolitionist on the Underground Railroad in
Delaware. Garrett was born to Quaker parents in Upper Darby, Delaware County,
Pennsylvania on August 21, 1789. He was outspoken and uncompromising about his
anti-slavery beliefs and never shied away from speaking about his activity on the
Underground Railroad. In 1848 two Maryland slave owners sued him for helping their
“property” escape slavery. The court ruled in their favor and repossessed all of his
property. Despite being left penniless, Garrett addressed the court and gave an hourlong speech about the ills of slavery immediately following his trial.
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Thomas Garrett was born to Thomas and Sarah Garrett in Upper Darby, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania on August 21, 1789 (Smedly 237). Garrett began his work as
an abolitionist in 1813, when he returned home to discover his family upset at the
kidnapping of a black woman. The woman worked for the Garrett family but was
captured by slave catchers. Garrett decided to track them and found the slave
catchers in Philadelphia, locating their wagon outside of a bar (Still 624; Smedly
237). While the slave catchers were drinking in the bar Garrett took the woman
from the kitchen where she was being kept and brought her home (Smedly 237).
This episode is said to have compelled him to dedicate his life to abolition. “From
this time forward, he never failed to assist any fugitive from Slavery on the way to
freedom, and, of course, after his removal to this city [Wilmington], his
opportunities for this were greatly increased, and in course of time, his house
became known as one of the refuges for fugitives” (Still 624). In either 1820 or 1822
he and his wife, Sarah Sharpless, moved to Wilmington, Delaware with their
children (Still 624). Wilmington was the largest city in the state, with most of the
population favoring slavery and hostile to any form of abolition.
Despite living in a slave state, Garrett was entirely uncompromising in his beliefs
and was a tireless “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. Enslaved men and
women found shelter, clothes and food at Garrett’s home in such large numbers that
the police held constant surveillance of his home (Still 625). Though his activities
were well known, he managed to avoid serious interruption from the law until 1848.
In 1848 Garrett stood trial for aiding and abetting a black family from Maryland. In
1845 Quaker abolitionist John Hunn helped the Hawkins family as they escaped
from Queen Ann’s County, Maryland. According to notes taken during the trial,
Samuel Hawkins was born a free man, but his wife Emeline was enslaved by
Elizabeth M. Turner. While she was still enslaved by Turner’s father, she gave birth
to two of the couple’s six children. Their last four children were born after receiving
her freedom (Trial Notes 1). The entire family fled to Delaware where Hunn
sheltered them in his home. The family was followed, taken from Hunn’s home and
jailed in New Castle. The county sheriff happened to be anti-slavery and wrote to
Thomas Garrett asking for his help (Still 626). Garrett acquiesced and met with the
family to hear their story. Garrett obtained a writ of habeas corpus and appeared
with them before Judge Booth. Booth ruled in favor of the family, deciding that there
was no evidence to keep the family in bondage. Six weeks later, Elizabeth Turner
and Charles W. Glanding sued Garrett for loss of “property.”
Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney presided over the three-day trial.
Turner’s father owned Emeline for some time and it was under his enslavement that
she gave birth to her first two children. When Turner’s father died, he relinquished
ownership of her. The notes from Garrett’s trial indicate that “Miss T. let Sam have
his wife & children because they had more people about his house than were
wanted…there was no sale or transfer.” The notes also indicate that Samuel Hawkins
made several attempts to purchase his wife’s freedom but Turner repeatedly
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refused. Legally, since no formal manumission papers were on record, Elizabeth
Turner’s claim could be validated in court.
Charles Glanding’s claim is somewhat unclear. He apparently owned Emeline before
Turner did and was once again a recipient of her labor for two years following Mr.
Turner’s death. The last four Hawkins children were born after Glanding no longer
owned her. He claimed that Hawkins’ oldest sons were his property because they
were born under his ownership (Trial Notes).
Taney ruled that Garrett had violated the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and fined him
thousands of dollars. The verdict stripped Garrett of his home, business and
belongings. Ever outspoken, Garrett addressed the court with an hour-long speech
vowing to continue his cause no matter what the cost. “Thou has left me without a
dollar, [but] I say to thee and to all in this court room, that if anyone knows a
fugitive who wants shelter ... send him to Thomas Garrett and he will befriend him"
(McGowan 65).
Garrett made good on his promise, aiding an additional two thousand enslaved men
and women before the end of the Civil War. After the war he turned his attention to
advocating for women’s suffrage and continued to fight for the fair treatment of
blacks. At the news of his death in 1871, many abolitionists wrote to his family with
remarks about his bravery and tenacity. William Still, also active on the
Underground Railroad, remarked that Garrett was “without concealment and
without compromise” (Still 625).
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Works Cited & Further Reading
McGowan, James A. Station Master On the Underground Railroad: The Life and Letters
of Thomas Garrett. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company Inc.,
2005.
Smedley, Robert C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the
Neighboring Counties in Pennsylvania. 1883.
Still, William. The Underground Railroad. Philadelphia: Porter & Coats. 1872.
“Thomas Garrett Trial Notes.” US 4th Circuit Court. 1848.
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