Erastus Hussey
© Heritage Battle Creek
Erastus Hussey was an active Quaker abolitionist throughout Michigan. In addition to
helping fugitive slaves, he was a member of Michigan’s Anti-Slavery Society and, as a
supporter of the Liberty Party, believed that the U.S. Constitution provided a legal
framework for ending slavery. He became a state senator in 1854. During his time as a
senator, Hussey worked to pass Public Act 162, more commonly known as the
Michigan Personal Freedoms Act. The measure established protections for accused
fugitive slaves who were pursued by slave catchers in the state and penalized offenders
who falsely accused free people of being slaves.
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Much of what we know about Erastus Hussey’s involvement in the Underground
Railroad is derived from an 1885 interview that was partially reprinted in a 1912
work published by the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society. Much more is
known about Hussey’s active political life. He was a Quaker and ran for elected office
in Michigan several times. He ran to be a representative as a Liberty Party candidate
for Calhoun County in 1846 but lost. He tried again in 1850 and won the seat, later
serving as a state senator after running with the Free Soil Party in 1854.
Although little evidence beyond Hussey’s own testimony confirms that he actively
harbored fugitive slaves, it is nonetheless clear that he was an ardent political
advocate for the antislavery movement and drew on the Quakers’ long history of
antislavery thought as an abolitionist. He was a member of Michigan’s Anti-Slavery
Society and, as a supporter of the Liberty Party, believed that the U.S. Constitution
provided a legal framework for ending slavery. Two years after his failed run for the
US House of Representatives, Hussey began publishing the Michigan Liberty Press in
Battle Creek in 1848 but was forced to move the operation after his office burned to
the ground on June 9, 1849. During his time as a senator, Hussey worked to pass
Public Act 162, more commonly known as the Michigan Personal Freedoms Act. The
measure established protections for accused fugitive slaves who were pursued by
slave catchers in the state and penalized offenders who falsely accused free people
of being slaves.
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Works Cited & Further Reading
Barnes, Charles E. "Battle Creek as a Station on the Underground Railway.” In
Historical Collections: Collections and Researches Made by the Michigan
Pioneer and Historical Society, edited by Michigan Pioneer and Historical
Society, 279-285. Lansing: Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Company, State
Printers, 1912.
Johnson, Reinhard O. The Liberty Party, 1840-1848: Antislavery Third-Party Politics in
the United States. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2009.
Tuchalski, Yvonne. “Erastus Hussey, Battle Creek Antislavery Activist.” Michigan
History Review 56 (1972): 1-18.
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