Mar 26, 2009 - Sale 2174

Sale 2174 - Lot 172

Price Realized: $ 1,320
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
"A FUGITIVE SLAVE ? COME HERE . . . I FIXED HIM A BED." (NEW HAMPSHIRE.) [Wood, James.] Diary discussing the Underground Railroad. 96 pages of manuscript diary entries from 1862, 25 pages of manuscript farm ledger entries from 1877-78. Small 4to (8 x 7 inches), 1/4 calf, back cover slightly warped; contents in strong condition. [Lebanon, NH], 14 January to 29 November 1862, 1877-78
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Additional Details

On the first of June, 1862, a New Hampshire farmer wrote in his diary: "A fugitive slave? come here abt 10 o''clock this eve to stay all night. I fixed him a bed in wool room." From this sparse entry, the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire has claimed its place as a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The author James Wood (1823-1895) was a farmer on the Vermont-New Hampshire border living with his parents, sisters, wife, and children. At no other point in the diary does Wood mention slavery or race relations, or even the Civil War. The rest of his entries consist of typical farming content, including many entries relating to maple syrup production. On June 5 he visits a Shaker community to buy turnip seeds and tobacco plants. The July 8 entry mentions that his young son fell feet-first into the well, but was not injured.
1862 was late for Underground Railroad activity. By this point, legislation was already being considered by Congress that would recognize as free any escaped slave of a disloyal master; it would be passed into law on 17 July 1862. The visitor at the Wood house may have been an escaped slave attempting to get as far north as possible along a tested route, or simply a refugee displaced by a disruptive war. Whatever the circumstances, Wood''s June 1 entry sounds as though the family had encountered fugitive slaves before, and as a matter of general practice tried their best to assist fugitives without asking too many questions. Wilbert Siebert''s 1898 book on the Underground Railroad lists James Wood of Hillsboro County, NH as a known Underground Railroad operator. with--a typed transcript, full name index, additional research notes and correspondence.