Madison and the Underground Railroad

By Doug Simon

            In 1804 New Jersey passed An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery and the state soon became one of the key destinations for runaway slaves as well as a key section of the Underground Railroad for those seeking to go further north. The State’s location was crucial, positioned between two of the Railroad’s most active urban centers – Philadelphia and New York City.  Most of the fugitives transiting the state came from the coastline states Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware.1 Jersey City was the last major “stop” on the Underground Railroad that ran through New Jersey before moving into New York and further north.2

            It would be a mistake to claim that the Borough of Madison was a key stop along the Underground Railroad.  But it did play a significant role. One of the most active members in the anti-slavery movement was Baxter Sayre who was born in Madison in 1786 and married Elizabeth Kitchell in 1809. Sayre was a deacon in the Presbyterian Church, a zealous Christian and champion of the Temperance and Anti-Slavery reform.  He was responsible for sending numerous fugitive slaves to John Grimes in Boonton, perhaps the most influential abolitionist in the area and a key figure on the underground railroad 3   Henry Keep was another key figure.  Keep owned an umbrella factory in Madison and like Sayre maintained close ties to John Grimes of Boonton.4

            Madison’s other notable contribution to the Underground Railroad was through the Boisaubin Manor on Treadwell Avenue which is on the National Register of Historic Houses.  The house was built around 1790 on 15 acres. The original owner, Vincent Boisaubin, was a nobleman and officer in the body guard of Louis XVI of France.  In 1853 the manor was sold to Alfred M. Treadwell who was an avid abolitionist and supporter of the Underground Railroad.  One of the manor’s porch columns is hollow and contains a stairway which led to a cave and the estate’s barn.  During the civil war days, the tunnel was equipped with hollowed alcoves for sleeping and wiring for a telegraph communications system.5

1 New Jersey Historical Commission, “Steal Away, Steal Away…”, A Guide to the Underground Railroad in New Jersey. https://dspace.njstatelib.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10929/24563/h6732002.pdf?sequence=1

2 Ibid

3 Lisa Kintish, “The Underground Railroad ran through our towns”, NorthJersey.com. http://www.northjersey.com/news/the-underground-railroad-ran-through-our-towns-1.267229

4 Ibid

5 Richard T. Irwin, Bibliographical Traces of a Change: New Jersey, Slavery, The Underground Railroad, and Morris County New Jersey. Historiographes of New Jersey, 2001.