May 17, 2012Underground Railroad 1850's
Located at the southeast corner of East Fourth & Pine Streets
In Jamestown, the affairs of the Underground Railroad seem to have been directed by Silas Shearman, agent, known as an ardent Abolitionist. The Jamestown station was the old Shearman home which stood at the southeast corner of Pine and Fourth Streets until 1910 when it was demolished.
Frank E. Shearman, Sr., a grandson of Silas Shearman, remembered hearing his grandfather tell his experiences as the agent, or conductor, of how it was not uncommon for him to come down in the morning and find his kitchen filled with escaping slaves. They had been brought to Jamestown during the night or directed to his home from the last station. Mr. Shearman fed the group of hungry passengers and hid them during the day in the hay in his barn on Stillers Alley. He then collected sufficient funds from the railroad supporters, if money was needed, and arranged transportation or guidance to the next station, which was often the village of Ellington.
THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD
HERE AT THE HOME OF SILAS SHEARMAN PIONEER SETTLER AND ARDENT ABOLOTIONIST WAS THE PRINCIPAL JAMESTOWN STATION OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD WHERE IN THE LATE FIFTIES ESCAPING SLAVES FROM THE SOUTH WERE SHELTERED AND ASSISTED ON THEIR WAY TO FREEDOM IN CANADA.