Michigan's Crossroads to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in Jackson County

In the early to mid-1800s, Jackson County was home to two branches of the Underground Railroad, a secret network that funneled fugitives from slavery in the South to freedom in the North. Many Jacksonians participated in this network, risking their lives to feed, lodge and transport fugitives passing through their county to Canada, where slavery was outlawed. Local agents included a preacher who was almost lynched, an editor whose office was fire bombed and a farmer whose property was raide...