Thomas Garrett, a Quaker from Upper Darby, helped thousands of slaves escape to freedom as one of the leading stationmasters of the Underground Railroad, writes Tom Ryan for Coastal Point.

Garrett discovered the depravities of slavery in his youth, when his parents’ black servants were kidnapped and forced into servitude. This prompted Garrett, who resettled to Wilmington’s Quaker Hill section during the 1830s, to turn his home at 221 Shipley Street into a safe haven for escaped slaves.

Garrett, who was under constant suspicion by the authorities for his activities, was finally arrested in 1848. He was tried in New Castle in front of a judge and jury who were all slave owners, and while he was found guilty, he did not get jail time. However, the resulting fine left him penniless.

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This still didn’t deter Garrett from working to free slaves.

“Thou has left me without a dollar,” he said to the court. “I say to thee and to all this court room, that if anyone knows a fugitive who wants shelter, send him to Thomas Garrett and he will befriend him.”

Garrett has since been immortalized in a statue at the downtown Wilmington Riverwalk, overlooking the Christina River.

Read more about Thomas Garrett’s life in Coastal Point by clicking here.

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