For more information or to volunteer, email tomshepherd2001@yahoo.com or find the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project on Facebook.
As many as 1,500 freedom seekers who escaped slavery may have passed through Northwest Indiana en route to Canada, but little is known about their stories.
A project aims to unearth the hidden history of the Underground Railroad in Northwest Indiana.
Tom Shepherd and Larry McClellan, who brought to light the store of the Ton Farm's role in helping former slaves escape to freedom via the Little Calumet River Underground Railroad Project, have launched the Chicago-to-Detroit Freedom Trail initiative. They have been seeking volunteers to shine a brighter light on the Region's role in the Underground Railroad.
"Northwest Indiana is a forgotten stepchild," McClellan said at a recent talk at the Hammond Public Library.
About a decade ago, the state published five volumes on the Underground Railroad in Indiana. Northwest Indiana was only mentioned on 17 of the more than 700 pages.
"My research suggests as many people came through Northwest Indiana as came up through the south," he said. "The initial material I looked at suggests 1,500 to 2,000 is the rough number of people who came up from Southern Indiana and went to Detroit. We've got roughly the same number of folks as in the rest of Indiana, but it's been totally ignored."
Escaped slaves seeking freedom passed through Northwest Indiana in two streams, McClellan said. Some went to Chicago and continued around the south shore of Lake Michigan en route to Windsor, Canada, just across the river from Detroit. Another stream came further south along the rough path of the Sauk Trail corridor.
"Northwest Indiana had two corridors of movement for freedom seekers," he said.
More than 700 important Underground Railroad sites are included on the national Network to Freedom list. Researchers have determined they got help there.
"I think there are about 19 places in Northwest Indiana where freedom seekers got help," McClellan said. "Not one is close to being on the Network to Freedom list. That's something we need to work on together."
Native people have long passed along the south shore of Lake Michigan, traveling along the beaches. The government later constructed a military road along there to connect Chicago to Detroit. A stagecoach could go from Michigan City to Chicago in six days if the weather was good.
"The territory traveling along the beachfront was just awful if conditions weren't just right," he said. "In 1836 and 1837, they reoriented the great road to Chicago. From Michigan City, they took it down under the dunes. What we know as Dunes Highway, U.S. 12, that was the historic road that was created as an alternative to the beach traffic."
Freedom seekers stopped at several points in Northwest Indiana, including likely at Gibson’s Tavern in Gary and the Hohman Bridge operated by Ernst and Caroline Hohman in Hammond.
"There's pretty good evidence they were involved with freedom seekers," McClellan said. "We've got good stories of hiding places in the Dunes, and then we've got the controversial story of what's called the Alpha Wreck. There was also evidence of people finding assistance in Tremont and Chesterton."
Evidence suggests freedom seekers may have stopped in Dyer at the State Line Hotel.
"There are very interesting stories in Crown Point that need to be researched," he said.
Freedom seekers are known to have stopped at the Dr. Henry Palmer home in Merrillville. The home site has one of the first historic markers put up in Northwest Indiana and the only one in Northern Indiana to mention the Underground Railroad.
"Dr. Palmer was an interesting character. We would love to have someone do a deep dive into his character," McClellan said.
Freedom seekers following the Sauk Village corridor passed through Westville, where they were assisted by a community of Quaker abolitionists, he said.
"Buried in Westville is Charles Osborn. Charles Osborn is the father of the involvement of whites in the anti-slavery movement. All those people we know about – William Lloyd Garrison and all those great politicians – all of them said their teacher was Charles Osborn," McClellan said. "A remarkable human being, absolutely remarkable. And you have no idea he's here. Again and again and again, in the Underground Railroad, we are uncovering stories that are important to our common history and our history as Americans. And those stories have not been told."
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