Portraits of Local Abolitionists and Reformers

The Rescue of Harriet Powell

The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Impact

The Jerry Rescue and Its Aftermath

How the Antislavery Movement Used the Print Media

Maps and Charts

Related Links:

CNY Reads Miriam Grace Monfredo's North Star Conspiracy

Borders: The 2005 Syracuse Symposium

SCRC Home

Maps and Charts

The Illustrated Atlas, and Modern History of the World by R. M. Martin and J. and F. Tallis (New York: J. and F. Tallis, 1851). Other information was gathered from The Jerry Rescue (Syracuse: Onondaga Historical Association, 1924) by Earl E. Sperry and from plate number 123 from the Atlas of the Historical Geography of the United States (Washington, D.C., and New York: Carnegie Institution of Washington and the American Geographical Society of New York, 1932) by Charles O. Paullin. The black arrows indicate the general routes of the Underground Railroad throughout the U.S. The broken red line is the international boundary between the United States and Canada. The yellow-and-black line delineates the boundary between the free and slave states in 1850.

The items in numbered yellow triangles represent the following locations:

1. Jerry Henry was born in Buncombe County, North Carolina, in 1813.
2. Jerry Henry was moved to Marion County, Missouri, in 1818.
3. Jerry Henry arrived in Syracuse after escaping from Missouri sometime in the late 1840s or early 1850s.
4. Jerry Henry found freedom and a new home in Kingston, Ontario.

Plate number two entitled Map of the State of New York from the Atlas of the State of New York (New York: J. Bien, 1895).

The numbered locations represent the following towns:

1. Peterboro: home of Gerrit Smith
2. Cazenovia: site of the Fugitive Slave Law Convention, 21 and 22 August 1850
3. Fayetteville: home of Matilda Joslyn Gage
4. Syracuse: “that laboratory of abolitionism, libel, and treason”
5. Skaneateles: home of Hannah, James, and Lydia Fuller
6. Auburn: home of Harriet Tubman and William H. Seward
7. St. Catherines, Ontario: one of the gateways to freedom for fugitive slaves
8. Rochester: home of Frederick Douglass and Julia Griffiths
9. Oswego: one of the gateways to freedom for fugitive slaves
10. Kingston, Ontario: new home for Jerry Henry and Harriet Powell

Jerry Rescue Sites (denoted by the numbers in white triangles)

1. Jerry was employed in the cooper (barrel maker) shop of F. Mack in the first ward of Syracuse. (This could possibly have been with Francis Peck of 157 Lock Street.) Jerry was informed that he was being arrested for theft when he was first apprehended there.

2. Jerry was brought to Joseph Sabine’s office in the Townsend Block on the corner of West Water and Clinton streets to be arraigned on charges based upon the Fugitive Slave Act.

3. During Jerry’s arraignment before Joseph Sabine, he broke free and ran east on West Water Street, past the Syracuse House, through Hanover Square, onto East Water Street, and then onto the Lock Street bridge over the canal, where he was recaptured.

4. Jerry was taken to the Police Justice offices in the Raynor Block.

5. After Jerry’s rescue from the Police Justice offices, he was taken east along West Water Street to the Syracuse House, past the New York Central Railroad station, and then down Warren Street as far as Brintnall’s Hotel (East Fayette and South Warren streets). He stayed at Caleb Davis’s house (10 Orange Street). He remained hidden there for several days. He was taken by wagon up the Cicero Road to Brewerton and Mexico. He went to the home of Mr. Clarke near Oswego. He was taken by a British ship to Kingston, Ontario, and then went to the home of Joseph George.

Other Important Syracuse Locations (denoted by the numbers with green flags)

1. On 21 May 1851, Millard Fillmore (the president of the U.S.), John Crittenden (the U.S. attorney general), and John Graham (the secretary of the navy) spoke at the Syracuse House on the Fugitive Slave Law.

2. On 26 May 1851, Daniel Webster (the U.S. secretary of state) gave a speech on the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law from the balcony of Frazee Hall in the Courier Building overlooking Market Square.

3. The Liberty Party held its convention in the Congregational Church on East Genesee Street.

4. Prominent citizens met at the office of Dr. Hiram Hoyt at 32 South Warren Street and planned the rescue of Jerry.

5. Jermain W. Loguen’s house was at East Genesee and Pine streets.

6. Samuel J. May’s house was at 157 James Street.

7. The Wesleyan Methodist Church was at Onondaga and Jefferson streets.

8. The A.M.E. Zion Church was on the west side of Chestnut Street, north of East Washington Street.

9. Mary Robinson’s houses were at 25 and 27 Catherine Street.
Sociopolitical Maps of Syracuse, 1850–55

In 1852, the number of wards in the city of Syracuse doubled from four to eight. The maps above depict the eight ward boundaries from 1855. The white, black, and voting populations are depicted in these eight wards. The white population is evenly distributed, while the black population is concentrated in ward eight. Even in 1855, there is only a very small percentage of people who vote versus the number of people who are eligible to vote. The total population figure includes women, people of color, and men who have not met the requirements of the voting laws:

The existing qualifications of voters are, to white males of the age of 21 years, citizenship at least 10 days, a resident in the State of one year, in the country four months, and in the election district of thirty days. To Persons of color, the possession of a freehold worth $250 is also required.

The population figures for whites, blacks, and voters are from the state census of New York for 1855.

Population characteristics of Syracuse city wards, 1855. This map
shows the breakdown of the population by race and sex. The map appears stretched due to the projection of the data used in creating it.

Voting in Syracuse city wards, 1855. This map shows the total population versus the eligible voters and is broken down further by voters who were born in the city and those who were born in foreign countries. The map appears stretched due to the projection of the data used in creating it.

Bird’s-eye view of Syracuse (New York: Smith Brothers and Company, 1852).The artist was Lewis Bradley, and the lithographer was D. W. Moody. This hand-colored lithograph was presented to the Special Collections Research Center at Syracuse University Library by Leslie O. Merrill in 1998.

All of these maps were prepared by John Olson, the geographic information systems librarian, and Bonnie Ryan, the African American studies librarian, of Syracuse University Library.