The Underground Railroad in Rhode Island

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An Annotated Bibliography of Sites, Conductors, Abolitionists,

and Anti-Slavery Activity

 

Bibliography Compiled by Owen Hwang

Introduction and Historical Notes by Robb Dimmick

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Despite Rhode Island’s documented history as a prolific enslaver of Africans, its contributions to the Underground Railroad remain largely overlooked. With minimal existing literature and not a single safehouse listed in the National Park Service’s 'Network to Freedom' database, this study marks the first serious examination of the state’s role in guiding fugitive slaves to freedom.

 

The Underground Railroad in Rhode Island was a crucial, covert network aiding thousands of enslaved people, with key routes, safe houses, and abolitionist supporters, particularly in Newport, Providence, and Valley Falls. Rhode Island’s role in the Underground Railroad was a complex blend of maritime escapes, Quaker-led and Black-owned sanctuaries, and a secret network of "stations" that funneled freedom seekers toward Canada. While popular lore often points to physical tunnels, the "Underground Railroad" was a metaphorical network. In Rhode Island, it primarily operated through private homes, churches, and sea routes. 

 

Rhode Island’s extensive coastline made it a prime destination for "maritime escapes." Enslaved people would stow away on ships from Southern ports like Norfolk, VA. Upon arrival in Newport or Providence, they were met by Black dockworkers and sailors who navigated them to safe houses​​. The Rhode Island network wasn't a single line; it was a series of hand-offs that relied heavily on the state's geography. 

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The Maritime Connection

 

​Maritime escapes were a central, not marginal, part of Rhode Island’s Underground Railroad activity, especially through Newport and Providence.

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How sea routes worked

• Enslaved people often stowed away or arranged passage on coastal vessels leaving southern ports such as Norfolk and other Chesapeake harbors, then landed in northern ports including Newport, Providence, New Bedford, and Boston.

• Once ashore, Black sailors, dockworkers, and waterfront laborersquietly met them at the wharves, guided them off the piers, and connected them to local Black churches and safe houses.

Why Rhode Island’s coast mattered

• Rhode Island’s long, indented coastline and active merchant shipping made it ideal for “blending in”; a few extra people on a coastal schooner or steamer drew less attention than on land routes.

• Newport and Providence functioned as transfer points: arrivals from the South could be moved inland toward known stations such as Valley Falls (Elizabeth Buffum Chace’s home) or farther north via Massachusetts networks.

Relationship to overland routes

• Historians note that while popular memory emphasizes overland “lines,” many New England escapes began or pivoted by sea, then continued overland only after reaching ports like Newport, Providence, or New Bedford.

• In Rhode Island, this produced a hybrid network: maritime arrivals fed into inland routes through Quaker communities and abolitionist homes, rather than a single continuous land corridor from the South.

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African American waterfront labor was the backbone of Rhode Island’s Underground Railroad activity by sea, especially in Newport and Providence.

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Meeting and moving escapees

• Enslaved people who stowed away on ships from southern ports (like Norfolk) depended on Black sailors and dockworkers to receive them at the wharves when they landed in Newport or Providence.​

• These waterfront workers quietly escorted fugitives off the piers, guided them through crowded port districts, and connected them to safe houses, churches, and inland “stations.”

Using skills and positions on ships

• Many Black Rhode Islanders worked as seamen, riggers, and general crew, a tradition rooted in earlier periods when enslaved men from the state were forced into maritime labor; by the 1800s, that experience made Black mariners key intermediaries in escape networks.

• As crew, stewards, or laborers, they could hide fugitives on board, arrange passage, or coordinate hand‑offs when vessels docked, often without leaving written traces for fear of reprisals.

Why their role stays semi‑invisible

• To protect themselves under harsh laws like the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, Black waterfront workers avoided written records, so sources describe them collectively rather than listing many individual names.​

• Modern scholarship on Rhode Island’s Underground Railroad explicitly notes that while Quaker and white abolitionist “station masters” are easier to document, the day‑to‑day functioning of maritime routes relied heavily on African American sailors and dockworkers whose names seldom survived in the archive.

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Key Station Masters, Conductors & Allies

 

Eizabeth Buffum Chace, known as "the conscience of Rhode Island," the most prolific chronicler of these routes, provided food, clothing and safe passage to Canada. She helped manage a specific "corridor." Her home in Valley Falls (now part of Central Falls) served as a critical junction. The routes generally moved from south to north, following the Blackstone River Valley.

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Typical Route Progression:

1. Arrival at the Coast: Freedom seekers often arrived via Newport or Providence by stowing away on merchant ships.

2. The Providence Transfer: From the docks or the Black churches in Providence, they were transported—often in the dead of night—to the outskirts of the city.

3. The Chace Station: Chace would receive individuals or families. She described a "secret room" in her home where people were fed and clothed.

4. The Northward Hand-off: From Valley Falls, Chace would arrange transport to Uxbridge or Worcester, MA where another Quaker network would take over to move them toward Vermont or Canada

 

In her memoir, Chace provides a rare "behind-the-scenes" look at how these escapes functioned:

• The "Closed Carriage" Method: To avoid the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which made it a crime to help escapees, she utilized "closed carriages" to hide passengers in plain sight on public roads.

• The Network of Trust: She worked closely with Nathaniel B. Borden in Fall River. If a ship arrived in Fall River, Borden would send them to Chace; if they arrived in Providence, they were sent to her via the Quaker network.

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Charles Perry was an ardent anti-slavery activist with a house in Westerly. He once entertained Frederick Douglass there. He also sheltered runaway slaves in one of the strangest hideaways of the Underground Railroad, a wooded area he owned in Charlestown, between King Tom’s Farm and Shumuncancc, with stone huts he built topped with saplings and sod roofs. Here, far from pursuing southern sheriffs, slaves lived and waited until it was safe to continue their northward journey to his brother Harvey’s home in North Stonington, Connecticut. “When a runaway slave showed up in one of the barns at the farm, Perry rolled him up in a rug in the back of a farm wagon and took him to the nearest Underground Railroad station in Ashaway.”

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Isaac Cundall, a Quaker youth in Ashaway, was given the duty of moving people between "stations." His father’s home served as a major stop.

• Isaac described a specific route through Hopkinton that included:

  • The Jacob Babcock House.

  • The residences of Quakers Ethan Foster and John Wilbour.

  • Transportation to the next "station" in a neighboring town or toward the train lines.​​

 

Isaac’s work highlighted the "need-to-know" basis of the network. He and other conductors were intentionally kept in the dark about the full route. This was a security measure; if captured, they could not reveal the locations of stations further down the line.

 

Jacob Babcock, a prosperous mill owner and devout member of the local community, held strong convictions regarding temperance and the immediate emancipation of enslaved people. His home in Ashaway served as the first major stop for freedom seekers entering Rhode Island from the south (often arriving by boat via Westerly. Local tradition and historical accounts suggest that Babcock’s house contained hidden tunnels or secret spaces under the floorboards to conceal fugitives from bounty hunters and law enforcement. From Babcock's house, fugitives were transported north to other Quaker-run stations, such as the homes of the Foster and Wilbour families in Hopkinton, or further toward Valley Falls to the home of Elizabeth Buffum Chace. 

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One of the most vivid stories of Babcock's involvement occurred in 1858, involving a woman who had escaped slavery in Virginia. A Virginia slave owner and Sheriff Berry arrived in Ashaway with a search warrant and a $500 reward poster for the woman’s capture. They were actively patrolling the roads near Babcock's home. Knowing the house was about to be searched, Jacob enlisted his 16-year-old nephew, Isaac Cundall, to help. Isaac asked Jacob’s daughter, Sarah Babcock, to join him in a carriage. Sarah wore a heavy veil and shawl to hide her face. They drove past the Sheriff, making sure he saw "Miss Babcock" out for a ride. Once they had established the pattern, they returned home. The fugitive woman then dressed in Sarah’s clothes and veil. Isaac drove her right past the unsuspecting Sheriff, who assumed it was just Sarah out for another ride. She was safely delivered to a minister's house further north. 

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Isaac Rice (1792–1866) was a prominent Black leader, caterer, and gardener in Newport, Rhode Island. He is best known for his courageous work as a "station master" on the Underground Railroad, turning his home into a safe haven for those escaping slavery. The Rice homestead, located at 23 Thomas Street (at the corner of William Street), served as a vital station in the network. Because of Newport's coastal location, it was often a primary stop for freedom seekers arriving by sea or traveling toward New Bedford, Massachusetts. Rice provided food, shelter, and protection for escaping slaves, operating his station at great personal risk, especially after the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made aiding escapees a federal crime.

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George Fayerweather III and his wife, Sarah Harris Fayerweather, were prominent Black abolitionists and "conductors" on the Underground Railroad in Kingston, Rhode Island. Their home and blacksmith shop served as a critical safe haven for freedom seekers traveling through South County during the mid-19th century. Historical accounts and family records indicate that the home was a known stop on the Underground Railroad. The Fayerweathers provided food, shelter, and medical care to those escaping slavery, often coordinating with other local abolitionists to move people further north toward Providence or Canada. The Fayerweathers were an "abolitionist power couple" deeply connected to the national abolitionist movement. Sarah was a member of the Kingston Anti-Slavery Society, and the couple maintained a correspondence with Frederick Douglass, who reportedly visited their home. George III was an active representative at conventions for free Black men, advocating for racial equality and the end of slavery years before the Civil War.

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George T. Downing (Newport) as a wealthy prominent Black restaurateur and civil rights leader in Newport whose hospitality businesses near the waterfront doubled as hubs for abolitionist organizing and support for freedom seekers moving through the port; his work is often discussed in the context of port‑based escape networks that included arrivals by sea. 

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Moses Brown (Providence) was a Quaker industrialist and early antislavery leader whose influence helped create a strong abolitionist climate in Providence; although he is not tied to specific ships, his shipping interests supported the broader environment in which Black sailors and dockworkers could move fugitives through the city’s maritime economy.

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Daniel Mitchell (Providence) is among the Rhode Islanders who aided fugitives; as an abolitionist in a port city, his activity formed part of the network that received escapees arriving by ship and sent them inland.

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Robert Adams (Fall River–Pawtucket link). Based in Fall River, MA, Adams regularly drove fugitives—some of them explicitly described as having been “stowed away and brought from the South in ships”—from New Bedford to Pawtucket, where Quakers then forwarded them farther into Rhode Island and beyond.

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Reverend James W. C. Pennington (Providence). Though he eventually moved to New York, Pennington’s time in Rhode Island was pivotal. He was a freedom seeker himself (having escaped from Maryland) and became a blacksmith before turning to the ministry.

• The Strategy: As a leader in the Black community, he used the pulpit to organize "vigilance committees." These committees were essentially early warning systems that monitored the Providence waterfront for "kidnappers" or Southern agents looking for runaways.

• Literary Activism: He wrote one of the most famous slave narratives, The Fugitive Blacksmith, which he used to fund-raise for the very escape routes he helped manage.

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Ichabod Northup (Providence) was a veteran of the Revolutionary War (serving in the famous 1st Rhode Island Regiment). Northup was a respected elder in the Black community of Providence.

• The Strategy: Northup lived in the "Hard Scrabble" and "Snowtown" neighborhoods, areas near the Providence waterfront that were predominantly Black and working-class. These neighborhoods acted as "buffer zones" where freedom seekers could easily blend in.

• The Role: He used his status as a war veteran to provide a sense of protection and legitimacy to the local abolitionist efforts, often hiding escapees in the dense urban housing of Providence’s North End.

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Elizabeth "Betsey" Johnson (c. 1782–1870) was a member of the influential African American Johnson family in Newport, She was an active organizer and a founding member of the Newport Female Anti-Slavery Society, proving that Black women were at the forefront of the grassroots organizing that sustained the movement.

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Perez Peck (c. 1787–1876, Coventry): A Quaker machinist who operated a shop nearby, Peck was known as a "conductor" who provided support to freedom seekers moving through the Pawtuxet Valley.

 

While not station masters here in Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Black Victorian power couple, Christiana and Edward Bannister, helped shelter and protect hundreds of refugees from slave catchers between 1859 and 1860 while living with African American activists Lewis and Harriet Hayden at their 66 Phillips Street home in Boston. Christiana, a successful entrepreneur known as the "Hair Doctress," used her salons as clandestine meeting places for both Black and white abolitionists. These salons served as "safe havens" where information and resources could be shared discreetly. Black barbershops were often centers of abolitionist activity. Christiana was the primary financial engine for the couple's activism. She organized fairs and auctions to raise funds for the abolitionist cause and later for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment during the Civil War. An accomplished artist, Edward's paintings, including that of Col. Robert Gould Shaw, were often sold for the cause.

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Stations & Anti-Slavery Centers

 

Black Churches: were the "engine rooms" of the movement.

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• Bethel AME Church (Providence): Originally on Meeting Street, this church served as a verified and vital communication hub the Black abolitionist community, and sanctuary for freedom seekers. Conductors working with Bethel A.M.E. and other Black residents relayed people out of Providence toward stations like Pidge Tavern and then on to Quaker strongholds in the Blackstone Valley.

• Union Colored Congregational Church (Newport): Members of this congregation were active in providing food, clothing, and transportation to those moving toward Canada.

• Pond Street Baptist Church (Providence) is cited in local history for its association with URR activity.

• Congdon Steeet Baptist Church (Providence) organized and accepted enslaved Africans seeking liberty.

 

Newport: The Maritime Gateway

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Newport was often the first point of entry for those escaping by sea from Southern ports.

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The Isaac Rice House (23 Thomas Street): This is one of the most significant sites in the state. Isaac Rice was a prominent Black leader whose home was a documented safe house. It stands today as a private residence and is part of the Newport Historic District. Lore has it that on his 1838 escape from slavery, Frederick Douglass was briefly sequestered here during his stop in Newport before moving on to reside in New Bedford, MA.

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The Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House: Now part of the Newport Historical Society building, this site was a hub for the abolitionist community. Many members were deeply involved in the movement, providing the moral and financial backing for local "conductors.

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The Liberty Tree (Thames St & Farewell St): While a replacement for the original, this location represents the long history of Newport’s Black community (specifically the "Common Burying Ground" nearby) which provided the social network that moved freedom seekers from the docks to safe houses.

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Union Colored Congregational Church: The building at 49 Division Street (later rebuilt in 1871) served not only as a religious space but also as a venue for anti‑slavery meetings and civic activism. While there’s no direct documentary evidence that the church building itself was a formal Underground Railroad station in the technical sense, its congregation was closely tied to local abolitionist networks that supported freedom seekers.

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Providence: The Urban Hub

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Providence served as a crossroads where maritime routes met overland routes heading north to Worcester or Boston.

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​​Captain George Benson House (64 Angell Street at the corner of Prospect Street). This 1797 house, a hub of anti-slavery activity, was a refuge that sheltered African Americans escaping from slave traders and hunters in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Prudence Crandall, whose school for Black females in Connecticut Benson helped fund, said of the house, which she came to know when she was a student in Providence, it was "an asylum for the oppressed." Frederick Douglass stayed at the home. Benson senior was a founder of the 1789 Providence Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and served as president of the New England Anti-Slavery Society in 1834. Benson junior was an agent for the famous abolitionist newspaper The Liberator and worked closely with the American Anti-Slavery Society. His sister, Eliza, married the famed abolitonist William Llyod Garrison. Sojourner Truth, who came to know the Bensons in Providence, lived with and worked for them when they moved to Northampton, MA.

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The Nightingale-Brown House (357 Benefit Steet): Now the John Nicholas Brown Center, this house has ties to the complicated history of the Brown family. While some family members were involved in the slave trade, others, like Moses Brown, became fierce abolitionists. Moses Brown’s later residences and land became centers for abolitionist gathering.

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The Meeting Street School (24 Meeting Street): Located near the original site of the Bethel AME Church, this area was the heart of the "Hard Scrabble" and "Snowtown" neighborhoods—Black enclaves that protected freedom seekers from bounty hunters.

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University Hall (Brown University): While not a safe house, it was a site of intense debate and activism. Students and faculty often collaborated with the Providence Anti-Slavery Society to coordinate efforts.

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Bethel AME Church. Historical research and local heritage studies indicate the original Bethel AME Church on Meeting Street (long before its modern Rochambeau Avenue location) served as a site of Underground Railroad activity — a place where people escaping enslavement were sheltered and aided on their journey north.

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Moses Brown House (corner of Wayland and Humboldt Avenues) is often recognized by local historians as an URR site. More research is required to confirm this.

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Blackstone Valley: The Quaker Stronghold

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Elizabeth Buffum Chace House Site (Central Falls): While her primary "Valley Falls" home was demolished, the general site and surrounding Quaker-influenced structures in the Blackstone Valley Heritage Corridor still mark where Chace and her husband, Samuel, hosted hundreds of freedom seekers.

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The Saylseville Friends Meetinghouse (Lincoln): Built in 1703, this is one of the oldest Quaker meetinghouses in the country. It was a center for the radical Quaker abolitionists who broke away from more conservative groups to actively participate in the Underground Railroad.​​

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The Pidge Tavern (also known as Pidge Farm, historically located at 586 Pawtucket Ave. at the Providence–Pawtucket line), ca. 1640, is one of Rhode Island’s most significant—and oldest—documented sites linked to the URR. While many sites rely on oral tradition, Pidge Tavern is frequently cited by historians as a verified "station" due to its ideal location and the documented activism of the families associated with it. Identified as one of Rhode Island’s most significant documented Underground Railroad

stations, strategically placed at a toll‑gate route between Providence and Boston and closely coordinated with conductors from Providence (including those tied to Bethel A.M.E.). The building was razed in 1961 after years of neglect. Wall panels and the fireplace were salvaged and installed in an office on Gano Street. When that building was demolished for a hotel, the panels were removed and are now stored in  basement of a Coventry farmhouse. 

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• Pidge Tavern was owned and operated by the Pidge family, remembered in later accounts (including a 1934 recollection by Samuel Swan Pidge) as white abolitionists who hid fugitives in the tavern’s stables and buildings.

• Samuel Swan Pidge specifically recalled that his father and grandfather were directly involved in sheltering freedom seekers at the tavern, but he did not give their full names or detailed biographies in the cited summary.

• From Pidge Tavern, fugitives were moved on to well‑documented abolitionist leaders such as Elizabeth Buffum Chace in Valley Falls and Quaker communities in the Blackstone Valley (for example, Saylesville Meetinghouse and Hopedale), where specific figures like Chace and Rev. Adin Ballou are clearly named.

 

1. The Strategic Location

The tavern stood at 586 Pawtucket Avenue at the crossroads of major travel routes.

• The "Toll" Connection: In the 1800s, this area was a "toll gate" between Providence and Boston. This made it a high-traffic area where travelers at night wouldn't arouse suspicion, providing perfect "cover" for moving escapees.

• The Pidge/Ridge Mystery: Local legend notes that Pidge Avenue in Pawtucket became Ridge Street in Providence. This single road served as a direct artery for conductors moving people from the Providence sites (like Bethel AME) north toward the Quaker strongholds in the Blackstone Valley.

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2. The Tavern as a Station

The building dates to the mid-1600s, but its role in the URR peaked in the early-to-mid 1800s.

• The Hiding Places: Like many taverns of that era, the Pidge Tavern had a complex layout with a massive central chimney. Accounts suggest that freedom seekers hid in the cellar or in small, partitioned spaces near the attic/chimney to keep out of sight from patrons or bounty hunters.

• The "Farm" Utility: Because the property operated as both tavern and farm, freedom seekers could be put to "work" in the fields during the day as a way to hide in plain sight before moving north at night.

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3. Connection to the Black Community

While the tavern was owned by the Pidge family (who were white abolitionists), its success depended on coordination with the Black abolitionists in Providence, particularly conductors linked to Bethel A.M.E. Church and canal routes, who relayed fugitives to the Pidge property.

• The Relay: Conductors from the Blackstone Canal and Bethel AME Church would often signal to the tavern when "cargo" (code word for freedom seekers) was arriving.

• The Next Stop: From the Pidge Tavern, freedom seekers were typically moved north to the Saylesville Meetinghouse in Lincoln or to Elizabeth Buffum Chace’s home in Valley Falls.

 

South County: The Western Route

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Westerly served as a vital coastal junction where maritime escape routes from the South met overland trails heading north toward Connecticut and Massachusetts. Because it was a border town, it was a high-stakes area where freedom seekers were often transferred between different networks of "conductors."

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While many specific downtown safe houses were kept secret or have since been demolished, several key locations and family legacies in the Westerly/Ashaway area remain.

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The Charles Perry House, 4 Margin Street, Westerly.

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Isaac Cundall House, 31 High Street, Ashaway.

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Jacob Babcock House, 20 High Street, Ashaway.

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Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House, Ashaway. It served as a place where abolitionist speakers (including, at times, traveling Black activists) could find a sympathetic audience. The church provided the "moral infrastructure" that allowed the Underground Railroad to operate in an otherwise conservative, pro-textile-industry state.

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Peck/Freeborn House, 143 Main Street, Wickford (North Kingstown). Considered one of the first Underground Railroad stops in Rhode Island, it was owned by members of the Peck and Freeborn families, who were associated with anti-slavery activity. The house stood along the harbor road where travelers and ships passed through Wickford. Historians believe it served as a safe house for people escaping slavery before moving farther north or onto ships.

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Noel Freeborn House: 24 Main Street, Wickford (North Kingstown). Built by silversmith Noel Freeborn, a member of the same Freeborn family associated with abolitionist activity in Wickford, it is not always listed as a confirmed Underground Railroad station, historians often associate it with the same network of families and properties involved in helping freedom seekers.

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Wickford Harbor & Maritime Escape Routes. Coastal towns like Wickford were important because ships could secretly carry escapees north to Massachusetts or further, hiding people among cargo or crews.

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In Kingston—specifically the historic village within South Kingstown—the Underground Railroad operated differently than in the coastal docks of Newport or the urban centers of Providence. Because this area was the heart of the "Narragansett Planters" tradition, the anti-slavery movement here was a bold counter-culture often led by Black and Indigenous families and radical Quakers.

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The Helme-Torrey House. South Kingstown. A meeting place for the South Kingstown Anti-Slavery Society, it was unlike some "safe houses" that were purely for hiding, it was an intellectual and organizational hub where Black and white activists coordinated logistics of moving people from the "Great Swamp" toward the northern part of the state.

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​Kingston Congregational Church. Main Street.

 

"Upper" Great Swamp Border (Liberty Lane). Local lore says that people escaping slavery could pass through the Great Swamp area on their way to coastal routes toward places like Newport or further north into Massachusetts. But most of these stories are oral history rather than confirmed stations.

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Fayerweather House: Mooresfield Road and Kingstown Road (Route 138). Black owned home and blacksmith shop.

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Mooresfield Area Safe Houses.

Mooresfield Road area, South Kingstown

• Historical research notes that several homes in the Mooresfield section of South Kingstown were connected to Underground Railroad activity.

• These were likely private farms and homes used temporarily to shelter freedom seekers moving north toward Newport, Providence, or Massachusetts.

• Most are not publicly marked because documentation is fragmentary.​

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Coventry: The Strategic Pass-Through

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Coventry was a strategic location because of the Hartford, Providence, and Fishkill Railroad. While the physical trains weren't always used to move people, the "conductors" often followed the path of the tracks or used the mill villages (like Anthony and Quidnick) as hiding spots where freedom seekers could blend in with the transient labor force.

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The Quaker Meeting House at 17 Meeting Street in the village of Anthony is a critical, though often overlooked, site in Rhode Island's abolitionist history. It served as a quiet but active "station" for the Underground Railroad in western Rhode Island.

 

Mechanics Hall was used for abolitionism and related political activity. It is believed that readings of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin were held there. Local lore holds that the building served as a stop on the Underground Railroad in the 1830s and 40s. More is required to verify this.

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The Court House, which today is an unassuming small storage building off Boston Street, served local citizens during the 19th century as a gathering spot to discuss local politics, business and legal questions. Across the street is the former mill overseer’s house, which still shows a white chimney. Boston Street itself was named after a well known local freed slave, Boston Carpenter, who accompanied Col. Christopher Greene during the American Revolution. Although there are mixed opinions, white chimneys (as well as quilts, equally controversial, hung on a property’s exterior) indicated a refuge for escaped slaves.

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The Paine House Museum (7 Station Street)

While primarily known as a Colonial-era tavern and home, the house is central to Coventry's historical landscape during abolition. It is located near the Pawtuxet River and the old Hartford-Providence railroad line. Taverns of this era often served as "covers" for travelers, and the Western Rhode Island Civic Historical Society (which operates the museum) maintains records of the Quaker influence in the area, many of whom were active conductors.

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The Bibliography

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"Abolition and Anti-Abolition in Newport, 1835-1866." https://newporthistory.org/abolition-and-anti-abolition-in-newport-1835-1866/

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Arnig, Chuck. “Underground Railroad in the Blackstone Valley.” History of Hopedale, Massachusetts.   https://www.hope1842.com/hope1842/abolarning.html

From Arnig, Ranger in Blackstone River Valley National Heritage, Woonsocket. Info on Samuel May in Leicester, Adin Ballou of Hopedale, which was a small site of UGRR activity. Not much about RI connection 

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Asbury, Howard D. "George T[homas] Downing." In Dictionary of American Negro Biography. Eds. Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston. New York: Norton, 1982.

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Bartlett, Irving H. From Slave to Citizen. The Urban League of Greater Providence, 1972. https://navigator.rihs.org/rhode-island-a-bibliography-of-its-history/from-slave-to-citizen-the-story-of-the-negro-in-rhode-island-1954/

Forty pages of thorough info on RI and slavery, free Black politics and organization, abolitionism in RI, Thomas Hazard, Moses Brown, Quakers, info on first Black regiment, not a ton on UGRR directly, but good surrounding info. Hard to tell what info is from what sources, but good bibliography at the end to look at. 

 

Best, Mary Agnes. The Town That Saved a State, Westerly: Written During the Rhode Island Tercentenary in 1936 for the Westerly Rhode Island Committeee. The Utter Co., 1943. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89067602730&seq=7

Three hundred pages on Westerly, probably good info on Charles Perry, John Cross. Hard to navigate. 

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Blight, David W, ed. Passages to Freedom: The Underground Railroad in History and Memory. Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.
 

Bordewich, Fergus M. Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. Amistad, 2005.

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Chace, Elizabeth Buffum. Anti-Slavery Reminiscences. E. L. Freeman & Son, 1891. https://archive.org/details/antislaveryremin00chac

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Chace, Elizabeth Buffum. “The Christian Slave Emancipated.” Juvenile Emancipation Society of Pawtucket, 1840. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433070240340&view=1up&seq=69&skin=2021

Poetic tribute from Chace about Lucy, a formerly enslaved woman reuniting with her son in Canada.  Maybe insightful about Chace’s disposition, beliefs, motivations. 

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Chace, Elizabeth Buffum Historical Marker. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=251489

Accessed March 8, 2026.

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Chace, Elizabeth Buffum. “Narrative of James Curry, A Fugitive Slave.” The Liberator, January 10, 1840.

 

"Charles Perry: Westerly’s Most Ardent Abolitionist." 

https://seewesterly.com/charles-perry-westerlys-most-ardent-abolitionist/

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Clark, Timothy. Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad. University of Massachusetts Press. 2021.

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Cole, J. R. History of Washington and Kent Counties, Rhode Island, including Their Early Settlement and Progress to the Present Time; a Description of their Historic and Interesting Localities; Sketches of their Towns and Village; Portraits of some of their Prominent Men, and Biographies of many of the Representative Citizens. W. W. Preston & Co, 1889, page 353. 

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Conley, Patrick T. “Arnold Buffum and Elizabeth Buffum Chace.” Small State Big History, Published January 11, 2015. https://smallstatebighistory.com/arnold-buffum-elizabeth-buffum-chace/

History of Buffum/Chace family, William Buffum as abolitionist, Arnold Buffum as abolitionist with other background info and info on his political involvement; and Elizabeth: organizing Fall River Anti-Slavery Society with sisters Lucy and Rebecca, involvement with other major abolitionists, suffrage movement, etc. No sources. 

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Conley, Patrick T. “George T. Downing: Rhode Island’s Most Prominent African American Leader.” Small State Big History, Published December 18, 2015.  https://smallstatebighistory.com/george-t-downing-rhode-islands-most-prominent-african-american-leader/

Biographical info on his food business in Newport, Providence, & DC; efforts and success in desegregating RI public schools, small mention of UGRR activity and abolitionism, no citations, but reference to Conley’s book which would have greater info and citations: Makers of Modern Rhode Island (History Press, 2012).  Suggests further reading on Downing in Douglas R. Egerton’s The Wars of Reconstruction: The Brief, Violent History of America’s Most Progressive Era (Bloomsbury Press, 2014), and Lawrence Grossman’s “George T. Downing and Desegregation of Rhode Island Public Schools, 1855-1866,” in Rhode Island History 36:4, 99-106 (Nov. 1977).  Article concludes that Downing’s Papers are at Howard, indicating Conley may have used the archive in his research, but this is not confirmed or explained.

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Conley, Patrick T. The Makers of Modern Rhode Island. Arcadia Publishing, 2023.  https://archive.org/details/makersofmodernrh0000conl/page/170/mode/1up?q=chace

Very detailed biographical info on Downing. 

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Cundall, Isaac. Providence Journal, 1918. 

​Cundall had previously presented a paper on the underground railroad to the Westerly Historical Society on October 11, 1917.
 

DeSimone, Russell. “Narrative of an Ashaway Teenager’s Role in the Underground Railroad Rediscovered.” Small State Big History, published February 23, 2019.  https://smallstatebighistory.com/narrative-of-an-ashaway-teenagers-role-in-the-underground-railroad-rediscovered/

Context of URR, slavery and RI, Quakers and abolition; mention Elizabeth Buffum Chace, Arnold Buffum, Samuel Chace, Sarah & Nathaniel Borden; Moses Brown, Daniel Mitchell, Charles Perry, George and Sarah Fayerweather, “free blacks of Kingston,” Jethro and Anne Mitchell of Middletown, Isaac Rice, Sophia Little, and George Downing of Newport; Bethel AME and Pidge Farm, Babcock and Foster homes, mentions First Baptist but don’t believe there is substantiation for that, Pond St church, Touro Synagogue, Downing house, Mooresfield, Slate area. Useful quotes from Chace’s Anti-Slavery Reminiscences, Cundall’s account. Very bibliography, though not sure what is drawn from what sources.  

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DeSimone, Russell. "Our Hidden History: R.I.'s little-known role in the Underground Railroad." Providence Journal. December 19, 2020. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/opinion/columns/2020/12/19/our-hidden-history-ris-little-known-role-underground-railroad/3898851001/

Accessed March 8, 2026.

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Drummond, Cynthia. "A Gateway to Freedom: Hopkinton Provided and Important Stop on the Underground Raillroad."  The Westerly Sun. January 21, 2019. 

https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/richmond-hopkinton/a-gateway-to-freedom-hopkinton-provided-an-important-stop-on-the-underground-railroad/article_58de2908-1b3c-11e9-939d-07eb52a56926.html

Accessed March 8, 2026.

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DuJardin, Richard C. “George Thomas Downing.” Providence Journal Company, 1997. http://www.projo.com/special/history/downing.htm

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Encyclopedia.com. “George T. Downing 1819–1903.” Accessed July 30, 2025. https://www.encyclopedia.com/african-american-focus/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/downing-george-t

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Elizabeth Buffum Chace Family Papers, Rhode Island Historical Society, Valley Falls, R.I. Family papers, 1858-1890, 1932.  Size: 0.25 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 1002, Processed by: Rick Stattler, August 1997. https://www.rihs.org/mssinv/Mss1002.htm

 

Primary source, description of archive mentions Elizabeth and Samuel working on UGRR; content apparently consists mostly of family correspondence between Elizabeth and her children, with occasional mention of Anti-Slavery Society. 

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Fayerweather Craft Guild. “History.” Accessed July 30, 2025.

https://www.fayerweathercraftguild.com/history

The house is currently a craft guild; this is from their website. Biographical information on George & family, including that Sarah Harris is featured in JFK’s Profiles in Courage. 

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Fishel, Leslie H. Jr. George Thomas Downing." In American National Biography. Eds. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

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Foner, Eric. Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad. W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. https://archive.org/details/gatewaytofreedom0000fone/page/n351/mode/1up

 

Only a few mentions of RI, such as people escaping from slavery and joining ships operating out of Providence. Not surprising to see RI not well mentioned in story of UGRR.  
 

Garceau, Zachary. “Charles Perry: Westerly’s Most Ardent Abolitionist.” See Westerly, 2025.  https://seewesterly.com/charles-perry-westerlys-most-ardent-abolitionist/.  

 

On Charles Perry, friendship w/ Douglass, abolitionist, biographical info, presidency of Washington Trust, involvement in many social movements of the 19th c, education, temperance, reform, hosted Benjamin Lundy and Douglass at Margin St house in Westerly, home was a station, as was brother’s in N Stonington, CT. Very good bibliography and citations. 

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Gardner-Davis, Tyran; Foreman, Gabrielle; and de Vera, Samantha, ed. “George T. Downing: 

The Fight for Black Mobility: Traveling to Mid-century Conventions.” Colored Conventions Project, 2013. https://coloredconventions.org/black-mobility/delegates/george-t-downing/

Good citations, basic information about food business and political activity. Nothing on UGRR. 
 

Geake, Robert A. “A Black Activist from North Kingstown: The Extraordinary Life of Christiana Bannister by Robert A. Geake.” Smith’s Castle, published February 13, 2025. https://www.smithscastle.org/the-cocumscussoc-review/2025/2/13/a-black-activist-from-north-kingstown-the-extraordinary-life-of-christiana-bannister-by-robert-a-geake

Good citations, background on abolitionism in RI & MA, quotes from anti-slavery groups, mention of various abolitionist leaders, background & information on Christiana Carteaux Bannister and Edward Mitchell Bannister, mention of the Bannisters living at UGRR site in Boston, mention other abolitionist activity i.e. fundraising, organizing, but no mention of direct sheltering of enslaved people running to freedom.
 

Geake, Robert A. Historic Taverns of Rhode Island (Landmarks). History Press, 2012.  

Information on Pidge Tavern.

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Geake, Robert A. “A Toll, A Tavern, and A Farm: A History of Pidge Avenue.” Posted November 11, 2010. https://rifootprints.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/a-toll-a-tavern-and-a-farm/

Photo of Old Pidge House, history from 1644 inception through Rev War, when famous revolutionary figures visited, info about status as UGRR stop, quote from Samuel Swan Pidge recalling father and grandfather hiding people fleeing enslavement in Pidge House stables, though mentions historians have downplayed this account, which was published in Pawtucket Times and ProJo 1934.  Solid info on Pidge. 

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Greene, Lorenzo Johnston. The Negro in Colonial New England, 1620-1776. Columbia University Press, 1942. 
 

Harper, Douglass. “Slavery in Rhode Island.” Slavery in the North, 2003. http://slavenorth.com/rhodeisland.htm

Good info on centrality of slavery to RI, severity of RI slave laws, proportions of enslaved population to others, economics of slavery in RI, a few citations; from internet source about slavery across the North. 

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Hileman, Maria; Johnson, Lance; Stemer; Rosalie; et al. “Underground Railroad Branching Out Today.” The Day, December 24, 2000.  https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=20001224&id=355GAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5PgMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1208,4563561&hl=en

From New London, CT newspaper, mention 13 potential UGRR sites; sophisticated information on CT, slavery, and abolition in general; complications of abolitionism and suffrage, and subordination of Black and woman abolitionist actors.  

 

Historic American Buildings Survey. “Fayerweather House, Mooresfield Road (State Route 138) & Kingston Road, Kingston, Washington County, RI.” Documentation compiled after 1933. https://loc.gov/pictures/item/ri0296/.

Photos of Fayerweather House, Mooresfield Road and Kingstown Road, Kingstown. 

 

History of American Women. “Runaways Escaped to Freedom in Rhode Island.”  Accessed July 30, 2025. 

https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2015/08/underground-railroad-in-rhode-island.html

Mentions 25 anti-slavery society in RI mid 19th c, strong info on Newport and RI’s huge role in slave trade, info on abolitionism in RI, a few quotes, seems well-researched, quite a bit on Fall River, on Arnold Buffum (Chace’s father), conflicts in anti-slavery movt, and Quakers, quote from Chace’s Anti-Slavery Reminiscences, about route of UGRR, info on Jacob Babcock and Isaac Cundall Sr in Ashaway, Foster and John Wilbour in Hopkinton; info from Isaac Cundall Jr’s account, sources listed but not cited, all online (and investigated below). 

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History of American Women. “Abby Kelley: One of the First Feminists in the United States.” Accessed July 30, 2025. https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2007/01/abby-kelley.html

Info on Abby Kelley of MA; involvement in abolition and suffrage movements; nothing on RI

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Holmes, Sarah C and Little, Sophia L. “Sophia Louisa Little (1799–1893).” Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers, vol. 40, no. 1-2, 2023, pp. 186-202. https://doi.org/10.1353/leg.2023.a917942

Reintroduces Little, who apparently has not received her due in the literature. She published regular poetry, and antislavery, feminist, and prison reform works. Born, raised, and spent a good portion of her life in RI. 

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Hudson, J. Blaine. Encyclopedia of the Underground Railroad. McFarland & Company, 2006.

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Isaac Rice Letter from Frederick Douglass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxPwjGaQR18

Accessed: March 6, 2026

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James, Edward; James, Janet Wilson; and Paul Boyer, eds. Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary, Belknap Press, 1971, 317-319. 

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Kingstown Improvement Association. “George II Fayerweather House.” Accessed July 30, 2025. https://www.kingstonimprovementassociation.org/fayerweather-house

KIA is steward of Fayerweather house; provides info on Fayerweather family, good photos of house now. 
 

Kuns, Richard; Sabino, John; eds. The Underground Railroad in New England. American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, 1976.

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La Neve DeFrancesco, Joey. “Abolition and Anti-Abolition in Newport, 1835-1866.” Newport Historical Society. Accessed August 5, 2025. https://newporthistory.org/abolition-and-anti-abolition-in-newport-1835-1866/

Detailed and well cited.

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Lennon, Sheila,. "Time Lapse: In South County, a railroad ran through it -- whose house, why is it famous?"

Providence Journal. June 1, 2014. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/lifestyle/2014/06/01/20140530-time-lapse-in-south-county-a-railroad-ran-through-it-whose-house-why-is-it-famous-ece/35345419007/

Ashaway's Jacob Babcock house was the first stop in R.I. on the Underground Railroad, hiding and helping fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. Our commenters brought us their first-person memories of this spot, filling in the history.

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Lesson Plan: https://www.rihs.org/lesson_plan/underground-railroad-in-rhode-island/

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List of books presented by Moses Brown, Esq., October 17, 1801. Register Book (1753-1836), Providence Library Company. Special Collections, Providence Athenaeum.  https://providenceathenaeum.org/moses-browns-anti-slavery-collection/

MB donated 7 books on abolition to progenitor of Athenaeum, all published in 1780s.

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Library of Congress. “Pidge Tavern, 586 Pawtucket Avenue, Pawtucket, Providence County, RI.” Documentation compiled after 1933. Photos. https://www.loc.gov/item/ri0127/

High resolution photos of Pidge tavern. 

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Mayer, Henry. All on Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery. St. Martin’s Press, 1998.

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McBurney, Christian. “Rhode Island Acts to Prevent an Enslaved Family from Being Transported to the South.” Journal of the American Revolution. Accessed August 5, 2025 .  https://allthingsliberty.com/2022/05/rhode-island-acts-to-prevent-an-enslaved-family-from-being-transported-to-the-south/

Not UGRR, but helping enslaved people not be sent away to the south, so relevant 

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“Meeting of Colored Citizens.” Providence Daily Journal, October 3, 1850. 
 

“A Mysterious Tavern.” Providence Journal. Updated March 5, 2020. https://www.providencejournal.com/picture-gallery/news/2020/03/05/a-mysterious-tavern/68644905007/

Very detailed info on what happened to Pidge Tavern, including what it used to look like, info on flooring, wood, desks, what office looked like, and a number of pictures. Nothing on UGRR.​​​​​