This is information I have gleaned from reading area history books, talking with people, etc. If you have anything to add, any references I missed, any family oral traditions, I would appreciate hearing from you. I will include them in this page with your permission. Thank you.
-p. 121-122- " As a conductor, Wakeman (of Norwalk), was bold and tireless, taking his "packages of hardware and dry good" to places as distant as Plymouth and Middletown - trips of forty and fifty miles as the crow flies, farther than that by road....
-p. 122- "The Plymouth operators, to whom Wakeman presumably made his deliveries, included Joel Blakeslee, Ferrand Dunbar, and William Bull. They not only handled passengers from Wilton; they also had to keep watch for unaccompanied fugitives on foot who had lost their way on the western line between New Haven and Farmington. The Plymouth "minute men" had to set these wanderers on the right track, which took them a dozen miles eastward to Farmington."
-p. 123 -Thus it is known that New Milford was a center of Underground work; but whether fugitives came to this town by traveling northward from the vicinity of Wilton, or eastward via a lateral from the Hudson River line in New York, or both, remains unclear."
-"There are several stations here, (New Milford), one of which was the house of Charles Sabin. Another was the home of Augustine Thayer. He and "his good wife devoted their lives to the Abolition cause. They helped many poor slaves on their way, rising from their beds in the night to feed and minister to them and secreting them till they could be taken under cover of darkness to Deacon Geradus Roberts' house on Second Hill and from there to Mr. Daniel Platt's house in Washington."
-p. 123-124 - Frederick W. Gunn of Washington, Connecticut, who founded the private school bearing his name, "The direction or runaways on the road to freedom, however, remained Gunn's private affair.
-p. 124-"Daniel Platt and his wife....accomodating "many a trembling black refugee" on their farm. ...Their son, Orville,...later recalled that "the slaves stayed, as a rule, but a short time, though some remained several weeks until it was learned through the channels of communication among the Abolitionists that their whereabouts was suspected." They were then forwarded to either of two destinations - to Dr. Vaill on the Wolcottville Road or to Uriel Tuttle in Torrington."
-p. 124-125 - "Yet, curiously, Uriel Tuttle was the only Underground stationmaster here of whom a record survives.
-p. 125- "At Winchester, a few miles north of Torrington and close to Winsted, there was a small but active antislavery society. Noble J. Everett was its secretary; Jonathan Coe, a member who lived in nearby Winsted, managed a well-patronized Underground station at his house. Another station many have been the home of Silas H. McAlpine, poet, philanthropist, and abolitionist of Winchester; in the foundation wall of his house was a hidden crypt that was possibly a hiding place for fugitives, but there is no positive evidence that it was so used."
-p 126 - "Beyond this point, there were stations to the north in Colebrook and to the northwest in Norfolk. Who were the Undergroung agents in Colebrook remains unknown, but there were certainly several of them. One may have been J. H. Rodgers, secretary of the ninety-member antislavery society in 1836.
-"It is also reported that there was a network of Underground byways in this vicinity and that residents of Norfolk were responsible for paving many of them."
-p. 126-127- " For the fugitive traveling through northwestern Connecticut, Norfolk was the last stop in the state. From here, he was sent across the Massachusetts border to New Marlboro, thence over to the Housatonic River line through Stockbridge and Pittsfield to Bennington, Vermont."
-from Appendix 2 - "Underground Railroad Agents in Connecticut" (Probable agents are indicated by *) Litchfield County Blakeslee, Joel - Plymouth Bull, William - Plymouth Coe, Jonathan - Winsted Dunbar, Daniel - Plymouth McAlpine, Silas H. * - Winchester Pettibone, Amos - Norfolk Roberts, Geradus - New Milford Sabin, Charles - New Milford Thayer, Augustine - New Milford Tuttle, Uriel - Torrington
-p. 235 - "Lamont's Christmas Tree Plantation - Located at the site of one of Barkhamsted's earliest houses, which saw use as an inn on the route from the Salisbury iron works toward Granby.....The house, known 50 years ago as the Oscar Tiffany place, was bought in 1952 by Thomas and Marguerite Lamont...Legend has it that the house was also a stop on the Underground Railroad."
-"Chamberlain's hotel, The Colebrook River Inn, was at one time used as a station in the underground railroad." -"The Davidson house on the Old Colebrook Road is also said to have been an underground railroad station."
-"Another alleged station in this system was a home in the Lanesville section of this town. It is located about four miles south of the village center and has been known as the Wanzer Farm......(they were Quakers)"
-"Fugitives from slavery in the deep South entered New Milford at several places. Some were directed from New York State, directly west of New Milford. It would seem natural that they might have entered through the Town of Sherman, although little has been written or recorded as to that being the case. However, it has been stated that one known station on the system was in Sherman, a short distance north of the center of town in an old colonial residence lying on the westerly side of the present road leading north from the center toward the New York State line or to Gaylordsville. This station was in the Stuart family. The residence is still standing, a landmark and heritage to be preserved. James Stuart was reportedly the agent. It is alleged that there was a small out-building on the premises just north of his dwelling where the escapees would be housed and it would seem likely that some of them would come over the hills to New Milford."
-"Again, near the village, was the home of Augustine A. Thayer, known to his cronies as "Baccus."....from a New York newspaper....a reward of five hundred dollars offered for the apprehension of two runaway slaves. It was expressed by one of the men present that it would not surprise him, "if they would be found at that moment at Baccus' home."
-"Many of the fugitives were aided over the hills to Washington, about five or six miles east of New Milford. One of the most ardent supporters of the movement there was Frederick W. Gunn. ...With Mr. Gunn was Daniel Platt, as devoted an agent on the system as there was anywhere. Mr. Platt and his wife rescued and aided many a poor soul fleeing to Canada."
-"The route continued from Washington north to Litchfield, then on to Torrington, which was the birthplace of John Brown. It is reported that as early as 1837 there was an organization composed of forty members of an antislavery group in that town. Colebrook and Norfolk were the actual jumping off places in Connecticut. From these towns the fugitives crossed the line into Massachusetts, crossed the Housatonic River to Stockbridge, to Pittsfield, into Vermont, to Bennington, Burlington, Rutland, and on into Canada and freedom."
When the first pages of my web site were posted, I received an email from someone (I wish that person, if they ever read this, would get back in contact with me) that mentioned that the Christmas shop in the town of Bethlehem was used to hide runaway slaves. If I remember correctly, I was told it was a printing shop and the slaves would spend the night there before moving on to the next station, most likely in Litchfield.
I heard from a friend that a home north of the rotary in Goshen was a station in the 1800's. I quote from the Goshen history, 1897, page 363: "The store built and occupied by Wadhams and Thompson, and later by Moses Wadhams, was purchased by A. Miles and Sons, who also had a store at West Goshen. Moses W. Gray entered their employ as clerk, in 1841. At this time, Mr. MIles and one son lived at West Goshen, and another son at the Center, with whom Mr. Gray boarded. At his death, Mr. Gray managed the store for about three years, when he purchased a one-half interest and continued to manage it for several years under the firm name of Miles and Gray. He then purchased the interest of his partner and conducted the business alone, the sign over the door bearing the name of M. W. Gray. In 1857, he sold his stock of goods, and, removing to Chicago, enaged in the wholesale grocery business......" -I have talked to a previous landowner, and he told me there is a room in the basement that is undetectable, unless you know it is there. Convienent having a freight business with a hidden room for that special cargo.
I also heard that a house in South Kent has "extra rooms" on the fireplace foundation in the basement. I know which house, but nothing more than that.
Another reference I have, and have no idea where it came from, is Blueberry Hill Farm, between Norfolk and Colebrook, on Rock Hall Road. Supposedly there are false panels behind the fireplace, concealing an entrance to another room.
Mentioned in a Register Citizen article, (I didn't get the date), the Cook homestead on Charles Street in Torrington was used as a station. Runaways were hidden in a section of a dining room closet.
Also, a Register Citizen article, dated 12-31-94, by Bryan T. Morytko, mentions the following: Harwinton - Rt. 4, the Chiarmonte and the Hinnan houses, the Hinnan home have a secret place in the attic floor, next to a chimney, large enough for three people. Torrington - Torringford Street (very active antislavery society in this area) - three or four houses on this street, including the Florian home, with a secret basement room Winchester - the Silas H. McAlpine home (already mentioned above)
From Kevin Purcell, of Fairbanks, Alaska: "I can remember two houses in Northern Westchester that were rumored to be stops on the Underground. One is located on Route 138 east of Goldens Bridge, it is a large colonial just before the Increase Miller Elementary School on the north side of the road. The other is on Route 100 south of Somers, New York. It is a larger stone house that had one of the old stone mile markers out front."
New quote - added August 29, 1999
-"At my father's place, known as Whist Pond Manor......The Manor house was built in 1772 by Nathaniel Parmelee. It contained a secret chamber by the great stone chimney, to which access was easy from the downstairs closet, under the stairs in the front hall, by moving a board in the ceiling, also by a movable panel in a shallow closet upstairs, and by a loose board in the attic floor. The chimney kept the room warm in winter and it is supposed to have been used to secrete English refugees in Colonial days, also for runaway slaves during and before the Civil War. The place called Bald Ledge where the Sterlings lived for several years at the north end of the street, is said to have a similar room."