1859 Tennessee Stampede

In early May 1859, the Detroit Advertiser reported that 75 freedom seekers "from the interior of Tennessee" had passed through their city by train on their way toward Canada.  "This is probably the largest that ever escaped in one company," claimed the newspaper.  But the newspaper also claimed that just a week earlier there other escapees, coming through Detroit in groups of seven and five, "making ninety-four in all," during the early part of the month, and "worth at the present market price the handsome sum of $94,000! The Underground Railroad was never before doing so flourishing a business."