MORTON, Ill. — Tazewell County held the first recognition Tuesday of Underground Railroad Coordinators throughout the county, as people gathered to honor the individuals at Hirstein Cemetery.
The Underground Railroad was a network of people that offered shelter and aid to escaped enslaved people from the South.
The event Tuesday honored Uriah Crosby, who is buried in the cemetery, as well as Daniel, Darius, Walter and John Roberts in Roberts Cemetery.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman said holding the event today held special significance.
“Today [Tuesday] is the 210th birthday for Uriah Crosby,” said Ackerman. “We’re starting a process of recognizing the conductors of the Underground Railroad through Tazewell County.”
Ackerman said it has been difficult researching the coordinators because it was kept a secret who was involved.
“You have to dig through family history, get family histories, cross-check it and make sure that their records check out,” said Ackerman. “Crosby is well-recognized because he was very outspoken as an abolitionist.”
Crosby’s great-great-granddaughter, Pamela Senkler, attended the event.
“My mother told me the stories about her family’s history, starting with the Crosby family,” said Senkler.
She continued on to say how she felt about one of her ancestors being involved in the Underground Railroad.
“It was a brave thing to do — it was an important thing in our history,” said Senkler. “It’s important to me because it was important to my mother.”
Senkler lives in Naples, Fla. and stumbled upon the event searching the internet. She said it was a “spur of the moment thing” to make her first ever trip to Illinois as her ancestor was honored.
Senkler told the gathering crowd that Crosby felt very strongly that people were not meant to be sold, a controversial opinion to some at the time before the American Civil War.
Ackerman says it’s estimated more than 800 enslaved people came through Tazewell County on the Underground Railroad.
The event held Tuesday is just the first in a planned series of public recognition events that will take place for Underground Railroad Coordinators through Tazewell County.
A permanent marker will be added at the grave sites of the individuals indicating their involvement.
