Parallel Communities: The Underground Railroad in South Jersey

by Dennis Rizzo

For slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad, names like Springtown and Snow Hill promised sanctuary and salvation. Under the pressures of racial prejudice, free blacks, runaway slaves and even many Native Americans formed island communities on the periphery of South Jersey towns. While Lawnside and others continue to thrive today, "fringe communities" like Marshalltown and Timbuctoo now exist only in memory. In this discussion of these primarily African American communities, Dennis Rizzo validates their role in the preservation of tradition, definition of extended family and creation of a social bond between diverse peoples; together they formed parallel communities based on, but independent of, the larger towns and villages familiar to us all.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

Reviews

[Nicole Westen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was super fascinating. I was expecting a book about the underground railroad, which this was, but at the same time it was so much more than that. I was expecting a discussion of various stops on the railroad, but this was more of a treaties on the inter-racial communities throughout South Jersey, and the role they played in the underground railroad. The book also delved into race relations in New Jersey from it's time as a colony through to more recent times. I wasn't aware that, for a while, almost all slaves passed through New Jersey, because it was the only state to not tax imports of any kind. Although the state, thanks in part to it's large Quaker population, did do a 180, and became one of the first destinations for people escaping slavery from Maryland and Delaware.

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more than a story of the Underground Railroad, Rizzo's book is a history of Southern New Jersey, and described its earliest settlement by Dutch, Swedish, and English settlers, its early involvement in the slave trade, and its gradual transformation, led largely by white Quakers and free blacks, into a refuge for self-emancipated former slaves making their way North. I'd hoped for more individual stories, but it appears that documentation is scarce, and even the oral tradition quite limited. Still it's good to know that my current home state (and county) played a positive role in helping to end the painful family separations and other miseries caused by slavery.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am from South Jersey yet I am only aware of only half of them. Rizzo explores over a dozen communities that are multi-racial (like Gouldtown), havens for escaped slaves (like Springtown) and some for free blacks. He makes an interesting observation that the free blacks category in the earlier United States censuses does not necessarily refer to free slaves but blacks born free or of mixed race or freed slaves. Rizzo also points out that often the class of servants included people of various races (Native American, European white, West Indies black and African black) and social mixing and intermarriage was not uncommon.

[Agnes DiPietrantonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in this area and remember quite a few of the stories about free men and their little towns. I can't say that this is a great book but, because I know the area, it made the stories more real. The subject deserves more study.

[Stephanie JNote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is enlightening. I was seeking certain information and though I got a good composite of it, I am still in search of more. But, the historical data shared is great. Happy to have come across this book.

[Bonny Elwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covering a vital branch of South Jersey's history that is rarely written about, this book shares the stories of a sampling of early communities founded by tri-racial families (black, white and Lenape intermarriage), free blacks, and escaped Southern slaves during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Treasuring their own independence, these communities also provided safe havens and support networks for enslaved people fleeing from the antebellum South. While many of the South Jersey residents had a proud history of freedom, the author also demonstrates that there was a constant threat of being kidnapped and sold as slaves, which indeed happened to many unfortunates.

The author noted that in many cases the local Quakers, who held much sway in the South Jersey community, were true advocates for the freedom of their African-American neighbors. In testimony of their reputation, the author quotes S.R. Ward, the son of fugitive slaves, as stating, "To reach a Free State, and to live among Quakers, were among the highest ideas of these fugitives; accordingly, obtaining the best directions they could, they set out for the State of New Jersey, where they had learned slavery did not exist, Quakers lived in numbers, who would afford the escaped any and every protection consistent with their peculiar tenets, and where a number of blacks lived, who in cases of emergency could and would make common cause with and for each other."

It was particularly interesting to read snippets of narratives about experiencing life in these communities first-hand. Unfortunately, the book only whet my appetite for more. As the author readily confesses, this book does not go into as much depth about each community as the subject demands. The author cites the difficulty of time and the publisher's requirements (which I can well understand being somewhat familiar with the publisher myself). Occasional disjointedness and repetitiveness I also credit to the publisher's guidelines, and while the sidenotes about the context of colonial history were interesting, I longed to read more about these unique communities that are such a special part of South Jersey's heritage.

Overall, the book is a good introduction to the historic African-American communities of South Jersey and their role in the Underground Railroad. The extensive bibliography gives many ideas for future reading.