By Kevin Noonan
Harriet Tubman and Thomas Garrett helped hundreds reach freedom
Delaware may not be able to match Pennsylvania’s roster of major historic events, but something of major importance did happen inside our borders in the middle of the 19th Century. That is when The First State became an important stop on the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved African Americans escape to freedom.
Two people stand out in that noble cause — one a Black woman, the other a white man — and the City of Wilmington honored them in 1999 by naming one of its premier parks after Harriet Tubman and Thomas Garrett.
Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park, located near the Market Street Bridge and the Christina River, hosts many civic and social events during the year. It also serves as a reminder of the contributions and sacrifices of two ordinary people who did extra-ordinary things. Statues of this dynamic duo are a focal part of the park.
Harriet Tubman was born in Dorchester County, Md., in 1822 to enslaved parents. She escaped to freedom, but eventually returned south to rescue many of her relatives. Tubman was estimated to have made 13 missions to slave states and guided about 70 enslaved people to freedom in the North. Tubman’s commitment to helping others came about because of a spiritual awakening she had when she was a child, after suffering a severe head injury. Thomas Garrett said this about Tubman and her faith in the Divine: “I never met any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul.”
Tubman later moved to central New York, where she remained devoted to civil rights and women’s suffrage. Tubman’s different routes through Delaware and the rest of the Delmarva Peninsula can be traced at TubmanBywayDe.org.
Garrett is also memorialized at the Thomas Garrett House on Quaker Hill in Wilmington, which is part of the Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad Byway. Today, there is a marker honoring Garrett at the corner of Fourth and Shipley street, and he is buried in the Wilmington Friends House cemetery at 401 N. West Street.
Garrett lived in Philadelphia before moving to Wilmington in 1822 and, like many of his fellow Quakers, he was an outspoken abolitionist. But Garrett backed up his words with decisive action, and his house became a focal point of the Underground Railroad. It’s been estimated that he helped more than 2,000 slaves make their way to freedom.
Garrett was a “stationmaster” — someone who transported and, if necessary, hid runaway slaves at his home at 227 Shipley Street. And it’s fitting that the city park that is partially named after him is next to the Christiana River near the Market Street Bridge. One of the legendary stories about Tubman and Garrett is that she was shepherding a group of runaway slaves when she had one final obstacle to overcome — the Market Street bridge over the river. Since it was one of the few gateways into the city, the bridge was closely watched by agents charged with stopping slaves from escaping to the North.
So, Garrett arranged to have workmen travel across the bridge in a horse-drawn wagon, singing boisterously along the way. Later that day, the wagon returned across the bridge, with the workmen still singing and having fun, but this time there was a group of runaways hidden at the bottom of the wagon. The guards once again waved the wagon across the bridge, and Harriett Tubman and Thomas Garrett had worked their magic once again.
Garrett continued to work closely with Tubman and other abolitionists, and in 1848 he and compatriot John Hunn were tried in New Castle Courthouse for aiding and abetting runaways in violation of the Runaway Slave law. They were severely fined, which pushed both men to the brink of poverty, but they never wavered in their commitment to basic human rights.
—Learn more about Garrett at QuakerHillHistoric.org.
Above: A 1912 photograph of Harriet Tubman (l) and portrait of Thomas Garrett painted by 19th century artist Bass Otis. Photos provided by Delaware Historical Society
In celebration of Delaware 250, this monthly series will spotlight historic sites unique to our state.
Presented in partnership with Councilperson Michelle Harlee (Fourth District) and
Wilmington Councilperson-at-Large Latisha Bracy.
