George DeBaptiste
| George DeBaptiste | |
|---|---|
| Born | c1815 Fredericksburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1875 (aged 59–60) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Occupation | barber, caterer |
| Known for | Underground Railroad |
| Political party | Republican |
George DeBaptiste (c 1815-February 22, 1875) was a prominent conductor on the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Detroit, Michigan. In 1840, he served as valet and then White House steward for US President William Henry Harrison. In the 1830s and 1840s he was an active conductor in Madison, Indiana, on the Ohio River border with Kentucky, a slave state. He moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1846 where he was considered the president of the local underground railroad group. During this period, he purchased a steamboat for carrying fugitives to Canada. It is estimated that DeBaptiste and close collaborator William Lambert secured passage of 30,000 slaves to Canada. In the late 1850s, DeBaptiste worked with Frederick Douglass and John Brown. During the American Civil War, DeBaptiste helped recruit black soldiers, and after the war he continued to work for civil rights.
George DeBaptiste was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Different sources give different parents. One source names John Debaptist and Frances "Franky"; born slaves, but were free by the time of George's birth. Another gives George DeBaptiste and Maria, George owning Maria until he set her free on March 12, 1823. A third source has him as a brother to noted Chicago minister, Richard DeBaptiste and son of a William and Eliza. George learned the barbering trade in Richmond, Virginia. In his mid-teens he married Marie Lucinda Lee, a slave, and purchased her freedom. On January 22, 1835, George obtained a free movement pass for the state of Virginia in the office of Hustings in Richmond, Virginia describing him as, "a mulatto boy, about five feet seven and a half inches high, and about twenty yeas of age, who was born free." He later said he used the certificate 33 times to help slaves escape.
DeBaptiste moved to Madison, Indiana while still young, and around 1836 invested in businesses and harbored black fugitives as a conductor in the Underground Railroad. Madison is on the Ohio River, bordering Kentucky, a slave state, and sits nearly halfway between Cincinnati and Louisville. DeBaptistes ring included Dr. Samuel Tibbers in Madison and William Beard, a Quaker, in Salem, Indiana in Union County. Catherine White Coffin and Levi Coffin were the superintendents of the ring and arranged relays to Canada. In February, 1840, DeBaptiste, Seymour Finney, and William Lambert arranged the noted rescue of Robert Cromwell from a Detroit Courthouse.
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