"OUR RICH BLACK HERITAGE" : WILLIAM STILL

Well, not too long ago in America, the Law said,”if the mother of a newly born child was a slave, then the child was also a slave!” However, thanks mainly to people called “Abolitionists,” many states dropped that law and officially became “Free States.” Meaning that Slavery was no longer legal in these states. Now, this is where the story of this week’s Black Pioneer, William Still begins. William was born on October 7, 1821, in Shamona, New Jersey. Although New Jersey was a Free State, and his father, Levin Still, who was once a slave,but had bought his freedom from his master, was free ; his mother, Sidney Still, was a runaway slave. In fact, his mother changed her first name to Charity, and his father even changed the spelling of the family’s last name from Steel to Still, to keep his mother’s identity hidden,since she was a fugitive slave. When his mother escaped from the plantation she had 4 children,2 girls and 2 boys. Sadly, she had to leave her 2 boys behind. While living in New Jersey, Charity and Levin had 14 more children. William was the youngest of their 18 children. In 1844, William moved from New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Three years later, he was hired as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. In Philadelphia, he met and married Letitia George. Their union resulted in them having four healthy children. Being that William worked for the P.S. F.A.O.S. , it’s no surprise that he also became an Abolitionist. Not only did William become an Abolitionist, he became a “CONDUCTOR” in the Underground Railroad! Also, his home served as an Underground Railroad Way Station. William reportedly helped as many as 800 slaves escape to freedom. He interviewed each person and kept careful records, including a brief biography and the destination for each, along with any alias adopted. Of course, he kept his records carefully hidden. One day while he was at work, a Black man approached him about finding his mother and sisters. After hearing the man’s story, William looked at the man and said,”what if I told you that I am your brother?” Well, sure enough, the man was “Peter,” one of the sons that their mother had to leave behind when she escaped from the plantation. Peter told him that their other brother, Levin Jr. had died from being whipped for visiting his wife without his master’s permission. It was so beautiful to hear about a former slave mother and her former slave son being re-united! On July 14, 1902, William Still died at his home, at 726 South 19th Street in Philadelphia. He was buried in Eden Cemetery, the “OLDEST BLACK-OWNED and OPERATED CEMETERY” in the Northern part of the United States. Additionally, after his death, The New York Times ran William Still’s obituary, proclaiming him as “The Father of the Underground Railroad!”