GEORGE DEBAPTISTE¹George DeBaptiste (1814-75) was born a free black in Fredericksburg, Virginia, to William and Eliza DeBaptiste. He married Lucinda Lee, and in 1838 moved to Madison, Indiana. While in Madison, DeBaptiste was suspected of aiding and abetting runaway slaves, and was ordered to post a five-hundred-dollar bond. Retaining a lawyer, he appealed the decision to the circuit court and finally to the state supreme court, whose decision overturned that of the lower courts. DeBaptiste went on to become the valet of William Henry Harrison, accompanying him to Washington upon his election to the presidency in 1841. Following Harrison’s death in April of that year, DeBaptiste returned to Madison. In 1846, DeBaptiste moved to Detroit and soon became a leader in the Underground Railroad. In March 1859, he participated in the meeting in Detroit between Frederick Douglass and John Brown during which Brown’s proposed slave uprising was considered. After the outbreak of the Civil War, DeBaptiste aided in the recruitment of Michigan’s colored regiment. In the 1870s, he sat on Detroit’s first black jury, was elected as a delegate to the local Republican senatorial convention, and was instrumental in integrating Detroit’s public schools. DeBaptiste became one of Detroit’s wealthiest black citizens. Katzman, , 14-15, 41, 178; Bordewich, , 1-3, 197, 202-06, 410, 412; , 166.TO FREDERICK DOUGLASS

Detroit, [Mich.] 5 Nov[ember] 1854.

DEAR DOUGLASS:—

Perhaps you may want to know something about the people out here. Well, all the good news I have, is, that the Underground Railroad Company²Reportedly the busiest Underground Railroad gateway to Canada, Detroit had a very active Vigilance Committee by the mid-1840s, led by the white Quaker William Lambert and the black abolitionists Henry Bibb and George DeBaptiste. The group publicly reported escorting hundreds of fugitive slaves each year to safety in Canada. Bordewich, , 257-59, 382-84, 410.is doing a very large business at this time, and the stock is up above any other Company here. We have had, within the last ten or fifteen days, fifty-three first class passengers landed at this point, by the Express train from the South. We expect ten more tonight. They all look well. I think our conductors take first rate care of them on the way. We have not had a single disaster on our Road, though our trains run at night altogether. We never want any head lights; our engines all know the depots, and turn off places without lights. We shall make out a Report of our doing for the last four months in a few days, and will send you a copy.

Yours for the slave,

G. D. BAPTIST.

PLSr: , 17 November 1854.