Map of the Underground Railroad in Iowa

compiled November 2011

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New counter on September 13, 2011

Map from 1863 - 1963 Spiritual Trails of a People Called Friends, Iowa Yearly Meeting

This is very similar to the one on the wall in the Lewelling Quaker Museum.

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Map on wall of the Lewelling Quaker Museum.

I doubt if one map can be drawn to show all the routes that were taken by the slaves as they headed to Iowa and hopefully freedom. (For example, the link from Salem to Iowa City is not shown on either map.)

We read, "Very limited records about the Underground Railroad were kept or recalled later, consequently much of the very interesting Underground Railroad activities can only be surmised by what is known. It is known that strategically located mills were often used as stations if the miller was of abolitionist conviction. It would seem that Walter Terrell is one of these millers.

Walter Terrell did grow up with strong Quaker ties, married two strong Quaker wives, the daughters of an active and prominent Quaker abolitionist family in Iowa, and he was a close friend of Lawrie Tatum of Springdale in Iowa, a very active conductor on the Underground Railroad. Folklore has said, but it would seem very reasonable to conclude that the Terrell Mill near Iowa City was a station on the Underground Railroad. ...

The Walter Crew family, Walter Terrell's former employer, had migrated from Virginia to Salem in southeastern Iowa in 1849. Walter Terrell then at age 45 years married Margaret T. Crew Oct. 31, 1850. They had one daughter, Mary A., born Aug. 15, 1851. Margaret died Aug. 13, 1853. Walter Terrell then married on July 4, 1854, Jane T. Crew, his first wife's sister. Both Margaret and Jan Crew were the daughters of Walter Crew for whom Walter Terrell had worked in Virginia earlier."
From The Story of A Pioneer Quaker Miller In Iowa - by Lewis D. Savage

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