FREED PERSONS OF COLOR IN MAURY COUNTY 1850

Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen: The Underground Railroad King

Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen was born into slavery sometime around 1809 in Davidson County, and escaped from a plantation in Maury County 1838, going on to become one of the most powerful voices in the Abolitionist Movement and the Underground Railroad.

Jermain Loguen’s mother, Jane, began life free in Ohio, which was not a slave state. One day, when she wandered too far from her home, beyond the sight or hearing of her family, out of nowhere, strong arms grabbed her and covered her mouth to muffle any scream. She was thrown into the back of a wagon with a group of kidnapped children, captured by illegal slave traders bound for the South. 

Further south in Tennessee, in 1790, Elinor and John Loguen had settled on land next to Mansker’s Creek in north Davidson County. A revolutionary war veteran, John Loguen had also been awarded an additional 1000 acres in Davidson County on the south side of the Cumberland River. John and his wife had four daughters and three sons. His youngest son, Dave, was only 2 when his father died. In his will, John Logan divided the thousand acres between his three sons, left each daughter with some livestock, and passed on the original homestead to his wife. Elinor continued working the farm to support the family, and after some time, discovered the operation of a whiskey distillery to be her most profitable enterprise.

Historical records do not show that her husband owned any slaves, or that he left her enough money to purchase any. Although the two older sons were of some use around the farm, Elinor needed more help than they could provide. Because the traders had paid no money for their captive children, they were able to sell Jane to Elinor at below-market value, a price she could afford. Jane was just 7 years old. 

Pleased with their purchase, the Loguen family treated Jane with kindness, just as they might a new puppy. She was given the name Cherry. Mistaking the gentle treatment for empathy and compassion, Jane told them her story, hoping to be returned home. Quite the opposite, Jane, now Cherry, felt the sting of the whip, and Cherry was commanded to never speak of such things again. 

Jermain’s Father

As Cherry grew, she proved to be quite useful and was particularly skilled at the work in the distillery. Over time, the farm had acquired additional slaves, and she became the manager of their work.

As she transitioned from girl to woman, her beauty blossomed as well, and before long she became recognized as the mistress of the youngest son, Dave. Jermain was their second child, born sometime between 1809 and 1814. It is worth noting that their fourth child, a girl, was named Jane. 

Not altogether uncommon in these situations, Jermain knew that Dave was his father, and Dave was aware that Jermain was his son. Consequently, Dave treated Jermain with some degree of kindness. So often on the slave plantations, children were either unaware or physically removed from their father. In contrast, Jermain grew up having a relationship with his father, and this may have contributed to the confidence he would need to manifest his later escape.

Beaten to Submission

Despite the close physical relationship between Dave and his mistress, Cherry was often subjected to brutal beatings and whippings. Jermaine had excruciating, dark memories of his mother being, “knocked down with clubs, stripped and bound, and flogged with sticks, ox whips, and rawhides until the blood streamed down the gashes upon her body.”

Perhaps from jealousy, the two older brothers, Manasseh and Carnes, often administered the beatings. When Dave married in 1816 or 17, he lost interest in Cherry, and she was no longer under his protection. The beatings increased, perhaps fueled by the drunken stupor of alcohol from the family business.

Another factor may have been that rather than being beaten into submission, Cherry’s inner 0spirit remained strong and defiant. It could be said she passed on this strength to her son, providing one more element necessary for the brave undertaking of escape.

For whatever reason, Dave found himself growing deeper in debt, and to pay off creditors, sold Cherry, Jermain, and his siblings to Dave’s older brother Manasseh, who by that time had his own plantation further south in Maury County. It wasn’t long before Manasseh sold two of Cherry’s other children, and Jermain was forced to watch helplessly as his mother slipped into a nervous breakdown. This was followed by the sale of his older sister, taken from her husband and children.

Loguen had to watch as she was beaten into submission and carried away, never to be seen again. He also watched as a young friend named Sam, who had saved him from drowning only a few days before, was lashed to a barrel and beaten unconscious. The barrel was pushed down a hill, with the young man still tied on. Sam did not survive. 

Perhaps the last straw came when Loguen was working on the plantation in Maury County. When the metal blade of his hoe became detached from the handle while working out in the fields, Manasseh became furious. Logan attempted to use a wedge to reattach the hoe, and when that did not work Manasseh seized the wooden wedge and jammed it into Logan’s mouth, pounding it with his fist until Loguen’s mouth became mutilated and bloody. The beating only stopped when Manasseh grew bored and left in search of more drink from the distillery.

Still, it would be three more years before all the pieces were in place. Plotting with a friend from an adjoining plantation, Loguen and fellow slave John Farney acquired guns and forged papers, paying off a poor white man whose thirst for alcohol was greater than his fear of punishment for helping them. Stealing their master’s finest horses for transportation, Loguen and Farney set out on Christmas Eve, a time when travel restrictions on slaves were typically relaxed and drew less suspicion. 

Crossing to Freedom

The first challenge was crossing a bridge at the Cumberland River, where the tollgate keeper kept watch for runaway slaves. However, it being Christmas, the head keeper had left a young boy in charge. The lad was pleased to receive a shilling coin as a tip and let the two runaways cross the bridge without a hitch. 

Loguen and Farney set out boldly across Kentucky, passing themselves off Free Blacks, and as they had been advised, asking for overnight accommodations at the wealthiest homes along the way, furthering the success of their charade. 

At last, they came to the Ohio River. Although iced over, there was no way to know if it would support their weight. Indiana was to be avoided. Groups of bounty hunters camped along the banks of the Ohio, seeking to capture runaway slaves for the reward. Illinois was a free state, but with the Fugitive Slave Act, they could still be captured and returned at any point along their Journey.

To Set the Captives Free

The narrative above represents only a small portion of Loguen’s story.  He eventually made his way to Syracuse, New York, where he established a friendship with Frederick Douglass. Unlike Douglass and other prominent escaped slaves in the Abolitionist Movement, Loguen refused to purchase his freedom, which meant he could be captured and returned to Tennessee at any time. After gaining wide exposure through his participation in the Underground Railroad, Loguen for a time moved to Canada, but then returned, earning a reputation as “The Underground King.” 

Loguen self-published an autobiography, using a ghostwriter to transcribe his stories through a series of interviews. A number of books, or slave narratives, were published during this time period to further the Abolitionist cause.

The book from which this essay is drawn, To Set the Captives Free, by Dr. Carol Hunter, Professor Emeritus of History and African American Studies at Earlham College, draws heavily from Logan’s accounts, along with additional research to present this powerful biography of a man who in his own words, would have preferred to be “a still and quiet man, but oppression made me mad.”

Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen was one of the most fervent and dedicated abolitionists of his day. An ex-slave, he brazenly printed in Syracuse newspapers his address and invitations to other runaways seeking freedom. He became infamous for his leadership in the “Jerry rescue”— one of the very few successful fugitive slave rescues in the country.

During his lifetime he was hailed as the “Underground Railroad King” and worked closely with Frederick Douglass, Henry Highland Garnet, Gerrit Smith, Samuel May, and other leading figures in the abolitionist movement. He was ordained in the AME Zion Church and utilized his many church connections to help fugitives and assist the self-emancipated in finding jobs and making the transition to freedom.

In 2011 Reverend Jermain Loguen was one of the early inductees into the National Abolition Hall of Fame. His book is the story of an unsung hero, revealing his passionate lifelong stance for freedom, human rights, and equality, his dagger-sharp oratory as preacher and writer, and his internal turmoils as someone who, in his own words, would have preferred to have been “a still quiet man, but oppression has made me mad.”