Newton today is known as a law-abiding town. In the mid 19th century, however, some of its citizens broke the law: by harboring fugitives who had escaped from slavery in the South.

There’s currently an exhibit at the Jackson Homestead and Museum spotlighting the home’s place in the abolitionist movement and the famed Underground Railroad.

On the road to freedom

William Jackson, one Newtonian, used his home as a stop on the Underground Railroad for those seeking freedom to rest, whether on their way to settle in Boston or to go further afield to Canada or the United Kingdom.

Today, the Jackson Homestead is one of Historic Newton’s museums and has exhibits on the Underground Railroad as well as other aspects of Newton history.
How many people stayed at Jackson’s home?

“We don’t know, because it was illegal,” said Allison Pagliaro, education manager at Historic Newton.

There are two post-Civil War documents recounting it. One is from Ellen Jackson, William’s daughter, who wrote that she remembered her father being awakened after midnight by someone throwing pebbles at the window. It was William Bowditch of Brookline, who was helping to convey someone north. The man would need help getting to a train station the next day that was further away, because his master was in Boston looking for him.

Another is from Bowditch himself, who mentioned visiting Jackson’s home to an author writing a book about the Underground Railroad in the 1890s.

Historic Newton thinks Jackson was a highly active participant in providing a safe house for those fleeing. Jackson’s brother, Francis, was the treasurer of the Boston Vigilance Committee, which was founded to warn those who had escaped when slave catchers were in the city. It then began to also help those who fled, and would reimburse people who provided assistance. Jackson received numerous reimbursements from the committee, which were likely due to his opening his home. The committee helped hundreds of people escape, as well as provided legal representation.

Jackson died in 1855, but his daughter, Ellen, carried on his values: she helped establish the Freedman’s Aid Society in Newton in 1865, for which she would serve as president until her death in 1902. The society contributed bedding, clothing and books to the newly formed black colleges, Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School (now Hampton University) and the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University).

This represents a positive turn in the history of both the Jackson family and the town of Newton, because neither were always abolitionists. Edmund Jackson, who came to Newton in 1646, had two slaves.

“We don’t know much about the people who were enslaved,” said Pagliaro. All that is known about them is how much they were worth in the probate records after
his death: ten pounds. In 1754, a slave census showed that there were 13 enslaved people in Newton, out of a total of 4,500 in the entire colony.

This map of Newton, on display at the Jackson Homestead and Museum, shows which homes had enslaved people at them and which homes were part of the Abolitionist movement. Historic Newton

A hotbed of Abolitionism

But people came to realize that was wrong. Slavery was declared incompatible with the Massachusetts state constitution in 1783, because it said, “all men are born free and equal,” and several enslaved people won their freedom due to court cases related to this.

The early abolitionist movement was based on the same Enlightenment values of liberty and freedom and Christian values of justice and equality before God that spurred the American Revolution. The invention of the cotton gin that led to the growth of plantation slavery also led to the growth of the abolitionist movement, which grew only more fervent as more enslaved people escaped and were captured and sent back.

It’s not known if there were other Newton houses used as stops on the Underground Railroad. “There’s no primary source evidence, but there’s an oral tradition that Nathaniel Allen’s house was one,” said Pagliaro. Allen ran a racially integrated school in West Newton, which at the time was extremely unusual, and he was active in the abolitionist movement.

Historic Newton is proud to be able to educate people about the Jacksons and other Newtonians involved in abolition through their exhibits and programming.

“We’re developing a new exhibit, opening later this year, that will examine more people involved in anti-slavery in Newton,” said Pagliaro.

The Jackson Homestead is open on Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is free on the first Sunday of the month. More details can be found on Historic Newton’s website.