| Historic home testifies post-slavery northern flight risky
Associated Press
The end of slavery and the North’s victory in the Civil War did not end the risky flight of blacks from the South through Michigan to Canada.
The Foster Farmhouse once served as a way-station for escaped or former slaves seeking a better life in Canada.
Moved in 1997 to a site to miles from its original home, it stands largely neglected today in a municipal park.
"It was a surprise to many people that our community had ties to such an important aspect of American history," said preservation advocate
Charlene Long told Detroit Free Press columnist Desiree Cooper for a story Tuesday.
The farmhouse was built as a log cabin about 1833. In 1996, the house was slated for demolition to make way for an apartment complex. Residents came to the rescue.
The Underground Railroad was a network of homes and businesses that sheltered runaway slaves as they journeyed to freedom.
An estimated 45,000 escaped slaves used Michigan’s portion of the network.
John Dolbeer bought the farmhouse from the Banks family in 1874, nine years after the Civil War’s end and a period still dangerous for black travelers because of Ku Klux Klan terror.
Dolbeer’s daughter Jennie was 5 when they moved into the house.
One night, while her mother sat by an oil lamp mending socks, the dogs began barking in the yard, she said.
Her father went to the door, then came back inside, whispering to her mother. Her mother took down jars of her homemade soup and warmed it on the stove for her father to take outside, Jennie Dolbeer said.
The same thing happened the next night.
This time, the girl tiptoed to the door and peeked out. She said on he deathbed in 1959, according to her daughter that she had seen the faces dimly from the lamp light through the window.
Leona Heitsch, 72 and John Dolbeer’s great-granddaughter, applauded the city’s commitment to preserving the house.
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