{"id":9943,"date":"2019-03-08T18:55:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-08T18:55:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=9943"},"modified":"2019-03-08T18:55:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T18:55:55","slug":"utrgv-researchers-uncovering-south-texass-part-in-the-underground-railroad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/losfresnosnews.net\/?p=9943","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV Researchers Uncovering South Texas\u2019s Part in the Underground Railroad"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Maria Elena Hernandez<\/em><\/strong><\/div>\n
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RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0Lessons about the Underground Railroad often focus on escaped slaves heading north to\u00a0free states<\/a>\u00a0and Canada.<\/div>\n
But many people don\u2019t know they also headed south \u2013 to the Rio Grande Valley.<\/div>\n
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Researchers at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley are working to uncover South Texas\u2019s part in the\u00a0Underground Railroad<\/a>. And this area was, after all, the last stop before Mexico, which abolished slavery decades before the\u00a0Emancipation Proclamation<\/a>\u00a0was issued in the United States.<\/div>\n
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ROUTE FOR COTTON, AND FREEDOM<\/strong><\/div>\n
Roseann Bacha-Garza, program manager for UTRGV\u2019s\u00a0Community Historical Archaeology Project with Schools<\/a>\u00a0(CHAPS) and a history lecturer at UTRGV, said slaves in Texas actually were quite familiar with the southern path to freedom.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThose who were already in Texas and serving on plantations in East Texas already had knowledge of pathways of how to get down to the border, as they were shepherding the plantation owners\u2019 cotton to the ports down here,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
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Fugitive slaves also heard of people in the Rio Grande Valley willing to help them, families Bacha-Garza learned about during research for the Rio Grande Valley Civil War Trail project.<\/div>\n
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\u201cOne of those families was named the Jackson family,\u201d Bacha-Garza said. \u201cNathaniel Jackson was the patriarch, and he led a caravan of five covered wagons, seven families, over a dozen emancipated slaves from his plantation in Alabama through Louisiana into Texas.\u201d<\/div>\n
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The Jackson family settled in what is now San Juan. And few miles west of the Jackson\u2019s home, John Ferdinand Webber set up a home with his wife, Sylvia Hector, and their children.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWhat\u2019s really interesting about these two particular families is that they both had white husbands and emancipated black slave wives,\u201d Bacha-Garza said.<\/div>\n
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Escaped slaves heard these two families could help them reach Mexico.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThey knew of the Webbers. They knew of the Jacksons,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
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Roseann Bacha-Garza, program manager for CHAPS and a history lecturer at UTRGV. Photo: Silver Salas\/UTRGV<\/p><\/div>\n

RISKS TO FAMILIES<\/strong><\/div>\n
\u201cBoth ranches had ferry landings on their property, which made it easy for them to shepherd escaped slaves over the river, across into Mexico,\u201d Bacha-Garza said.<\/div>\n
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The quick access to Mexico not only helped fugitive slaves, but also acted as a safeguard for family members. The\u00a0Fugitive Slave Act<\/a>\u00a0authorized the capture of escaped slaves, and some slave catchers would also kidnap freed slaves and put them back into servitude.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere were plenty of folks out there who were afraid for both reasons that the Fugitive Slave Act would cause them harm,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
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People who were caught helping escaped slaves also faced punishment.<\/div>\n
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RESEARCH SOURCES LIMITED<\/strong><\/div>\n
Researchers don\u2019t know how many slaves the Jacksons and Webbers helped.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere really aren\u2019t any primary sources left behind, like letters or documents stating that somebody participated in this activity, because it was secret,\u201d Bacha-Garza said.<\/div>\n
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However, the CHAPS program manager said researchers learned that some fugitive slaves who made it to South Texas did not actually cross the Rio Grande.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThey liked it here so much, they stayed,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n
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UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS<\/strong><\/div>\n
CHAPS will be sharing their research about the Underground Railroad in the Rio Grande Valley at two events this month.<\/div>\n
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