William Still (National Cyclopaedia)

STILL, William, philanthropist and historian of the “Underground Railroad” was born at Shumway, Burlington Co.., N 1, Oct 7, 1821 His father had been a slave on the eastern shore of Maryland, who bought his freedom about 1815 and removed to New Jersey, where he acquired property and became a useful citizen.  When William was but a youth he read the "Colored American," and early imbibed the anti-slavery spirit.  He removed to Philadelphia in 1844, and soon afterward was appointed to a clerkship in the Pennsylvania Anti- Slavery Society.  He filled this position for fourteen years.  During this time he took notes of the remarkable and exciting experiences of many fugitive slaves.  These thrilling stories he carefully preserved and in 1878 published them in a volume of nearly 800 pages.  It gives an authentic account of the operations of the Underground Railroad, an organization for the protection of fugitive slaves, and to aid them in their escape northward.  Mr. Still sheltered the wife, daughter and sons of John Brown while he was awaiting execution at Charlestown, Va., in 1859. During the civil war he was post sutler at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia.  He was one of the original stockholders of the "Nation," of New York, was a member of the Freedmen's Aid Union and Commission, helped to organize the Orphans' Home for children of colored soldiers and sailors; is a trustee of Storer College at Harper's Ferry and of the Home for Destitute Colored Children; president of the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons, and a member of the Board of Trade of Philadelphia, where he has prospered as a merchant. He has also published “Voting and Laboring" and "Rights of Colored People in City Passenger Cars."