Lyman Goodnow
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Lyman Goodnow (1799–1884), a resident of
Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 71,158 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River adjacent to th ...
, was a conductor on the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
.


Early life

Born to Asa and Lydia Warren Goodnow on February 12, 1799, Lyman Goodnow was a native of
Rutland, Massachusetts Rutland is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 9,049 at the 2020 census. Rutland is the geographic center of Massachusetts; a tree, the Central Tree, located on Central Tree Road, marks the general spo ...
. In 1805, his parents moved the family to the wilderness of
Potsdam, New York Potsdam is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. The town population was 14,901 at the 2020 census. When the State University of New York at Potsdam and Clarkson University are in sess ...
. After school, he farmed before going to Canada to work as a lumberman. He moved to
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
where he worked in construction, and then worked for a railroad and followed by boating at
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
. He moved to Wisconsin, where his sister Mrs. Allen Clinton and brother E.W. Goodnow had settled. He established a quarry at Frame Field in Prairieville (now Waukesha). He sold native stone and lime by 1840.


Underground Railroad

Mary Ellen Snodgress states that he was a "pioneer and initiator of Underground Railroad activism in Wisconsin, most well-known for guiding
Caroline Quarlls Caroline Quarlls (1826–1892) was the first enslaved person to travel through Wisconsin using the Underground Railroad. She escaped bondage in St. Louis, Missouri in 1842. Multiple abolitionists, including Lyman Goodnow, helped Caroline on her ...
. In 1842, he guided 16-year-old Caroline Quarlls through Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan into Canada. She was the first enslaved person to travel the Underground Railroad through Wisconsin. They traveled through stations on Wisconsin's Underground Railroad, including Prairieville (now Waukesha), Spring Prairie, and Gardner's Prairie near Burlington. They then traveled through Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, while continuing to be pursued by slave hunters and lawyers. Quarlls and Goodnow stopped at the house of
Guy Beckley Guy Beckley (1803–1847) was a Methodist Episcopal minister, abolitionist, Underground Railroad stationmaster, and lecturer. The Guy Beckley House is on the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and the Journey to Freedom ...
in Ann Arbor, the last stop before Detroit where they crossed the Detroit River for Canada. Goodnow guided her into Canada. Abolitionists have given the two a purse of travel necessities to help the two cross the border. Her journey lasted five weeks throughout multiple states into Canada, where she lived free. Quarlls corresponded with Goodnow after she had married and raised her six children.


Personal life

Goodnow was married in 1844. Heavy lifting at the quarry took its toll and Goodnow's health suffered. He was a member of the First Congregational Church of Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 1848, he moved to
Omro, Wisconsin Omro is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,652 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is located along the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River, approximately 10 miles west of Oshkos ...
on what was previously
Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
lands. His third child was the first white child born on the lands. After more years of declining health, he returned to Waukesha in 1850. He died in 1884 and was buried at the Prairie Home Cemetery. A bronze tablet was placed on Goodnow's grave by the Waukesha County Historical Society in 1934. The inscription is, "Erected to the memory of / 1799 - Lyman Goodnow - 1884 / First conductor of Wisconsin's underground railroad / In 1842 he conveyed Caroline Quarrels, / an escaped slave, to Canada and freedom."


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodnow, Lyman 1799 births 1884 deaths Underground Railroad people People from Waukesha, Wisconsin People from Rutland, Massachusetts