Biography
Elijah Anderson was a blacksmith and abolitionist who served as the Underground Railroad's "General Superintendent," or regional manager, for the Ohio River region. During his career, he helped an estimated 1,800 escaped slaves reach freedom and was one one of the most active conductors along the Ohio River. Kentucky officers arrested him aboard the steamboat Superior on December 10, 1856, on charges of "enticing slaves to run away" after General William O. Butler, a prominent military and political leader, accused him of encouraging slaves to leave their masters. After he was acquitted on all charges, authorities immediately rearrested him where they held and tortured him for months, demanding the names of other Underground Railroad members. Despite his refusal to give any information, he was eventually convicted of helping an enslaved young man named George escape, based on a local slave catcher's claim that he saw Anderson board a ship with the runaway slave. Anderson was sentenced to eight years and eight months in the Kentucky State Penitentiary. On March 4, 1861, the day he was scheduled to be released early for good behavior his daughter arrived at the prison, only to be told by guards that he had been found dead in his cell that morning.
