Sarah Williams to William Ingram Letter

William Ingram, a British immigrant and dedicated abolitionist, played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved individuals escape from enslavement in the Southern United States. Born in England, Ingram initially worked in the tea trade before emigrating to America at the age of twenty-eight. Settling in Petersburg, Virginia, he opened a tea store, unaware of the brutal realities of slavery that permeated the society around him.

After witnessing firsthand the atrocities of the slave trade, Ingram became an active participant in the clandestine network aiding fugitive slaves. Over the eight years he lived in Petersburg, he assisted approximately 200 individuals in escaping to freedom. Operating alone among white society, he relied on the enslaved community for support and information. His methods included hiding runaways in haylofts and securing passage on Old Dominion steamers bound for Philadelphia, where Underground Railroad operatives like William Still received them.

One of his most daring rescues involved a literate Baptist preacher who initially struggled with the moral implications of escaping. After resolving his doubts, the preacher sought Ingram’s help. A complex escape plan was orchestrated, relying on coded signals and intermediaries. The fugitive was nearly discovered aboard the City of Richmond when the captain’s wife peered into his hiding space. Thinking quickly, the ship’s cook, an Underground Railroad ally, hid him near the galley oven, enduring blistering heat to avoid detection. Later, a well-placed bottle of brandy ensured that a U.S. official tasked with inspecting for runaways left without conducting a search. The preacher ultimately reached Montreal and gained his freedom. Ingram’s abolitionist work made him a target. Slave traders, angered by his defiance, burned down his store and threatened him with violence. Arrested and jailed for nine days, he was eventually released due to lack of evidence. However, a warning letter ordered him to leave Virginia within thirty days under threat of tarring and feathering. Defiantly, he remained five times as long as warned and even returned to help others escape. Eventually, forced to flee, he resettled in Pennsylvania, where he became a leader in prison reform.

In the 1870s, he befriended poet Walt Whitman in Camden, New Jersey, providing him with care in his later years.

William Ingram passed away in 1904, leaving behind a remarkable but largely untold legacy in the fight against slavery and the pursuit of justice.