Charity Still

Charity Still (c. 1775 – 1857) gave birth to 18 children and 4 of those children are assumed to die at child birth.[1] She was a matriarch of the American abolition movement. Her son William Still became a well known abolitionist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Charity Still, from a 1912 publication.

Early life

Sidney (later renamed Charity) was born in slavery in the eighteenth century, on a plantation in the Caroline County, Maryland. When she was a child, her father was killed by the plantation's master.[2]

Sidney met Levin Still (or Steel) while they were both enslaved in Maryland. They had four children together before Levin was able to buy his own freedom and move to Shamong Township, New Jersey.[3] She escaped with her four children, all very young, and reunited with Levin Still in New Jersey. A few months later, Charity and all the children were captured and returned to Maryland. On her next escape, she left her two sons, Levin Jr. and Peter, in the care of their grandmother, and reached New Jersey again with her two daughters, Mahalia and Kitturah. The older sons remained in slavery; one died from cruel treatment, the other, Peter, eventually gained his freedom and reunited with Charity Still in 1850.[4] He purchased his freedom and was reunited with mother in 1850. He lived out the rest of life in Burlington Township, New Jersey.

Life in the North

To prevent another recapture, Levin and Charity Still moved into a secluded area of the Pine Barrens, a placed named Shamong Township, New Jersey, where their other children were born. Their youngest son was William Still (c1821-1902), a Philadelphia businessman who worked with the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. The New York Times pronounced in William's obituary to be "The Father of the Underground Railroad".[3] The term "Underground Railroad" for the network of people, vehicles, and buildings used to aid people escaping slavery. He personally assisted hundreds of people seeking freedom. Another son, James Still, was denied formal medical training, worked as a herbalist healer in the African-American community.[5] James's home and medical office was located in Medford, New Jersey. Charity Still died in 1857, aged about 82 years. One of Charity Still's granddaughters was William's daughter, Caroline Still Anderson (1848-1919), who became a medical doctor.[3]

References
  1. "Family record ("Catalogue of Children of Leven Still and Charity his wife")". Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
  2. James P. Boyd, William Still: His Life and Work to This Time, Extracted from William's Still The Underground Railroad Records ( Philadelphia: William Still Publisher, 244 South Twelfth Street,1886/ Republished by the South Jersey Culture & History Center, 2023). ISBN 9780997669954
  3. Andrew Diemer, Vigilance: Life of William Still, The Father of the Underground Railroad. (Published Alfred A. Knopf, 2022) ISBN 9780593534380
  4. Pickard, Kate E. R.; Furness, William Henry (1856). The Kidnapped and the Ransomed: Being the Personal Recollections of Peter Still and His Wife "Vina," After Forty Years of Slavery. W. T. Hamilton.
  5. Still, James Dr. Early Recollections and Life of Dr. James Still Dr. Early Recollections and Life of Dr. James Still (J.B. Lippincott & CO. 1877. Originally published by author./ Republished by South Jersey Culture & History Center, 2015)
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