Editing Woodford County, Illinois (section)

===Antebellum years===
[[File:Undergroundrailroadsmall2.jpg|thumb|right|400px|Various routes of the [[Underground Railroad]] aiding the escape of slaves to Canada. One branch ran through Woodford County.]]
By 1850, Woodford County was well settled; county's population topped the 5,000 mark. Illinois settlers were overwhelmingly opposed to the institution of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], and with the passage of the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]], popular discontent grew and opponents began to engage in acts of resistance, hiding escaped slaves seeking escape to [[Canada]]. One branch of the so-called [[Underground Railroad]] along which escaped slaves furtively avoided their potential captors ran directly through Woodford County.<ref name="Moore29">Moore 1910, p. 29.</ref>

The "stations" of the Underground Railroad were generally residences where escaping slaves could hide from their pursuers. These stations were located at convenient distances so that those escaping (and their "conductor" guides) could travel from one to the next in a single night.<ref>Radford 1877, p. 57</ref>

The journey was dangerous. Wanted posters offering rewards of $50, $100, and sometimes more for specific runaway slaves were placed by slaveowners, attracting bounty hunters. Moreover, those assisting escaping slaves were themselves violators of the Fugitive Slave Law, subject to prosecution and punishment.<ref>Moore 1910, p. 32</ref>

Local historian Roy L. Moore wrote:
<blockquote>
There was bitter opposition to the enforcement of the fugitive slave law. This condition was not surprising, since the county had men who were strong opponents of slavery and likewise men who would make any sacrifice to have the institution stamped out. Over this branch of the underground road many a runaway slave passed on his way to freedom. There was such a strong sentiment against the [slave] traffic that conductors and stations were found in sufficient number to carry on the work successfully.<ref name=Moore29/></blockquote>

Church deacons named Mr. Dutton and Parker Morse were credited by Moore as leaders of the local anti-slavery effort. Despite the fact that these and other active conductors in the Underground Railroad were known to the community, popular sentiment against slavery was such that there was "very little molestation for a long time" in Woodford County. Only one instance of an arrest of a Woodford County conductor is recorded by Roy Moore in his 1910 history, and that ultimately resulted in the [[quash]]ing of the [[indictment]].<ref>Moore 1910, pp. 32–33.</ref>