"Here are the engrossing facts about one of the least-known movements in Connecticut's history--the rise, organization, and operations of the Underground Railroad, over which fugitive slaves from the South found their way to freedom. Drawing his data from published sources and, perhaps more importantly, from the descendants of Underground agents and from still-existing oral tradition, Mr. Strother tells the story in detail. He traces the routes from such entry points as New Haven and the New York line, through important crossroads like Brooklyn and Farmington, to havens farther along the road to Canada ... He identifies the high-minded lawbreakers who operated the system--farmers and merchants, local officials and judges, at least one United States Senator, and many dedicated ministers of the Gospel. He shows the dangers they faced, from petty annoyances to full-scale legal prosecutions and the violence of pro-slavery mobs. He sets the whole against the larger background: the development of slavery and abolitionism in America as these affected the legal and social situation in Connecticut. "--Jacket.