1844 (Dec. 8), Amherstburg, Upper Canada, to Troy, New York, "Underground Railroad" letter, via Detroit, cross-border stampless folded
1844 (Dec. 8), Amherstburg, Upper Canada, to Troy, New York, "Underground Railroad" letter, via Detroit, cross-border stampless folded letter, struck with red circular AMHERSTBURG / U.C. (Dec. 8) departure datestamp and blue Detroit / Mich. (Dec. 10) transit c.d.s., red straight-line PAID handstamp, manuscript "4½" (pence) Canadian inland postage and manuscript "20" (cents) U.S. rate for distance over 400 miles to Troy, reverse with two-line "WINDSOR, C.W. / 9 DEC 1844" transit, the odd small spot of discoloration, else fine, with fascinating and historically-relevant contents. Written by Reverend Isaac J. Rice (1808–1880), a white missionary from Ohio and Auburn Seminary graduate who settled at Fort Malden in 1838, the letter provides a detailed account of the Amherstburg Mission, a vital terminal on the Underground Railroad. Rice describes the immense struggles of the fugitive slave population, whom he calls a "distressed People" facing "prejudices against them" and subsistence living on low wages, reports on the mission's school of 40 to 50 students, and his desperate search for a "solid Teacher" to prevent the institution from falling to "nought." The content takes a provocative turn as Rice criticises fellow abolitionists, questioning why large donations were diverted from his mission to the Dawn Settlement, and noting of Arthur Tappan, a famed American abolitionist, "He has not noticed us." Rice is historically noted for living in shared poverty with the refugees, often selling his own furniture and watch to provide food for the thousands of "slaves rushing in."
