Guilford College Woods

When a free man named Benjamin Benson was kidnapped from his home in Delaware in 1816 and brought to Guilford County to be sold into slavery, Friend Vestal Coffin came to his aid, representing Benson in court as he sued for his freedom.  Five years later, Benson became the first slave to succeed in such a case. 

Coffin was so moved by Benson’s case that he, along with his cousin Levi Coffin, began to work to smuggle runaway slaves to freedom.  A slave named Sol brought runaways to the cousins, who lived next to the current Guilford College Woods and would conceal them in the Woods, sometimes in caves along the banks of Horsepen Creek.  From here, the runaways made their way north, with the help of sympathizers – many of whom were Quakers – who guided and sheltered them on their way. 

In 1826, Levi, who has been called the “president of the Underground Railroad” moved to Newport, Indiana, considered the northern end of the route from Guilford County.  There he escorted “passengers” from the Ohio River towards Canada, where they would be safe from the Fugitive Slave Act, which sent them back to their masters if caught.