

Charles Leonhardt, an abolitionist who fought beside John Brown during his abolitionist crusade in Territorial Kansas. Leonhardt was one of the leaders of the militant abolitionists in Kansas Territory and helped to form one the first Free State guerilla forces in Kansas Territory.

John James Smith (1820 – 1906) was a barber shop owner, abolitionist, a three-term Massachusetts state representative, and one of the first African-American members of the Boston Common Council. A Republican, he served three terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He was born in Richmond Virginia. He took part in the California Gold Rush. During the 1840s and 50s, Smith’s barbershop on the north slope of Beacon Hill was a center of abolitionist activity, and provided shelter to freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. During the Civil War, Smith recruited soldiers for the black regiments of Massachusetts.


This is a cabinet card studio portrait of Captain William Mitchell who lived in Wabaunsee, Kansas. This photograph was taken in Washington, D.C. in 1889 when he and his wife Mary Ann Chamberlin Mitchell were attending the inauguration of President Benjamin Harrison. William M. Mitchell (c. 1826 – c. 1879) was an American writer, minister and abolitionist who worked on the Underground Railroad. He is said to be the only writer who wrote about the railroad while it was still illegal.
