photo #7265104

Meet Laura Smith Haviland, an influential abolitionist who operated an Underground Railroad station in southeast Michigan. Haviland was born on December 20, 1808, in Kitley Township, Ontario, to devout Quaker parents. In most of her early years, from Canada to New York, Haviland’s life revolved around the farm. She learned to read and write from her parents, and was an “inquisitive,” well-read young girl—even though she lacked a formal education. Through her reading, she became deeply interested in the institution of slavery. At age 16, she met Charles Haviland, Jr., a young Quaker man with a similar background. They got married one year later, and then moved to Michigan. Surrounded by people of shared values, Haviland and others formed the Logan Female Anti-Slavery Society, the first abolitionist group in Michigan. The family also opened up a school, named the Raisin Institute, where Laura taught. Despite the protests of some, Haviland insisted that the school be open to all races and religions. It was the first integrated school in Michigan, and Haviland reported that the success won over concerned parents, as the students got along so well. During that time, the Havilands also hid runaway slaves on their farm. Their home was the first Underground Railroad station in Michigan, and it developed a reputation as a safe haven for former slaves who had escaped fugitive slave catchers. Haviland would personally escort some slaves to Canada, where they were free. Even under the Fugitive Slave Act, Haviland maintained her operation—risking imprisonment and physical harm to herself. Haviland also worked to reunite families separated by slavery. Her work once incited a southern slave owner to put a bounty on her head after he threatened her at gunpoint. Nevertheless, Haviland's work continued. She remained active in the abolitionist movement until her death in 1898. “I would not for my right hand become instrumental in returning one escaped slave to bondage," she wrote. "I firmly, believe in our Declaration of Independence, that all men are created free and equal, and that no human being has a right to make merchandise of others born in humbler stations, and place them on a level with horses, cattle, and sheep, knocking them off the auction-block to the highest bidder, sundering family ties, and outraging the purest and tenderest feelings of human nature.”