Joshua Glover: And the End of Slavery

How do you make history?

Joshua Glover was enslaved in St. Louis, Missouri. As a young man he sought freedom in Wisconsin, only to be recaptured after a friend betrayed him. Defying the Fugitive Slave Act, Sherman Booth and other abolitionists helped Joshua escape via the Underground Railroad, and he later settled in Canada as a free man. These actions were part of a chain of events that led to the formation of the Republican Party and the declaration of the end of slavery in the United States.

Meet Joshua Glover

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Questions to Consider

We can infer some ideas about what Joshua’s life might have been like as an enslaved person, but we don’t have sources to confirm specific details of his early life. Why not? What does this tell you about how history is recorded?

Breaking Joshua out of jail was one in a series of efforts made by abolitionists in the fight to end slavery. What outcomes did these efforts lead to in Wisconsin? In the United States?

How does knowing about Joshua’s story change what you’ve learned about slavery in the United States? How does it change what you think about Wisconsin’s history?

Peek Into the Past

Joshua Glover

A print of Joshua Glover.

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-6270.

A black and white photo showing a group of people standing and sitting on the wooden porch of a house.

Life Under Slavery

A group of enslaved people outside their home in Alabama.

LOC. 2010. WPA Slave Narratives, A917, vol. 1 (87)

A black and white illustration showing two adults and one baby standing on a platform indoors. On the stairs connected to the platform a man stands with his arm raised.

Auction

Enslaved people were often sold in an auction, as in this depiction of an auction at Richmond, Virginia, from 1856.

Prints and Photographs, LOC. LC-USZ62-15398.

A painted portrait of a man. His head and torso are visible and he is looking directly at the viewer. He wears a formal suit. His right hand rests on a paper, and in it he holds a quill.

Benammi Garland

A painted portrait of Benammi Stone Garland.

Lynchburg Museum System. ID 84027.

The Drinking Gourd

The Drinking Gourd is a constellation; people living under slavery followed it north to find freedom.

PBS Wisconsin Education.

Seeking Freedom

Enslaved people escaped north to find freedom.

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-41426.

A black and white image of a poster with the text "$100 Reward" at the top and text describing an enslaved woman who has left her slaveholder in search of freedom.

Reward Poster

A poster offering a reward for the return of an enslaved person who fled to find freedom (1858).

DC Public Library. 2009. Flickr.

A black and white portrait of a man. His head and shoulders are visible. He is wearing a suit and has a beard. He is looking to the left of the viewer.

Sherman Booth

Sherman Booth, an abolitionist, helped free Joshua Glover from jail.

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-9485.

A black and white drawing of a large building with columns, next to a road where horses are pulling carriages.

Courthouse

The Milwaukee County Courthouse where Joshua Glover was kept (1870).

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-40833.

Steamboat

Joshua Glover traveled to Canada to seek his freedom on a steamboat like this.

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-71932.

A black and white image of a man seated on a chair outside a wooden cabin. A woman stands on a porch to the left of him.

Man and Woman

A free man and his wife outside their Alabama cabin (1915).

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-9464.

An image of a Black woman seated, holding a white baby, looking at the viewer. The image is in a gold frame.

Woman and Child

An enslaved nurse with her slaveholders’ child (1858).

Missouri History Museum. Identifier: PHO:21596.

Republican Party

The Republican Party Birthplace, a schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-39661.

Read On

Get the full story with this biography book. Audio files are available on each page if you’d like to listen along!

Project Credits

Producer
Dan Kaplan
Becky Marburger
Kurt Griesemer

Associate Producer
Joe Young

Illustration
The Brave Union

Animation
The Brave Union

Audiobook Narration
Jonathan Horne

Audiobook Editing
Kerman Eckes

Captioning
Catie Pfeifer
Vicki Way Kipp

Educator Support Materials
Mia Forslund

Web
John Vieth
Erika Kachama-Nkoy
Tim Schneider

Design
Charles Barrows

Translation Services
University of Wisconsin-Madison Cultural Linguistic Services

Executive Producer
Peggy Garties

Special Thanks
Marta Bechtol

Story Advisors

Brenda Autz
Park Elementary School
Middleton, WI
(2013)

Kaitlyn Beguhl
Section Elementary School
Mukwonago, WI
(2021)

Charlene Dupler
Lakeview Elementary School
Wind Lake, WI
(2013)

Kristen McDaniel
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison, WI
(2013)

David J. O’Connor
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
Madison, WI
(2013)

Amanda Price
Marshall Elementary School
Marshall, WI
(2013)

Valisa Rias Harmon
Gilmore K-8 Fine Arts School
Racine, WI
(2021)

Corey Thompson
Cardinal Stritch University
(2013)

Stephanie Unertl
Lake Mills Area School District
Lake Mills, WI
(2013)