Special Delivery: From One Stop to Another on the Underground Railroad

By Rose O'Keefe and John K Bender

Frederick and Anna Douglass's 11-year-old son Lewis is shocked to learn the family is moving from their gracious home on Alexander Street in Rochester, NY. He is even more shocked to learn he must drive a team of horses to help with the move. What could go wrong?

• Language: English
• Publisher: R O'Keefe
• Release date: Jun 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781737780328

Rose O'Keefe

Rose O'Keefe grew up in the suburbs of New York City, except for four years spent with her family outside Paris, France. After graduating from SUNY, Postdam, Rose moved to Rochester, New York, and gradually explored the Genesee River Valley on camping outings with family and friends. Since then, she has become a local historian with a specialty in the Frederick Douglass family's years in Rochester. She enjoys presenting slide shows on Rochester's South Wedge, the southeast side of the city and the Douglass family. In order to promote neighborhood pride and area history, Rose has organized five regional history fairs and always looks forward to the next one.

Book preview

Special Delivery

Special Delivery

Special Delivery

From One Stop to Another on the Underground Railroad

Rose O'Keefe

John Bender

R O'Keefe

Special Delivery: From One Stop to Another on the Underground Railroad was first published through Pyramid Publishing Inc., Utica, New York. Copyright 2014 by Rose O’Keefe.

2022 Cover illustration by John K. Bender.

Images from the Rochester City Directory are from the collection of the Rochester Public Library Local History & Genealogy Division. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

About style: AP Style accepts the use of ‘s or s’s to show the possessive for words ending in s. While either is acceptable, for consistency’s sake, s’s will be used.

The use of the word colored was normal in the 1850s.

I dedicate this book to those who, like the Douglass Family,

believe in All Rights for All.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For the second edition, thanks for encouragement and support go to Dr. Ka’mal McClarin, Ph.D., Executive Director at Frederick Douglass National Park, Washington D.C.; my writing group, Paula Weld Cary, Rosa Dratsch, Joanne Insull, Yvonne Jordan, Valerie McPherson, and Marile Waterstraat; technical support from Laura Thorne and Stephen Huffaker at Wildebeest Publishing Company; editing excellence from Ronda Roaring Communications and an anonymous kind friend; and Michelle G. Daniels, founder and executive director of Daniels Democracy Community Foundation (DDCF) and the Frederick Douglass Club. 

Special thanks go to illustrator John K. Bender for the new cover.  

The first edition of this book took shape with the support and services of history authors Emerson Klees and Ruth Rosenberg; Whistle Stop Writers; Rochester Area Children’s Writers and illustrators (RACWI); and the Rochester Public Library Local History Division.