This six-stage multicache is one of a series of caches intended to highlight the history of the struggle for civil rights in Milwaukee. It memorializes one of the more celebrated episodes in Milwaukee’s civil rights history and will take more research and time than usual. The total distance from the first stage at the given coordinates through to the sixth and final stage is approximately 3.5 miles through Milwaukee's downtown Eastside. You can walk or bike it, but there is nearby parking at every stage except the first. Note that the only physical cache is at the final stage.
Stage 1:
The given coordinates take you to the Southeast foundation of the bridge where McKinley Avenue passes under I-43 in downtown Milwaukee. There is no physical cache there. However, you will see a mural there that identifies the person who is the subject of this cache. While you will need to remember his full name for the following stages, let’s call him J.G. for purposes of the following background.
Note that an identical mural is located on the Northwest foundation of the bridge as well. You can either walk to the given coordinates, although there unfortunately is no parking close by, or view the murals on GoogleMaps Streetview to get the necessary information.
Background:
J.G. was born into slavery. He escaped his owner in St. Louis in 1852 and eventually made his way to Racine, WI, where he made a life for himself working in a sawmill.
Slavery was prohibited in Wisconsin under the 1787 Northwest Ordinance, which covered the territory that ultimately became our state. However, slaves were quite valuable and Congress had enacted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 which required all citizens to help return any escaping slaves to those claiming ownership. Anyone who refused to assist the authorities, or who helped slaves to escape, was subject to heavy criminal and civil penalties.
The slave owner, Bennami Garland, eventually learned J.G. was in Racine, apparently from a freed slave named Nelson Turner who no doubt was tempted by the hefty reward Garland offered. In 1854, Garland obtained a warrant and, accompanied by two deputy federal marshals, arrested J.G. on March 10, 1854, to return him to slavery. Given Racine’s abolitionist sentiments, Garland and the deputies carted J.G. off to the jail in Milwaukee.
However, the alarm had been spread. Hundreds of Racine abolitionists swarmed into Milwaukee to protest the arrest and soon were joined by as many as 5,000 from Milwaukee, all spurred on by Sherman Booth, publisher of the abolitionist Wisconsin Free Democrat newspaper.
When the federal officers refused to recognize the validity of an order for J.G.’s release issued by a local judge, the crowd broke into the jail, released him, and sent him off to Canada and freedom via the Underground Railroad (“UGRR”).
That did not end the matter, however. Recall that the Fugitive Slave Law made it a crime not to aid slave-catchers. J.G.’s rescue gave rise to many legal complications and a great deal of litigation.
- The sheriff of Racine county arrested Garland and those who had aided in the capture of the fugitive on a charge of assault. However, Garland obtained his release on a writ of habeas corpus from federal court and hightailed it back to St. Louis.
- A federal grand jury indicted Booth and two others for violating the Fugitive Slave Law. He appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme court for a writ of habeas corpus. That Court declared the Fugitive Slave law of 1850 unconstitutional. However, the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently reversed. Booth ultimately was convicted and sentenced to a month in jail and a fine of $1,000 (nearly $30,000 in today’s dollars). Booth was either unable or unwilling to pay the fine and therefore remained in jail for over a year until pardoned by President Buchanan shortly before he left office in March, 1861.
- Garland also won a civil court judgement against Booth under the Fugitive Slave Law for the $1,000 statutory value of an escaped slave.
Stage 2: Milwaukee Central Library:
The second virtual stage is at the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library (N 43 02.339 W 87 55.343), although you probably could do the required research from home on https://countycat.mcfls.org/ and find the required book at a different library closer to home (yes, that is a hint). The Milwaukee Central Library hours are available here.
Of the hardcover books available in the Central Library about how the person who is the subject of this cache found his freedom, choose the appropriate one. In that book, you will find a graphic that will aid you in converting the following relevant stops on J.G.’s capture, rescue, and Underground Railroad journey into the coordinates for Stage 3:
N43 0A.BCD W87 5C.ADB
A = Milwaukee Jail
B = Rev. Martin Palmer Kinney’s home in Racine, WI
C = Richard and Nancy Ela’s home in Rochester, WI
D = Home of Dr. Joel H Cooper, physician and pharmacist, in Burlington, WI, a home specifically designed to conceal runaway slaves in a room hidden under the kitchen
Enter the coordinates for Stage 3 into the Certify geochecker to confirm your answer and to obtain further directions:
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Stage 3:
The third stage brings you to a location with relevant information regarding the subject of this cache. Assuming that you entered the correct answer into the previous Certify checker, you were told to answer a particular question based on the information available here. Enter the answer to that question into the Certify geochecker below to obtain the coordinates for Stage 4 and further directions regarding what to do once you get there.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Stage 4:
The fourth stage brings you to another location with relevant information regarding the subject of this cache. Assuming that you entered the correct answer into the previous Certify checker, you were told to answer a particular question based on the information available here. Enter the answer to that question into the Certify geochecker below to obtain the coordinates for Stage 5 and further directions regarding what to do once you get there.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
Stage 5:
The fifth stage brings you to yet another location relevant to the subject of this cache. Assuming that you entered the correct answer into the previous Certify checker, you were told to answer a particular question based on information available at this stage. Enter that answer into the Certify geocheck below to obtain directions to the final, physical cache.
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
BRING YOUR OWN WRITING INSTRUMENT
Permission for placement of this cache was granted by Alyssa Remington of the City of Milwaukee.