Timeline: 1848
Barney Lancelot Ford (1822–1902) “walked away” from slavery while his master Colonel Nathaniel Garland Wood’s riverboat was docked in Quincy, IL. It’s said that during his escape, he came through Champaign County on his way to Chicago. Ford became a conductor on the Underground Railroad returning to East Central Illinois to assist fugitives. By 1860, he had moved to Colorado, becoming one of the richest men in that state. He was nicknamed the Black Baron of Colorado.
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