<<

American Hotel, Ferry and Niagara Streets, Buffalo. Supported by President Millard Fillmore of Buffalo, the Fugitive Slave Law required northerners to help capture and return escaped slaves. For slaves, escape to Canada became essential. Late in the Civil War attempts were still being made to capture runaways. Before being destroyed by fire in 1865, the hotel hosted some of Buffalo's wealthiest visitors. Samuel Murray, a free black man who worked there as a porter, guided many fugitives to the nearby Niagara riverfront. Source of illustration and caption: Display in 2002 at Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society

<

>