We arrived at the Milton House, located in Milton, Wisconsin, around noon our 2nd day of our drive.
This place was built by Joseph Goodrich, who is also credited with the founding of the town itself. See the log house behind the hotel? That was the original house the owners lived in. They operated a stagecoach inn and store from that cabin and 2 other buildings until they built and moved into the newly built hotel. It was built in 1844 from an unusual concrete mix called "grout" that Mr. Goodrich himself concocted.
This building was not only a stagecoach inn, but had business rental space on the 1st floor and rentable living space on the 2nd floor.
Unbeknownst to the townspeople or guests who stayed there, it was also a station on the Underground Railroad. In a time that it was criminal to help refugees escape their slave life, Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich took the risk to show kindness and help to those running for their lives.
As we were waiting for the tour guide, Al checked out the railroad lines from the various states back in those times. Each drawer had a different state. The east-west line connected Milwaukee with the Mississippi River. It came through Milton in 1852.
There was a store inside this hotel.
This house operated as a hotel until the 1900's. Here is the hotel lobby.
A page of names of those checking into the hotel.
Mr. and Mrs. Goodrich (and their friend).
The dining room
Toothpicks were shared! Uck!
Something new that we learned is that Abraham Lincoln did not free all the slaves. Only those in the rebellious states of the Confederacy.
The underground tunnel, which runs about 45 feet in length served as the passageway from the cellar of the Milton House to the log cabin that served as the kitchen.
The tunnel has been enlarged so you can walk through it.
Originally, it was as high as that little wood cut out.
The refugees would be dropped off at the kitchen (the log cabin) by wagons carrying food for the hotel. I believe it was the Goodrich's brother who was delivering them from another location on the underground railroad. The door to the cabin could not be seen from the hotel, so they could sneek in, go through the tunnel and hide in the cellar where there was more room and more secrecy.
The "ladder" to the the loft
I can't begin to imagine the fear these people had escaping from slave masters. Fear of being caught and in bondage again. We were told that many of the slaves went as far as Canada since slave catchers would be able to capture slaves even in the free states.
In 1948, a portion of the original structure collapsed. The Milton Historical Society purchased the building from the Goodrich family and renovated it as a museum.
It was quite the experience seeing this place! What is sad is that slavery still exists today all over the world.
It makes me sick.
There is also slavery to sin.
You can read more about it here: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/sin/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-slave-to-sin.html
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