Wisconsin Life

I'm at the Milton House Museum, learning about the building, its founders, and the history of this Underground Railroad stop. Our tour begins in the lobby of the Milton House to meet with the Executive Director, Keighton Klos. So, can you give us a brief overview of what we should expect during our tour today? Yeah, so we are the last certified Underground Railroad site in the state of Wisconsin that you can tour. So, that's what draws a lot of people to our building. So, on the tour, you're going to see the hexagon, which was built as a stagecoach inn in 1844, learn about Joseph, who not only builds the building, but he also founds the town of Milton, and then, learn about how this was operated as an Underground Railroad site. I want to get started. - Alright, let's do it! So, now we're in the stagecoach inn? Yeah, so this area, the front part of the stagecoach inn, would have been where the lobby was. So, think about coming in. You're going to stay with Joseph. This is where you would come in, you would check in. So, you'd give your name, you'd pay, you'd get a room number, just kind of like you'd do at a hotel today. We have about 25 stagecoaches coming every day. If there's people coming and going all the time, different times of day, they don't notice anything. It actually, in a weird way, works as a good cover for the Underground Railroad site. It wouldn't have been uncommon for people to share a room and to share the bed possibly. So, Keighton, we've transitioned a bit from touring the stagecoach to now getting into more of the history of the Milton House. So, can you set the stage for the purpose of the Milton House within a larger context of abolitionist work in Wisconsin? In this space, we're really trying to help people understand what's going on with the Underground Railroad in the country, why it's important, and then, how it's happening in Wisconsin. And Wisconsin is a leading abolitionist state at that time. And they actually have an instance where they're refusing to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. So, we had, on one hand, the hotel setup that we previously viewed. On the other hand, the residence of the family that was secretly supporting slaves pursuing freedom. The mural's a good transition for us from this space down into the cellar of the stagecoach where freedom seekers were kept while they were here. So, this mural was painted by a local artist, and it uses our freedom seeker, Andrew Pratt, that we know by name, kind of his story, his inspiration. It shows freedom seekers on a plantation. And then, as you go down the steps, you're following them essentially on their journey to Milton. So, what is this space? So, we've come all the way into the cellar or the basement of the Milton House. And so, this is the room that we think freedom seekers would have been kept in while they were at the Milton House. It was a root cellar, so guests of the hotel and staff are not going to be coming into this space, so it was a relatively safe space for them to be. Got it, and how would they have gotten into this space? So, there actually was a tunnel. So, we have a recreation of the tunnel, which is right back here. So our tunnel, it still goes in the same footprint, but it's made taller and has lights and stone so we can walk through it. But the original tunnel was about 3 1/2 to 4 feet tall, and it would have just been dug out of the earth, so you would have had to crawl on your hands and knees. About 45 feet long, pitch black, dark. It would have been an uncomfortable idea to go through it. Well, that shows what, you know, the drivers behind dealing with those sort of conditions. Yeah, what they were willing to endure to get to freedom. Exactly. They would just be on their hands and knees. Yes, yes, so we're still going in the exact same footprints that they walked. So this would have been the origin point? Yeah, so we think how it worked is there would have been a wagon full of supplies that would have been brought to the cabin, and as the supplies were being unloaded, so was the person, and they would use the cellar here, and that would connect with the tunnel, and they could get into the cellar of the Milton House. And then, that would just reverse when it was time to leave again. Wow, and because of the traffic that was constantly coming and going because of the stagecoach, it didn't alarm anyone that there was traffic over here. Exactly, it was just another wagon being unloaded, and people just pretty much ignored it. So, it worked as a good cover. Thank you so much for our tour today, Keighton.

Keighton

Yeah, thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it.