![]() ![]() He worked on his family’s farm until he was twenty, when he went to work for neighboring farmers. His parents instilled in him strong family and work values as well as pride and self-determination. William Still grew up with vivid images of the horrors of slavery. Charity and Levin could do nothing for their older boys left in slavery. According to New Jersey law, they were free. ![]() Though these children were born in the free state of New Jersey, under Maryland and federal slave law, they were still legally enslaved, as their mother was an escapee. Following her escape, Charity and Levin had 14 more children, of whom William was the youngest. She succeeded in reaching her husband in New Jersey. A few months later, Charity escaped again, taking only her two younger daughters with her. They were all recaptured and returned to the Maafa. The first time, she escaped with their four children. First, his father bought his freedom in 1798 from his enslaver in Caroline County. Still’s parents had come to New Jersey separately. And his mother, Sidney, changed her first name to Charity to protect herself from re-enslavement. His father, was known as Levin Steel but changed his last name to Still. ![]() Both of his parents were born into the Maafa, and had to change their names once they left Maryland. William Still was born Octoin Burlington County, New Jersey, to Charity and Levin Still. Still was also one of the most successful Black businessmen in the history of the City of Philadelphia. After the American Civil War, he published his diary as The Underground Railroad Records, in 1872. As chairman of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, he directly aided fugitives and kept records of their lives, to help families reunite after the Maafa (slavery) was abolished. William Still was an African-American abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, writer, historian and civil rights activist. “It was my good fortune to lend a helping hand to the weary travelers flying from the land of bondage.” ![]()
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