Caroline Quarlls
Caroline Quarlls (1826–1892) was the first enslaved person to travel through Wisconsin using the Underground Railroad. She reached Canada and freedom in 1842. Multiple abolitionists helped Caroline on her journey to Canada even as pursuers followed continuously. She married a freedman in Canada, becoming Caroline Quarlls Watkins. Early life Caroline Quarlls was born in St. Louis in 1826, enslaved by her paternal grandfather. Robert Pryor Quarlls (also Quarles), was her father and owner. Her mother had married a successful blacksmith who was born free. Quarll's mother and her sister were dead by the time she was sixteen, but Quarlls had been in contact with her stepfather who was very kind to her and talked with her about her plans to escape slavery. A housemaid in St. Louis, Quarlls looked like her half-siblings, but was not granted the same freedom as they were. Upon her father's passing, she was acquired by her new mistress, Robert's sister and her aunt, Mrs. Charles R. Hall. Quarlls was occasionally whipped and punished. Noted as being quite intelligent, she was able to read but had never learned to write. She was brought up doing fine sewing, embroidery, and waiting upon her mistress. Flight When Quarlls