Captain Edward Thompson Sheldon

Who is Captain Edward Thompson Sheldon?

Edward Thompson Sheldon is best known as being part of the Underground Railroad. He helped African American slaves escape, especially in Southwest Iowa. According to the National Parks Service, in February 1860, Sheldon was involved in an Underground Railroad incident in which brothers William and John Thompson, John Martin, and one unidentified man believed to have been formerly enslaved from Indian Territory arrived in Tabor, Iowa. It is not clear if the men were free or had escaped, but regardless of their status they were treated as if they were freedom seekers traveling along the Underground Railroad. The men were forwarded to Edward Sheldon and Newton Woodford, who planned to transport the men to Lewis, Iowa in a covered wagon. However, their journey was temporarily cut short when they were spotted by a band of pro-slavery men in Mud Creek who had obtained a warrant from Justice of the Peace John Cramer for the arrest of Sheldon and Woodford for aiding the four men escape from slavery. Sheldon and Woodford were jailed in Glenwood, Iowa and brought to trial, where they were acquitted of all charges. Meanwhile proslavery men began to transport the four men to Missouri. Sheldon did not let his brush with the law deter him and shortly after being released, he, along with several abolitionists from Tabor, Iowa, went on to rescue the four men. Sheldon later served as a Captain in the Union Army, settled in Colorado where he later died on December 29, 1911.