Underground Railroad Connection Combat: Harriet Tubman or Frederick Douglass?

Question

Following this week's "Underground Railroad" theme, our Connection Combat game features Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. Both are known for their tireless dedication to the cause of freedom and equality, with Tubman's remarkable efforts in leading over 300 slaves to freedom and Douglass's influential role as an abolitionist, writer, and orator inspiring countless people across generations.

Here's how the game is played:

1. Check your connection to Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass (click "Connection to Me" in each profile pull-down menu).
2. Click "Answer this post" below. Choose Team Tubman or Team Douglass and say how many degrees are in your chosen connection path.
3. Verify each relationship along your connection path with a reliable source [more explanation].
4. Post a comment below your answer here as soon as you're done.

The players with the closest verified connection wins!

There are seven additional ways to win and enter the Connection Combat Hall of Fame. These require clearing your path of all "WikiTree Weevils."

This game runs from February 20 - February 27. Winners will be announced on February 28.

Do you want to help others? We call this "combat" just for fun. It's really more about collaboration than competition. We help each other in this community. Please participate in your team's Aid Station and stop by when you have questions or problems.

• Team Harriet Tubman Aid Station
• Team Frederick Douglass Aid Station

You can also chat live on Discord. See the Connection Combat help page for more information.

Are you in?

Comments

P.S. Share the , spread the word!

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Answer 1

Winner: Emma MacBeath (15) for Team Douglass!

• Gold Hero: Emma MacBeath (15) (Douglass)
• Silver Hero: Loretta Buckner (16) (Douglass)
• Bronze Hero: Jean Paradis (16) (Douglass)
• Gold Veteran: Erin Breen (36) (Tubman)
• Silver Veteran: Chris O'Connell (34) (Tubman)
• Bronze Veteran: Mildred Gillett (23) (Tubman/Douglass)
• Scout: Erin Breen (36) (Tubman)
• Medics: Erin Breen (57)
• Double Agent: N/A
• Peacemaker: N/A
• International Legionnarie: N/A

Answer 2

15 degrees from Levi Coffin
16 degrees from John Bond
16 degrees from John Brown (6th cousin, 5x removed)
16 degrees from Ira Draper (18th cousin, 9x removed)
16 degrees from Matilda Jackson
17 degrees from Thaddeus Stevens
17 degrees from Frederick Douglass
17 degrees from Ellen Craft
19 degrees from Araminta Tubman (12th cousin, 7x removed)
22 degrees from Mary Cary
24 degrees from Josiah Henson
26 degrees from William Still

Answer 3

Frederick Douglas.  18 degrees, completed.

Answer 4

I am 22 degrees from Frederick Douglass

22 degrees from Levi Coffin

22 degrees from Draper

25 degrees from John Bond

25 degrees from John Brown (24th cousins once removed)

25 degrees from Matilda Jackson

25 degrees from Thaddeus Stevens

27 degrees from Ellen Craft

28 degrees from Araminta Tubman (25th cousins)

31 degrees from Mary Cary

35 degrees from William Still

37 degrees from Josiah Henson

Answer 5

Harriet Tubman and I share a great grandmother, Janet Douglas Hamilton. Harriet is her 11th great granddaughter, and I am her 16th great granddaughter, that is, providing Harriet’s (uncertain’s)  pan out. Harriet is my 12th cousin 5X removed.

Answer 6

9 degrees from Ira Draper. 4th cousin 5 times removed. MRCA Barbara (unknown) Stokes (d. abt 1720).

11 degrees from John Bond.

12 degrees from Ellen Craft.

13 degrees from Levi Collins.

15 degrees from Matilda Jackson.

17 degrees from Araminta Tubman.16th cousin 7 times removed. MRCA Margaret (Bronkyl) Brechin (d. abt 1403).

17 degrees from John A. Brown. 13th cousin 4 times removed. MRCA Alice (Montagu) Neville (abt 1405 - bef 1462).

17 degrees from Thaddeus Stevens.

18 degrees from Frederick Douglas.

27 degrees from Joseph Henson.

28 degrees from William Still.

At 17 degrees to 18 degrees Team Tubman  noses out Team Douglas.

Harriet Tubman is also a cousin perhaps (see above, 16C7XsR), but with 4 uncertain links on her end versus 2 on mine, you know how that goes.

0. Harriet Tubman.

1. Ben Ross (her father)

2. Martin Ross (his father)

3. Anthony Thompson (his brother)

4. Nancy Thompson (his daughter)

5. Moses Whitsett (her husband)

6. Samuel Whitsett (his brother)

7. Sarah Whitsett (his daughter)

8. John Yates (her husband)

9. Matthew Yates (his father)

10. Stephen Yates (his father)

11. Samuel Yates (his brother)

12. Letitia Yates (his daughter)

13. Mary Parsons (her daughter)

14. Emily Motley (her daughter)

15. John Blair (her son)

16. Irene Blair (his daughter)

17. Frank Blankenship (her son)

Comments

Thanks for battling, Frank!

Answer 7

• 19 degrees from Araminta Tubman17th c 6xr
• 17 degrees from Frederick Douglass
• 15 degrees from John Bond
• 13 degrees from John Brown 4th c 4xr
• 20 degrees from Mary Cary
• 15 degrees from Levi Coffin
• 16 degrees from Ellen Craft
• 16 degrees from Ira Draper 19th c 5xr
• 23 degrees from Josiah Henson
• 15 degrees from Matilda Jackson
• 18 degrees from Thaddeus Stevens 
•  25 degrees from William Still. 

Answer 8

I'm 19 degrees from Frederick Douglass, and 24 from Harriet Tubman. Team Douglass this week, but I'm going to try to verify my connection to Harriet Tubman, too.

Comments

Verified my connection to Frederick Douglass!

0. Frederick Bailey →
1. Helen Pitts (his wife)→
2. Jane Wells (her mother)→
3. Paoli Wells (her father)→
4. Jerusha Clark (his mother)→
5. Asa Clark (her brother)→
6. Jarusha Clark (his daughter)→
7. David Dickie (her husband)→
8. William Dickie (his brother)→
9. Robert Dickey (his son)→
10. Margaret Dickie (his daughter)→
11. Anna Ripley (her daughter)→
12. Lina Walker (her daughter)→
13. Rupert Morris (her husband)→
14. Celia Morris (his sister)→
15. Vera Simmonds (her daughter)→
16. Private →
17. Private →
18. Private →
19. Erin Breen

---

Now I have a verified path to Harriet Tubman. 36 steps, whew!

0. Araminta Ross →
1. William Ross (her brother)→
2. Caroline Stewart (his daughter)→
3. William Barnes (her husband)→
4. Henrietta Street (his mother)→
5. Andrew Street (her brother)→
6. Emma Street (his daughter)→
7. Samuel Flowers (her husband)→
8. George Flowers (his son)→
9. Bessie Bell (his wife)→
10. Mary Little (her mother)→
11. Samuel Little (her brother)→
12. Amy Wilson (his wife)→
13. Ernest Wilson (her brother)→
14. Chonita Earll (his wife)→
15. Ethel Earll (her sister)→
16. Robert Martin (her husband)→
17. Sarah Halfkenny (his mother)→
18. William Halfkenny (her father)→
19. Mary Halfkenny (his sister)→
20. Alexander Gabriel (her son)→
21. Malinda Young (his wife)→
22. Dorothy Young (her sister)→
23. Reta MacDonald (her daughter)→
24. Donald Porter (her son)→
25. Helen Tower (his wife)→
26. Mae Briggs (her mother)→
27. Ronald Briggs (her brother)→
28. Ethel Ogden (his mother)→
29. Willard Ogden (her brother)→
30. Lillie Barnes (his wife)→
31. Annie Barnes (her sister)→
32. Lloyd Bowser (her son)→
33. Private →
34. Private →
35. Private →
36. Erin Breen
     

---

Wow! Really great work, Erin. Thanks for battling!

Answer 9

Team Douglass! 16 steps, all connections verified, goes through second wife Helen Pitts who is my 5th cousin 4 times removed.

Answer 10

I am 17° from Frederick Douglass but only 16° from Harriet (Ross) Tubman, plus, she's my 17th C 6xR through my Wilson/Palmer/Lawson/Higginbotham line through blood & my Brunson/Woodward/Singleton/Langston line. I'm for Team Harriet Tubman using my connection line since that's a new line.

Comments

I had to jump ship after attempting to de-weevil my way through the connection between me & Harriet Tubman. I tried 3 different ways, 2 connections & a straight blood line. The 1st connection was through my Brunson/Woodard/Singleton/Langston line. I went through 8° of this line before I could not verify sisters were sisters. I couldn't even verify they had the same father. 1's 1st name was Samuel & the other's name was Soloman. The LNAB was the only thing they had in common. I had enough information to disprove, but not generate another profile to fix the problem as there wasn't enough information to make 1 & show a connection with sources. On to the next...

Which was my Brunson/Marshall/Leard/Harwell line. I got through 17° before I ran into another serious problem putting a father/daughter connection together since there was nothing to show they were connected at all. Moving right along...

Whoops! No more Connections, have to go the relationship route. Going through the blood connection of 24°, I got as far as 4° before I hit another can't prove there's really a connection problem in my Wilson/Palmer/Lawson/Higginbotham line where I couldn't prove it was a real person let alone a real relationship. So, on to the next...

No more connections/relationships between me & Harriet Tubman, so I have to jump ship & switch to Team Frederick Douglass. My 1st connection to him was through my dysfunctional Wilson/Palmer/Lawson/Higginbotham line, so I tried another route.

My last choice was my Brunson/Parsons/Tarpley/Smith line. Although I thought several times this line would fritter awaw like the others, I managed to find connections for all & fixed any weevils I found along the way. Here's the final list at 19°:

Pat Brunson-1754 →
Ray Brunson-1755 (her father) →
Delma Parsons-17859 (his mother) →
Lilly Tarpley-558 (her mother) →
Granville Tarpley-561 (her father) →
Wesley Tarpley-563 (his father) →
Alexander Tarpley-360 (his father) →
Elizabeth Smith-178888 (his mother) →
Oliver Towles-182 (her brother) →
Elizabeth Towles-188 (his daughter) →
John Dabney-388 (her husband) →
Susanna Morris-19208 (his mother) →
William Morris-19401 (her father) →
Richard Morris-27551 (his brother) →
Shelton Morris-27916 (his son) →
Benjamin Morris-27552 (his son) →
Charles Morris-25482 (his son) →
Annie Sprague-3899 (his wife) →
Rosetta Douglass-2331 (her mother) →
Frederick Bailey-7481 (her father)

---

Nice work, Pat! Thank you for battling!

Answer 11

27 degrees from Araminta Tubman

23 degrees from Frederick Douglass

21 degrees from John Bond

21 degrees from John Brown

29 degrees from Mary Cary

22 degrees from Levi Coffin

23 degrees from Ellen Craft

22 degrees from Ira Draper

35 degrees from Josiah Henson

23 degrees from Matilda Jackson

25 degrees from Thaddeus Stevens

31 degrees from William Still

Answer 12

Harriet Tubman --- 18 degrees and she is my 12th cousin 6 times removed.

Frederick Douglas --- is on 20 degrees and no common ancestor.

Answer 13

Several close ones this week.  I am 14 degrees from John Bond, Levi Coffin, and Thaddeus Stevens.  Only four are 20 degrees or farther.

Thaddeus Stevens is the closest cousin, 5th and 5 times removed.

Answer 14

I am related to three Underground Railroad profiles!

1) 13º John Brown: 4th cousins/5xr MRCA Samuel Humphrey

2) 17º Ira Draper: 22nd cousins/4xr MRCA Erneburge (Fitzbaldric) Stuteville

3) 24º Araminta Tubman: 20th cousins/8xr MRCA Aubrey de Vere

Other non-related Underground Railroad members by degree:

15º Levi Coffin and Thaddeus Stevens; 16º John Bond and Matilda Jackson; 17º Frederick Douglass; 18º Ellen Craft; 24º Mary Cary; 27º Josiah Henson and William Still.

 

Answer 15

Team Frederick Douglass for me. 17 degrees vs 25 degrees for Harriet Tubman.

Comments

0. Frederick Douglass√
1. Helen Pitts-1806 his wife√
2. Jane Wells-6913 her mother√
3. Paoli Wells-19921 her father√
4. Levi Wells-1890 his father√
5. Judah Wells-1887 his brother√
6. Newton Wells-489 his son√
7. Newton Wells-483 his son√
8. Lavina Wells-31540 his daughter√
9. Annie Goddard-6622 her daughter√
10. Havelock Horsman-628 her husband√
11. David Horsman-612 his brother√
12. Abbie Horsman-611 his daughter√
13. Clare Bremner-648 her daughter√
14. private her daughter√
15. private her husband√
16. private his sister√
17. David Carlson-1933 her husband√

All complete!

---

Great, David! Thanks for battling with us!

Answer 16

It is shown that I am 23 degrees connected to Frederick Douglass, will take on verifying. Interestingly, a college friend's dad owned a home on the Eastern Shore Maryland that I visited twice in the 1980s. It was the home of Edward Covey called today 'Mt. Misery'. At age 16 in 1834, Douglass was sent by his owner Auld to Covey, to be 'broken' until on one occasion, Douglass fought back - and was never beaten again. One account is that the fight was not at Mt. Misery but in the Bayside District.  ordinaryphilosophy.com/tag/edward-covey/

Comments

What a bit of connection history, Robert! Douglas was quite a fearless rebel at 16 which made history.

Answer 17

I am 16° from Frederick Douglas through his wife Helen while I am 22° from Harriet Tubman.

Answer 18

Harriet Tubman

19 degrees away

Answer 19

Team Douglass: 19 degrees. Actually, his wife Helen Pitts and I are 6th cousins 5 times removed!!!  Relationship between her and I.

Anyway:

Frederick Douglass

Helen Pitts (his wife)

Gideon Pitts (her father)

Gideon Pitts (his father)

Abigail Richmond (his mother)

William Richmond (her father)

Elisabeth Rogers (his mother)

Elizabeth Pabodie (her mother)

Hannah Pabodie (her sister)

Hannah Bartlett (her daughter)

Rebecca Delano (her daughter)

Araunah Fullerton (her son)

Rufus Fullerton (his son)

Charles Fullerton (his son)

Finley Fullerton (his son)

Edna Fullerton (his daughter)

Lawrence Starr (her son)

[Private] (his child)

[Private] (their child)

N Lamb (their son)

Comments

Like N, I discovered that Helen Pitts, the white abolitionist who defied her family's wishes to marry Frederick Douglass as his second wife, is a blood relative. She's my 6th cousin 4x removed. 

I am 16 connection steps from Frederick Douglass due to a somewhat shorter connection path that also includes Helen Pitts. As a white person, I am pleased to see that I have at least one genealogical connection to a prominent Black American that does not include any connections via children of enslaved women fathered by  their slaveholders.

Answer 20

18 to Frederick, so Team Douglass it is.