This Sunday, if you get a chance to come to worship at Bear Creek UMC, you are in for a powerful moment of wonder and question by our choir! We are singing a beautiful and haunting song called “Would You Harbor Me” by a group by “Sweet Honey in The Rock.” The song asks the simple question: “Would you harbor me?” As we were rehearsing this song we were taken aback by the categories and names of the folks we might be asked to harbor. One of the lines that we all found interesting was this one: “Would you harbor a Tubman, a Garrett, a Truth? A fugitive or a slave?”
Now we all figured out the Tubman. Of course, that was Hariet Tubman, the great slave woman who led so many slaves through the waters of “the Jordan” and into freedom. The person who comes to mind when we sing the great spiritual “Wade in the Water.” And most of us know the Truth part, too. It’s Sojourner Truth, the American abolitionist and women's rights activist who became the first black woman to win a court case against a white man as she went to court to recover her son out of slavery in 1828. But who was this “Garrett” person?
What made this even more interesting was the fact that we had two Garrett’s in our choir: Randy and Sonya. As Cyndy, my partner, and I, headed home after choir, we both pondered just who this Garret was and how he was connecting to safe harbor. That night, in the middle of the night, Cyndy woke me up with the answer. Thanks to google, here’s what she found out.
The Garrett that this wonderful piece of music is referring to is not Randy or Sonya, but a man named Thomas Garrett. Thomas Garret was a white guy who owned a hardware store in Wilmington, Delaware. To most people he was a regular “Joe” who loved and cared for his family, went to church, and paid he taxes. But what many people did not know was that Thomas garret was the stationmaster for the Underground Railroad. From his hardware store in Wilmington, which had a secret panel, Garret helped over 2,300 fugitive slaves slip through the last 20 miles of slave territory into Pennsylvania. There at this station the audacious Garrett fed exhausted Black people and insisted on giving each of them a new pair of shoes before smuggling them over the boarders. Isn’t that cool!
And guess who his most frequent guest was? You guessed it…Harriet Tubman herself. Indeed, at one time Garrett was so worried about the whereabouts of Tubman that he penned this note to another Underground Railroad station master:
I have been very anxious for some time past, to hear what has become of Harriet Tubman…Has thee seen or heard anything of her latterly? It would be a sorrowful fact, if such a hero as she, should be lost from the Underground Railroad.”
As you can imagine, this kind of “safe-harbor” work was incredibly dangerous, and although Harriet Tubman was never caught, Garret was! The court fined him $5,000. This steep fine left Garret nearly bankrupt and at the mercy of the local authorities. After the trial, the county sheriff admonished him: “I hope you will never be caught at this again.” After a brief silence, Garret replied in full faith, “Friend, I haven’t a dollar in the world, but if thee knows a fugitive anywhere on the face of the earth who needs a breakfast, send him to me." (https://fee.org/articles/ thomas-garrett-and-the-underground-railroad/)
Two thoughts about these incredible people. My first thought is God’s work of safe harbor takes partnerships. The great Underground Railroad movement took both brave Black men and women, and brave white men and women. Each of them provided unique gifts to this movement. Without each, it would not have happened.
Second, both of Harriet Tubman and Thomas Garrett were strong Christians of the best kind! Harriet Tubman was a Methodist, who heard the message of freedom on the plantation as a slave. The gospel, for her, was a call to be free and to free others! Thomas Garrett was a Quaker whose faith taught him that he must truly act to give refuge to the stranger.
What a remarkable story and witness! May each of us hear this story with a heart ready to be stirred into action!
Your friend and pastor, wondering if the name “McBride” or “Bear Creek” might be added to this list of people dedicated to safe harbor, Brook
PS: If you are looking for an incredible read about the Underground Railroad check out Coleson Whitehead’s novel, “The Underground Railroad”. It is a game-changer!