Charity Still

Charity Still (c. 1775 – 1857) was an American abolitionist, and the matriarch of the American abolition movement. Her son William Still became a well-known abolitionist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and her son Peter Still was an abolitionist writer in New Jersey. She is also known as Sidney Steel,^[1] and Sidney Charity Still.

Sidney (later renamed Charity) was born enslaved in the eighteenth century on a plantation owned by Saunders Griffin in the Caroline County, Maryland.^[1] When she was a child, their enslaver killed her father.^[2]

Sidney met Levin Still (or Steel) while enslaved in Maryland. They had four children together before Levin bought his freedom and moved to Shamong Township, New Jersey.^[3] She escaped with her four children, all very young, and reunited with Levin Still in New Jersey. A few months later, Charity and all the children were kidnapped and reenslaved in Maryland. On her next escape, she left her two sons, Levin Jr. and Peter, in the care of their grandmother and reached New Jersey again with her two daughters, Mahalia and Kitturah. The older sons remained enslaved; one died from cruel treatment, and the other, Peter, eventually gained his freedom and reunited with Charity Still in 1850.^[4] He purchased his freedom and was reunited with his mother in 1850. He lived the rest of his life in Burlington Township, New Jersey.

She gave birth to 18 children, and 4 of those children are assumed to die at childbirth.^[5]

Levin and Charity Still moved into a secluded area of the Pine Barrens, Shamong Township, New Jersey, where their other children were born to prevent another kidnapping. Their youngest son was William Still (c. 1821–1902), a Philadelphia businessman who worked with the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. The New York Times pronounced in William's obituary to be "The Father of the Underground Railroad".^[3] The term "Underground Railroad" for the network of people, vehicles, and buildings used to aid people escaping slavery. He assisted hundreds of people seeking freedom. Another son, James Still, was denied formal medical training and worked as an herbalist healer in the African-American community.^[6] James's home and medical office was located in Medford, New Jersey.

Charity Still died in 1857 at the age of about 82. One of Charity Still's granddaughters was William's daughter, Caroline Still Anderson (1848–1919), who became a physician.^[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charity Still.

• Francine C. Still Hicks, A Girl Named Charity (Balboa Press 2015). ISBN 9781504327244. A picture book for young readers based on the life of Charity Still.
• Lurey Khan, William Still and the Underground Railroad: Fugitive Slaves and Family Ties (iUniverse 2010). ISBN 9781440186264