David Ruggles

David Ruggles (March 15, 1810 – December 16, 1849) was an African-American abolitionist in New York who resisted slavery by his participation in a Committee of Vigilance, which worked on the Underground Railroad to help fugitive slaves reach free states.

He was a printer in New York City during the 1830s, who also wrote numerous articles, and "was the prototype for black activist journalists of his time.

"[1] He claimed to have led more than 600 fugitive slaves to freedom in the North, including Frederick Douglass, who became a friend and fellow activist.

[2][7] In 1826, at the age of sixteen, Ruggles moved to New York City, where he worked as a mariner before opening a grocery store.

Mr. Ruggles was then very deeply engaged in the memorable Darg case, as well as attending to a number of other fugitive slaves, devising ways and means for their successful escape; and, though watched and hemmed in on almost every side, he seemed to be more than a match for his enemies.

"[14] Ruggles was especially active against kidnapping bounty hunters (also known as "blackbirds"), who made a living by capturing free Black people in the North and illegally selling them into slavery.

With demand high for slaves in the Deep South, another threat was posed by men who kidnapped free blacks and sold them into slavery, as was done to Solomon Northup of Saratoga Springs, New York, in 1841.

With the Vigilance Committee, Ruggles fought for fugitive slaves to have the right to jury trials and helped arrange legal assistance for them.

In 1842, Lydia Maria Child, a fellow abolitionist and friend, arranged for him to join a radical Utopian commune called the Ross Farm (Northampton, Massachusetts).