Elisha Tyson

He helped black people escape slavery by establishing safe houses, or Underground Railroad stations, on the route from Maryland to Pennsylvania.

When he died, thousands of people of color followed his casket to its final resting place at a Quaker burial ground.

His son Nathan married Martha Ellicott, who wrote the first biography of Benjamin Banneker, the first African American astronomer, and was a founder of Swarthmore College.

Tyson followed William Penn to England, after which he sailed for the colonies and settled near what is now Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[5] At the close of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), Tyson began investing in real estate, but lost everything but the property suitable for a mill.

[5] Tyson was also active in offering practical assistance to fugitives from slavery, providing housing along Falls Road Turnpike to act as safe houses, or Underground Railroad stations, and helping these fugitives make their way to Pennsylvania.

He invited the slave dealer to pull the trigger, telling him that he 'was in hell already though he [Woolfolk] didn't know it.'

[11] Tyson sought to gain the freedom of slaves that had been captured as a war prize on the sea.

With the help of Charles Carroll, Robert Goodloe Harper, and Dr. Ely Ayres, who was a member of the American Colonization Society, the judge changed his opinion and ordered that the men be released.

He purchases farming equipment and household goods for the colonization of eleven slaves who sailed on the Fidelity for Africa in 1823.

Once Tyson, who had been ill, heard that the men made it safely to Liberia, he stated that he was content to die now.

[5] He provided free medical care to the poor when he established the Baltimore General Dispensary.

[5] When the Maryland Penitentiary opened in 1811, Tyson, a member of the directors, ensured that the institute did not engage in racial discrimination.

[5] About 1810, when he was 60 years of age, he traveled on horseback with his friend George Gillingham to Fort Wayne, Indiana to meet with Native American leaders to better understand their needs and concerns.

He bought four houses across from his for his children: Isaac, Nathan, William, and Mary Tyson Clapp.

[4] He owned a summer house on 732 Pacific Street near Falls Road Turnpike, which he helped finance in 1805.

[8][4] His son Nathan married Martha Ellicott, who wrote the first biography of Benjamin Banneker, the first African American astronomer.