Erastus Hussey (1800–1889) was a leading abolitionist, a stationmaster on the Underground Railroad, and one of the founders of the Republican Party.

[1] Erastus Hussey was born in Scipio, Cayuga County, New York on December 5, 1800.

He saved his earnings to travel west, he first walked (140 miles (230 km)) to Buffalo, New York, then took a boat to Detroit.

The Husseys had a daughter, Susan, who married Henry B. Denman,[1] who was his father's business partner in the 1840s.

[1] On July 6, 1854, Hussey attended the "Under the Oaks" convention in Jackson, Michigan, where the Republican Party had one of its earliest meetings.

Elected as a Republican, he served in the Michigan Senate, where he represented Calhoun County in the 13th district, in 1855 and 1856.

[2] Hussey was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention, where Abraham Lincoln was nominated as a presidential candidate.

[8] Strong Quakers, the Husseys were outspoken opponents of slavery and by 1840 they began hiding escaping slaves in their home.

Stations were at Climax, Battle Creek, Marshall, Albion, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Plymouth, and Detroit,[4][5] where they crossed into Canada (Sandwich First Baptist Church).

The recognition was mutual and the meeting was a very affecting sight… One day a fugitive and his wife came to my house for shelter.