Janeral Tootle, an underground railroad conductor and Civil War veteran
Editor's note: To celebrate Black History Month, the Journal & Courier is featuring daily briefs about prominent Black community members in Tippecanoe County.
An 1860 attempted kidnapping on the road to Crawfordsville illustrates the perils of life in a free state for African Americans.
A southern slave catcher claimed Janeral Tootle, a popular Lafayette barber, was the fugitive “Jacob.” He produced a handbill offering a $300 reward for the return of the runaway. The handbill provided a description that matched the appearance of Tootle.
Tootle proclaimed his identity as a free man of color and according to the Lafayette Daily Courier, “armed with a revolver and bowie-knife gave Mr. Slave-catcher to understand that “free (African Americans) in Indiana had some rights which white men might find it prudent to respect.”
Tootle, born in North Carolina, arrived in Lafayette in 1844 and married Elizabeth Cook in 1849. Tootle worked as a barber with his shop and residence on Main Street.
Lafayette contemporaries identified Tootle as an Underground Railroad agent. In 1916, the son of William Foster, a railroad superintendent, also claimed that Tootle worked with his father in aiding freedom seekers. During the Civil War, Tootle served as a messenger for General Joseph Wagner of the 15th Indiana. In civilian life, Tootle participated in Republican politics.
Township trustees sent a destitute Tootle, in the last months of his life, to the county asylum. Trustees buried him in Greenbush Cemetery with all the honors of a veteran.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Janeral Tootle, one of Lafayette's underground railroad conductor
