Guy Beckley

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Guy Beckley (1803–1847) was a Methodist Episcopal minister, abolitionist, Underground Railroad stationmaster, and lecturer. His New England Georgian-style house at 1425 Pontiac Trail in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is part of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, and Beckley Park nearby was named for him. He helped enslaved people escape by running a waystation starting in 1842, a risky federal crime at the time.

Beckley was born in Weathersfield, Vermont. He joined the Methodist Church and became a preacher at 19, traveling for nine years. In 1827 he was admitted to the New England Methodist Conference, assigned to Rev. William McCoy of Rochester, Vermont, and he was ordained a deacon in 1830 and an elder in 1831, serving as a minister at the Newfane church in Vermont. He also lectured for the American Anti-Slavery Society and helped the Society buy the freedom of twelve enslaved people in 1837. After moving to Ann Arbor around 1840, he continued to lecture against slavery and encouraged Washtenaw County residents to support the Underground Railroad. He served on the executive committee and as vice president of the Michigan State Anti-Slavery Society.

Beckley’s house, with its hidden niches in second-story closets, served as an Underground Railroad waystation beginning in 1842. In 1842 he aided 16-year-old Caroline Quarlls, guided by conductor Lyman Goodnow, with Canada as the destination. His brother Josiah Beckley and sister-in-law Minerva ran a nearby station at 1709 Pontiac Trail, on land adjoining Beckley’s 28 acres. Beckley published and co-edited The Signal of Liberty (formerly the Michigan Freeman) with Theodore Foster from 1841 to 1847, sharing stories of formerly enslaved people and those who traveled through Michigan to Canada.

Beckley married twice. His first wife, Caroline Walker, died in 1839 after they had six children. Around 1839–1840 he moved with his second wife, Phyla, and eight children from Vermont to Ann Arbor. He died at his home in Ann Arbor on December 26, 1847, with his oldest child aged 15; Phyla died about three years later.