In honor of upcoming Juneteenth, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed an executive order that posthumously pardons 43 wrongfully imprisoned individuals who helped enslaved people escape to freedom.
Along with that order, the Governor proclaimed this coming Friday, June 19, as Juneteenth National Freedom Day across Kentucky. Of the 43 individuals pardoned, some were local, including Dick Baker, a Black man who was convicted in Trigg County in 1858 on the charge of harboring, aiding or enticing enslaved peoples to escape, and Susan Woods, a white woman who was convicted in Hopkins County for helping slaves escape to freedom. Both served time in prison until 1861.
Numerous individuals were highlighted in the pardon, including Elijah Anderson, a free Black man who was one of the most active Underground Railroad conductors in Kentucky. He was arrested in Louisville and would later die while lodged in the Kentucky State Penitentiary.
It pardons Julett Miles, a Black woman who was freed by Reverend John Fee and moved north, but after learning her children were going to be sold, she traveled across the Ohio River to free them. She would ultimately be arrested and sentenced to prison, where she would later pass away.
Also pardoned is Thomas Brown, an Irish immigrant who was arrested for helping free enslaved peoples at the age of 60 and imprisoned, where he would suffer violent beatings until he was released two years later.
The Governor acknowledged that there are more stories out there of individuals who deserve the same and encouraged Kentuckians who know of someone who deserves a posthumous pardon for their work to help enslaved individuals reach freedom to email FreedomTrailPardons@ky.gov.