Biography
William Chaplin was an Underground Railroad operative associated with the Liberty Party and the Albany Vigilance Committee. On August 8, 1850 his carriage — carrying two men escaping from enslavement by two Southern congressmen — was stopped in a gunfight by a posse at the DC–Maryland line. Arrested, he was imprisoned six weeks in Washington (released on $6,000 bond) and then thirteen weeks in Rockville, Maryland (released on $19,000 bond). He left the area, forfeiting the bonds, and never came to trial. (Recorded as William L. Chaplin)
