" Soon, several towns in Pennsylvania and New Jersey offered assistance to runaways. By the 1830s, participation increased and it was recognized as an effective weapon of attack against slavery. Though scholars estimate that the South lost 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850, the total number of runaways aided to freedom will never be known because of the movement's secrecy and because agents usually hid or destroyed their personal journals to protect themselves and the runaways. .
The Underground Railroad was run by a vast network of people and not by any single organization or person. It included abolitionists and sympathizers who called for an end of slavery and acted to aid slaves. African American abolitionists played a key role in underground activities since most were former slaves and took a personal interest in helping loved ones or anyone who wanted to gain freedom. Many only knew of the local efforts to aid runaways and not of the widespread operation. Quakers are well known for their aid in the underground railroad and raised funds from church to feed and clothe the runaways. People who aided runaways ("conductors") risked their lives and property to escort runaways to freedom. Popular conductors of the Underground Railroad included James Fairfield (a white abolitionist who went into the Deep South and freed slaves by posing as a slave trader), Harriet Tubman (who became known as "Moses" in 1849 when she made nineteen trips to the South and helped free at least 300 slaves), and African American abolitionist John Parker of Ripley, Ohio (who ventured to Kentucky and Virginia and helped transport hundreds of runaways across the Ohio River). Levi Coffin was often called the president of the Underground Railroad.
Most runaways were men whose ages ranged from sixteen to thirty-five years. The numbers of women and children were small because they were more likely to be captured.
