Alexander Milton Ross
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Alexander Milton Ross, (13 December 1832 – 27 October 1897), was born in Belleville, Upper Canada and died in Detroit, Michigan, USA.
Alexander Ross’s father died when he was only 12 which compelled him to quit his schooling, and then his mother died when he was 23. Two years after her death, he married a lady named Hester F. Harrington.
He would come up to the owner of a slave plantation and make a very bold lie: that he was only going to research and study some interesting birds around the owner’s estate. Then when night fell he’d speak in secret to the slaves. Mr. Ross passed on the locations of Underground Railroad stations. He would tell them who to watch out for and who to trust. As he parted he would give each slave a knife, a compass, a few dollars, as much food as they could carry and perhaps a pistol.
Alexander Milton Ross is also the author of many books: Recollections of an Abolitionist (Montreal, 1867) ; Birds of Canada (1872) ; Butterflies and Moths of Canada (1873); Flora of Canada (1873): Forest Trees of Canada, (1874) ; Ferns and Wild Flowers of Canada" (1877) ; "Mammals, Reptiles, and Fresh-water Fishes of Canada (1878); Vaccination a Medical Delusion (1885); and Medical Practice of the Future.
