A double whammy hit young Edwin Coppoc of Winona in early 1842. His father died and because his mother was unable to care for all her six children, 6-year-old Edwin was sent to live with John Butler near Salem. Butler, a Quaker, was a “conductor” in the Underground Railroad. He reportedly took Edwin with him to secretly transport runaway slaves. These experiences likely helped to shape Edwin’s destiny. From 1842 to 1850, the United States obtained a vast expanse of land from Texas to California over which pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions fiercely battled, issues discussed ...