John Green's family successfully escaped from slavery in 1863 and, with the help of the Underground Railroad, traveled north to Pleasant Ridge. The Green family bought a 450 acre farm, at $1.50 an acre.

The grave shown here is that of John Green's son, Thomas. Thomas Green was drafted into the Union Army in 1864 and served until 1865. Surprisingly, when Thomas was a slave before the Civil War in Missouri, he drove a carriage for his master and his master's friends. One of these 'friends' was future Union General Ulysses S. Grant!

Thomas would survive the war and become one of southwest Wisconsin's most prosperous farmers.