Daniel Webster Jackson & The Wrongway Railroad: a pre-Civil War Mystery

by Robert W. Walker, Stephen Walker (Illustrator)

In this rousing 1852 romp through the eerie woods surrounding Hannibal, Missouri, and up and down the Mississippi River, fourteen-year-old Daniel Webster Jackson runs into a counterfeit Underground Railroad when he decides to run away from his foster home. At every turn he musters courage to survive in a land where the law is at odds with the heart and soul of a people, where The Missouri Compromise forces everyone into a disguise or a secret identity.
Daniel, a white teenager, assumes a Black identity and becomes a hero. George appears to be a Black slaver, but he is really a freed Black man and a superb forger of papers for travelers on the Underground Railroad. Colonel Halverston carries an air of mystery about himself and his plantation because he resigned his commission at West Point to take over the plantation, complete with slaves. Really, he operates an elaborate railroad station from it. Sheriff Brisbane meanly enforces slave laws, and also pretends to run a railroad station, however, his passengers end up in Deep South instead of up North. Billy, the wise old Black story teller on Colonel Halverston's plantation could be free at any time, but remains to be a highly visible slave who fuels the eerie quality about disappearing slaves through his scary stories... and keeps everyone who snoops off-balance about the truth. John Fairfield is the greatest white conductor of them all, and a grandmaster of disguise. His Colfax Excursion Line cruise boat is pure magic and moxie. The Black counterfeit tourist passengers, led by big Daisy, (who knew all along that Daniel was white and who turns out to be George's mother) will certainly have a place henceforth in young adult literature.

The historical content of the novel is impeccable, and the characters are wonderful. There is plenty of action and adventure in this American yarn that follows in the spirit of Mark Twain spiced with Alexander Dumas. A serious quest is tempered with great humanity and humor. The well-told story makes the reader want to jump into its pages as a character.

171 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Aka Geoffrey Caine, Glenn Hale, Evan Kingsbury, Stephen Robertson

Master of suspense and bone-chilling terror, Robert W. Walker, BS and MS in English Education, Northwestern University, has penned 44 novels and has taught language and writing for over 25 years. Showing no signs of slowing down, he is currently juggling not one but three new series ideas, and has completed a film script and a TV treatment. Having grown up in Chicago and having been born in the shadow of the Shiloh battlefield, near Corinth, Mississippi, Walker has two writing traditions to uphold--the Windy City one and the Southern one--all of which makes him uniquely suited to write City for Ransom and its sequels, Shadows in White City and City of the Absent. His Dead On will be published in July 2009. Walker is currently working on a new romantic-suspense-historical-mainstream novel, titled Children of Salem. In 2003 and 2004 Walker saw an unprecedented seven novels released on the "unsuspecting public," as he puts it. Final Edge, Grave Instinct, and Absolute Instinct were published in 2004. City of the Absent debuted in 2008 from Avon. Walker lives in Charleston, West Virginia.

Reviews

[Bonnye Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle Unlimited
What an entertaining tale! I kept wanting to attribute it to Mark Twain, though Robert W. Walker had his own style, which sat very well with me. Pre-Civil War in Hannibal, Missouri, we are with Old Black Billy telling tales to the circle of boys, some black from the quarters and some white from the town, Ol' Billy's 'famous' true ghost stories. And of course we have a brave and loyal dog, as well and mix in some underground railway - perhaps running the wrong way, and you have a tale to keep you up nights. Wish it had been longer. The authenticity of the historical portions of this tale is what sets it apart from most period tales from this time. A true look at the Civil War in all its complexity as it affects every soul in the south and beyond..
REVIEWED on June 21, 2025, at Goodreads and AmazonSmile. Not available at B&N, BookBub, or Kobo.

[Jenny See · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a hidden gem. It took me back to being in school learning history, and sitting by the river reading Huckleberry Finn. This book just sucks you in and takes you along for an absolutely wonderful journey. This may be a young adult book, but as an adult I thoroughly enjoyed it and will highly recommend it to people of all ages. It should be on every book shelf and in every library. I’ll definitely be recommending this gem to a few teachers I know as well.