The Rescue of Charles Nalle, Part 1

How a city came to the rescue of a fugitive slave in 1860

(Former Mutual Bank of Troy, First and State Streets, Troy. Photo: Suzanne Spellen)

The train from New York City rolled into Troy’s Union Station on a hot August 9th, 1932 and opened its doors to release its passengers. Among them was an older, well-dressed African American man, tall, slender and fair-skinned. He was 72 years old, a recent widower who wa…