Nation ‘Soul of the Underground Railroad’: David Ruggles, the man who rescued Frederick Douglass September 2, 2021 Javonte Anderson, USA TODAY Comments Off on ‘Soul of the Underground Railroad’: David Ruggles, the man who rescued Frederick Douglass Before Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, this 19th-century free Black man was an antislavery activist, journalist and owner of the first Black bookstore.