The Underground Railroad,

Within a few months I sat one dayin the reception room of the principalof one of our Eastern Pennsylvaniapreparatory schools. On the wallshung two small pictures of AbrahamLincoln, of the sort so often seen,with a quotation from his speeches orletters printed beside his picturedface. Seeing these, "I fell into amuse," as John Bunyan would say,and remembered that, in the dayswhen Abraham Lincoln needed sup-port in the awful struggle that ledhim down to his death, this sameschool, through its authorities, turnedcoldly from him, and, as far as itdared, numbered itself with his ene-mies. With these thoughts came intomy mind the words of our greatestAmerican poet:

"For humanity sweeps onward, whereto-day the martyr stands,

On the morrow crouches Judas, withthe silver in his hands;

Far in front the cross stands ready,and the crackling fagots burn,

While the hooting mob of yesterday insilent awe return

To glean up the scattered ashes intoHistory's golden urn,"

These thoughts returned to me withgreater force when, a few weeks ago,I received from your CorrespondingSecretary and afterwards from Hon.W. U. Hensel the very kind and cour-teous invitation to address you thisevening.

Having long been a student of his-tory, I am ready to declare that never,since the dawn of 'Christian civiliza-

tion, has there been a people so givenover to lust of money, place and pow-er, so filled with race prejudice andhatred, as are the American people ofto-day. And yet, in the midst of allthis, it is to a group of intelligent, cul-tured Americans that I am asked totell the story of men and women whoseonly claim to remembrance, to a placein history, is the fact that they riskedlife and property in succoring, cloth-ing, feeding and helping on their wayto freedom the poorest of the poor,members of a despised race, whosehelpers were few indeed. An Englishwriter has called the period duringwhich opposition to the slave powerarose and grew, "the martyr age ofAmerica." In all history there isbe found no other conflict in whichthe motives of those who took partwere so entirely unselfish. CharlesSumner said nearly this: "Our causeis so much nobler than that in whichour fathers fought, in that they con-tended for themselves, we for others."

Now to our story: Two histories ofthe Underground Railroad in EasternPennsylvania are in existence, one alarge work compiled and published byWiiliam Still, of Philadelphia, in 1871,and another, prepared by Dr. RobertC. Smedley, of West Chester, editedafter his death by Robert Purvis, ofPhiladelphia, and the present speaker,was published in 1883. The latterwork is the better of the two for thispaper, since it is a history only ofoperations in Chester and the neigh-boring counties of this State, and en-ters into much greater detail thandoes William Still's book.

Such books as these must necessar-ily be sketchy and defective as his-tory. Men and women who did theirwork in daily peril of their fortunesand perhaps their lives, of course, keptno regular records. What was done

was done in great secrecy. Littlewas committed to paper till yearsafterward, when danger of detection.and severe punishment had passed;but recollection also had become im-perfect. Exact statistics are not ob-tainable. Indeed, had each familythat took part in this work kept arecord of the number of slaves suc-cored this would give no idea of thewhole number, since the same man orparty of fugitives was passed fromstation to station, and thus the samenames would appear many times uponthe record.

The first recorded UndergroundRailroad work was done at Columbiain 1804, by William Wright. Fromthat time until the oubreak of theCivil War, the work was carried onwith greater or less activity in thiscounty. The following is a list of thosewhose labors have been recorded:

Daniel Gibbons, Upper Leacocktownship, born 1775, died 1853.

Dr. Joseph Gibbons, born 1818, died1883.

Dr. J. K. Eshleman, Strasburg, born1810, died about 1893.

Thomas Whitson, Bart, 1796-1864.Henry Bushong, Bart, 1783-1870.Jacob Bushong, Bart, 1813-1880.Jeremiah More, Christiana, born

1803, date of death unknown.Joseph Hood, Bart, 1812-1866.Caleb C. Hood, a brother, born 1817,

died some time after 1883.Lindley Coats, Sadsbury, 1794-

1856.Joshua Brinton, Salisbury, 1809-

1892.Thomas Bonsall, West Sadsbury,

Chester county, just over the linefrom Christiana, 1797-1882.

Dr. Augustus W. Cain, of the sametownship, dates of birth and deathunknown.

Lewis Peart, East Lampeter, 1808-1882.

Joseph Smith, Drumore, 1801-1878.Oliver Furniss, Little Britain, 1794

—1858.John N. Russell, Drumore,1804-1876.

Joseph C. Taylor, exact residenceand dates of birth and death unknown.

Day Wood, Fulton.Christian Frantz, East Lampeter,

1805-1890.The borough of Columbia was the

great depot at which fugitives landed.Several causes contributed to this. Itwas geographically convenient; a ma-jority of the first settlers were'Friends," or "Quakers;" successiveemancipations of slaves who camethere from the South gave it a largeand, at that time, industrious coloredcommunity. At the head of this wereStephen Smith and William Whipper,a firm of well-to-do lumber merchants.Stephen Smith was the largest stock-holder in the Columbia Bank of thatday, and, according to its rules, wouldhave been president had it not beenfor this complexion. Being thus bar-red, he was given the privilege ofnaming the man who became presi-dent in his stead.

William Wright, a descendant of theman who laid out the town, was anactive man, possessing thoroughknowledge of the laws pertaining toslavery and great presence of mind.He passed many slaves on, and, whenhe heard of any being captured, tooksteps to secure their release. On sev-eral occasions it is related that hedisguised men in women's clothingand sent them on to Daniel Gibbons.Slaves escaped at that time in suchlarge numbers that the slave-holderspaid a man a regular salary to remainin Columbia and intercept their prop-erty. The colored people, on one oc-

casion, caught a slave catcher, tookhim to the outskirts of the town, andgave him a sound whipping with hick-ory switches. Every slave that camefrom the South knew the north star,and that, by following it, he couldreach a free State. In the paper readby Mr. Hensel, in March, a generaldescription of the different lines isgiven; therefore, it is unnecessary torepeat. The first station after leav-ing 'Columbia, and the most importantone in Lancaster county, was that ofDaniel Gibbons. Prior to 1827, fugi-tives were sent from this place to thehouse of a Friend, or Quaker, namedJackson, who lived on the confines ofwhat was then known as "the forest,"in! Robinson township, Becks county.

Lindley Coates was not an ordinaryman. He was noted, to quote a biog-rapher, "for his clearness of thought,soundness of judgment, steadiness ofnerve, and executive ability." A nat-ural leader of men, he was a master-ly presiding officer at anti-slaverymeetings. He was a clear reasoner,sagacious and terse in speech, a f or-midhble antagonist in debate. Fromhis house slaves, after being fed andclothed, were taken or sent to thenearest station in Chester county.Many of the more intelligent weredirected how to proceed directly toCanada. After the Christiana riotmany colored men came to the Coatesplace, were taken to the corn field,and hidden under the shocks, as Lind-ley and Deborah Coates were expect-ing the house to be searched by thedeputy marshals and constables whowere then scouring the country andarresting every colored man that theycould find.. During the absence ofLindley and his son Simmons (born1821, died 1862), a party of these ruf-fians, for such they were, searchedthe house from celiar to garret, and

that without a warrant. About thistime the Coates barn was burned asa punishment for its owner's anti-sla-very activity. Lindley Coates was amember of the Constituional Conven-tion of 1837, and, with Thomas Earleand Thaddeus Stevens, made moststrenuous efforts to prevent the inser-tion of the word "white" into the or-ganic law of the State as a restrictionto the suffrage, but all without avail.He died, as he had lived, a true friendof freedom, and an able and worthychampion of the anti-slavery cause.Through his son, Simmons, he wasthe grandfather of the late Mrs. Mar-riott Brosius. Another son was Cm-Kersey Coates, the well-known busi-ness man of Kansas City, Mo.

Dr. J. K. Eshleman began his Under-ground Railroad work in 1840. Helived and practiced his profession atthat time in Strasburg. Fugitiveswere sent to him by Daniel Gibbons.If men, they came on foot, with a slipof paper containing directions andtelling where they came from; drwomen and children, they werebrought in wagons. This was the cus-tom, generally, of all agents.

Dr. Eshleman rarely asked fugitivesany questions, further than to ascer-tain who sent them. The neighbor-hood of Strasburg contained at thattime many bitter pro-slavery people,the favorite pastime of many of whomwas breaking up anti-slavery meet-ings and burning Abolitionists'barns. On one occasion, when Lind-ley Coates took Charles C. Burleigh,the noted Abolition lecturer, to speakin that neighborhood, they were peltedwith unmarketable eggs and their car-riage stoned while on their way home.In 1848 Dr. Eshleman moved to Down-ingtown, and from that time he ceasesto be a character in this veraciousstory.

Thomas Whitson, whose family phy-sician was Dr. J. K. Eshleman, was avery active Underground Railroadman. His activity began about orprior to 1841. What a character hewas! Eloquent and cogent in speech,sound in logic and wise in counsel!He was decidedly original and witty.Nature had denied to him personalcomeliness; once, in illustrating in aspeech the force of public opinion, hesaid: "Now, in p'int of beauty, publicopinion is ag'in me!" When he andLindley Coates took opposite sides ina debate "Greek met Greek." As anUnderground Railroad man, he wasvery reticent. Hundreds of fugitiveswere taken care of, but no record waskept. Even his own children wereseldom permitted to ask questions.The fugitives were sent by Daniel (jib-bons, under charge of a reliable col-ored man, who had a signal by whichto awaken Thomas without arousingother members of the family. Al-though he was widely known as anAbolitionist, his premises, even afterthe Christiana riot, were never search-ed. After that riot, he heard that aparty of "special constables" was car-rying off a colored man that hadworked for him. He pursued and over-took them and asked for the man'srelease. One of them, on hearing whohe was, advanced toward him, pouredforth a volley of abuse, and, flourish-ing 'a revolver, asked if he were notone of the Abolitionists of that neigh-borhood. "I am," said the brave Qua-ker, "and I am not afraid of thyshooting me, so thee may as well putthy pistol down." The officer contin-ued his invective, and, turning to an-other man, said: "Shall I shoot him?""No," was the response, "let the oidQuaker go." The next morning Thomaswent to the officers with a neighborwho had seen the colored man at the

hour of the riot, several miles distantfrom the scene, proved this fact, andobtained his release. Thos, Whitson,Esq., of Christiana, is a son of theAbolitionist.

It is a matter for regret that a fulleraccount cannot be obtained of the Un-derground Railroad work of HenryBushong. He was a most earnest andenthusiastic worker. Prior to 1831,he lived in Adams county, but aboutthat time removed to Bart township,where his house became a well-knownstation. In 1832 a colored woman andher daughter came to him. I quotefrom Dr. Smedley's book: "The backof this poor woman was a most re-volting spectacle for Christian eyes tobehold. It had been cut into gashesby the master's whip until it was amass of lacerated fiesh and runningsores In order to make her re-veal the whereabouts of one of herchildren, who had escaped, she hadbeen given 500 lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails." As soon as she was suffi-ciently recovered she ran away andcame to the Bushong home, where shewas kindly and tenderly cared foruntil able to go on, and then takento a station further east. Henry Bush-ong received many fugitives fromJohn N. Russell, of Drumore, of whomI shall speak further on.

Jacob Bushong, son of Henry, wasalso an Underground Railroad Man.In 1831 a colored man calling himselfWilliam Wallace escaped, and, afterworking for friends in different neigh-borhoods,came, in the summer of 1835,to work for Jacob Bushong. In, themeantime his wife and two childrencame to him from one of the Caro-linas, and they had another child. Inthat summer, while he and Jacobwere working in the barn, a party ofslaveholders came, inquired for thecolored man, and then went to his

house, took his wife and thetwo older children, also thewife of another colored manwho had escaped at the same timewith Wallace, and drove with themto Lancaster, where they lodged themin jail. This news spread throughoutthe country and was brought to Dan-iel Gibbons. The next morning heand his family were astonished bythe appearance of the two women attheir house. When asked how theycame, one of them said: "I broke jail.""How did you do it?" The woman re-plied that she had found a caseknifeand cut her way out! They were hid-den in a wheat field, provided withblankets and food, and the next nightwere taken by Joseph Gibbons andThomas Peart to the next station andthus passed on. The account givenby these women was so incrediblethat Joseph Gibbons interviewed theeccentric "Devil-Dave" Miller, whowas then Sheriff and Prison Keeper.and lived in the jail. When asked howit happened that he allowed two ne-gro women to slip through his fingers,he winked and laughed. It was after-wards discovered that he opened thejail door and let them walk out. Aboutthe same year two colored men,namedGreen Staunton and Moses Johnson,had been sold to go far South,and, having been lodged temporarilyat the jail at Frederick, Md., brokejail and ran to the house of their for-mer master, who was the father ofStaunton. He had compassion onthem, gave them food, and assistedthem on their way to Daniel Gibbons.In 1835 Staunton came to live withJacob Bushong. Two years afterwardsix men entered his house, bound andgagged him, and took himto the Lancaster jaii. Thenews of his arrest spread rapidly,and a committee of his friends, two

of whom were Henry and Jacob Bush-ong, decided to buy him from his cap-tors. They went to Lancaster andagreed to pay $675. He was liber-ated, and, before his departure forCanada, where he died, he had paidoff a large part of this sum. The oth-er colored man, Moses Johnson, hear-ing of his companion's capture, askedsome friends to negotiate for his pur-chase. This they did, paying $400 forhim. In a few years he paid this backand then purchased a small farm andgood buildings with his earnings. Hedied in 1873. Henry and Jacob Bush-ong were grandfather and uncle ofMarvin E. Bushong, Esq., presentClerk of the Quarter Sessions Court.

Jeremiah Moore lived near Christi-ana and harbored many fugitives sentto him by Daniel Gibbons. He secret-ed them in an upper room of hishouse, and, when they were broughtdown to meals, the doors were bolted.Clothing was furnished them by theanti-slavery neighbors, and, when ill,they were carefully nursed back tohealth. From the Moore house theywere sent to the nearest station, nearErcildoun , in Chester county.

In Bart township lived Joseph andCaleb C. Hood. One night, in thespring of 1843, eight fugitives came totheir house at one time, brought byJoseph Smith, of Drumore. Theywere given food and hurried on, thepursuit being hot, to Lindley Coates,who secreted them til the followingnight and then sent them to the nextstation. One party of fugitives toldthe Hoods of having been broughtfrom Baltimore to the Susquehannaby Rev. Charles T. Torrey. Mr. Tor-rey, on returning for another load,was arrested, taken to Baltimore,tried, sentenced to the penitentiary,and died during his imprisonment. Hewas a native of Massachusetts, a grad-

uate of Yale, cultured as he was brave.He gave up his pulpit and devoted hisentire time to the Abolition cause. Hisplan of going among the slaves andurging them to run away was not ap-proved by the majority of the Under-ground Railroad workers. He believedthat, by doing this, property in slaveswould be rendered so insecure thatemancipation would be hastened. Hedied a martyr to his cherished planof obtaining freedom ror others.

After the Christiana riot, three col-ored men who had been engaged Init came to Caleb Hood's place. Theywere hidden in the woods nearby andin the house of a colored man and fedfor two weeks, until the hue and crywere over, when they went to Canada.Many more incidents and hair-breadthescapes might be told of the Hoods.

The house of Joshua Brinton wasnot on any of the direct routes, butsuch were his kindness and sympathyfor the colored people that many weredirected to go to him, his home beingcalled "a home for colored people."He was the father of Mrs. Mark PennCooper, of Christiana.

Thomas Bonsall and his son-in-law,Dr. Augustus W. Cain, though livingjust over the border, in 'Chester coun-ty, near Christiana, deserve mentionbecause of their close connection withthe work in this county. Thirteen fu-gitives were secreted in Thomas Bon-sail's barn at one time after the pas-sage of the fugitive slave law. Thetwo women whom "Devil Dave" Mil-ler let out of the Lancaster jail weretaken to Thomas Bonsall, and by himguided one dark night to the houseof an agent in Chester county. Thomaswas a prominent Friend', or Quaker,occupying several official positions inthe society. In his old age he was ap-preciated and honored by the coloredpeople of Christiana and the neighbor-

hood because of his labors in theirbehalf. Dr. Augustus W. Cain wasan original character. In answer tothis question from your present speak-er, Augustus, did thee have any-thing to do with the Christiana riot?"he said: "Yes, indeed; I was surgeonto the insurgent army on that day!"This because he removed bullets, onefrom the forearm of a colored manand one from the leg of another, afterthe conflict.

Lewis Peart was a quiet, cautiousman, whose brave serenity and goonjudgment made him an excellentagent. Fugitives were sent to him di-rect from Columbia. He generallytook them himself after dark to otherstations. In 1844 he removed to Ches-ter county and became a very activeworker there.

Joseph Smith's was the most im-portant station in "the Southern End.'Thirteen fugitives came to him at onetime, all from Virginia. Many farm-ers went to Baltimore from that neigh-borhood with loads of produce. Theircolored teamsters were questionedby the slaves in that city concerningthe southern Lancaster county sta-tions. Many of these crossed the Sus-quehanna at Peach Bottom in a boatawned and rowed by a colored man,and were directed or taken thence toJoseph Smith's.

During the height of Rev. CharlesT. Torrey's campaign, a party ortwenty-two fugitives was brought toJohn N. Russell's house about twelveo'clock at night. Their pilot, a col-ored man, threw a pebble against thewindow of Friend Russell's sleeping-room, which aroused him• and his wife.They came down, prepared a meal forthem at this "witching hour," tum-bled them into a four-horse coveredwagon, and took them to the next sta-tion. When John N. Russell was about

ten years old, in 1814, a colored wom-an, the mother of two little children,was taken quite near his father'shouse, tied, gagged, thrown into awagon, amid the cries of her littleones, and hurried off across the bor-der. She was sold into Georgia, andher children grew up in the Russelfamily.

A thrilling, yet somewhat ludicrousstory is told of Joseph C. Taylor.*Hearing one June morning that a col-ored girl had been kidnapped nearbyand was being hurried to the Mary-land line, he mounted a plow horseand followed the kidnappers. He hadtime to think, however, that he coulddo nothing without arms. Stopping

*The following data have been fur-nished by D. F. Magee, Esq.:

Joseph C. Taylor was born in theneighborhood of Kennett Square, inChester county, about 1802, of Quakerparentage, and was of the familyof Taylors well known in that section.In early life he learned the tanningtrade at a tannery in Little Britaintownship, and for a short time beforehis marirage kept the hotel in LittleBritain township, at Oak Hill. Hemarried Susan Ring Twaddell, of Ches-ter county, and immediately thereafterbegan keeping store, first at Oak Hill,and then at Ashville, in Little Britaintownship, which two villages arewithin a mile of one another. Hisfirst wife and two children he had byher, died within ten years of his mar-riage, and he afterwards married Jane , of Philadelphia, by whomhe had a large family of boys, whogrew to manhood: B. Frank, David M.,John K., Edwin C. and Howard N. Thefirst three became soldiers in the Unionarmy, and John K. was killed in bat-tle. David M. is President of the Far-mers' Bank of Oxford, Edward C. wasa prominent physician, and died inOxford some years ago. B. Frank be-came prominent and was a Justice ofthe Peace at the time of his death,some ten years ago. Howard died inearly manhood. Joseph C. Taylor,physically and mentally was a strong,rugged and always aggressive andfearless man. He was a militantAbolitionist, and in speech and action,in season and out, he contended forthe freedom of the slaves. Located,as he was, some four to six milesnorth of the Mason and Dixon line,

•at the store of a friend, he borroweda gun and overtook the party about ahundred yards from the Marylandline. Riding around the wagon, hewheeled in the road, aimed the gun atthe driver's head, and said: "Stir an-other foot and I'll blow your brainsout." Naturally the party halted; hemarched them back to a magistrate'soffice, had the girl discharged and thekidnappers put in jail. The best partof this true story is that, to quote Dr.Smedley, "The old gun hadn't a ghostof a load in it!" A Quaker gun, in-deed, but it served its purpose.

Little Britain township possessed afaithful worker in the person of OliverFurness, who was known as "the fugi-tives' friend." Such care was taken

and directly in or near the line oftravel both of the Conowingo Ferry(and later bridge), as, also, the routeup from the Eastern Shore, via Zionand Brick Meeting House (all Quakercountry), he is believed to havehandled, in conjunction with OliverFurness, many fugitives, his being thefirst station in Pennsylvania, togetherwith another at Griest's fording. Dur-ing the most active period be-fore the war he lived on a large farm,not far from the store, and betweenhis farm and store there was quite anegro settlement of free negroes,called "Wolf Hollow;" and a mile orless westward from this was the OliverFurness home, a very large farm, withbuildings located over a hill, entirelyout of sight of any public road. Boththe Taylor farm and the Furness farmran down to the Octoraro creek, aswas likewise the Griest farm, atGriest's fording, four miles furthersouth; and the legend is that thefugitives follower the course of thenarrow valley of the Octoraro, whichat that time was mostly wooded, andat several points, notably at PineGrove, near the Furness farm, cave-like rocks afforded shelter and hidingin emergency. From Asheville toChristiana was about fourteen miles,and it was via Christiana that most fugi-tives were sent from this point. JosephTaylor died in Ashville, April 26, 1876,and is buried in Oxford, Chestercounty. Pa. While it is believed hehad a birthright in the Friends' Meet-ing he did not in his mature yearsaffiliate with any Meeting nor was hea member of any other church.

by the Furness family, however, tokeep silent upon the subject that norecord of their work is obtainable.

The only Mennonite known to havetaken any part in this work was Chris-tian Frantz. He was an employer ofcolored men and helped them when-ever necessary. Some time subse-quent to 1840 a colored man known asTom Gray worked for him. One dayhe was arrested by men, evidentlykidnappers, taken to Lancaster andlodged in jail. Christian Frantz, Drs.Nathaniel Sample and Joseph Gibbonswent immediately to Lancaster, hasthe man released on bail, going hissecurity, and thus rescued him fromhis illegal claimants. He escaped,and was never seen in that neighbor-hood again. Kidnappers or ownerswere at Mr. Frantz's place twice oncethey searched the house, having awarrant so to do, but found no onebut one of the sons, an invalid, in bed."There he is," said one, seeing theyoung man's dark hair. His indignant"what do you want?" frightenedthem quickly away. On another oc-casion pursuit was so hot that a col-ored man hid in. the hole used fordampening flax, on the banks of Millcreek, and, thus concealed, soon after-ward made his escape. ChristianFrantz was the grandfather of 0. D.Brubaker, chairman of the ProhibitionCounty Committee.

The first-known anti-slavery man inthe Gibbons family was James Gib-bons, 1734 or 5-1810. Born in Ches-ter county, he moved, on his marriagein 1756, to the tract of land in thiscounty on which his descendants stilllive. During or soon after the Revo-lution he moved to Wilmington, Del.,then a borough, of which he was thesecond burgess. In 1789, while hewas a magistrate, a colored man wasbrought before him by a party of kid-

flappers. They attempted, as usual, tocarry thir case through by bluster;he told them, peremptorily, that "ifthey did not behave themselves hewould commit them." He then setthe man at liberty. In 1870 he re-turned to this county and here spentthe rest of his life. He was interest-ed, during his whole life, in helpingfugitives to escape.

Daniel Gibbons, the elder of JamesGibbons' two sons who arrived atmanhood, was born on the banks ofMill Creek, in East Lampeter town-ship, December 21, 1775. As soon ashe arrived at manhood he began hisUnderground Railroad work, beinghis father's assistant. In 1808, whileon a visit to Henry Bushong, whothen lived not far from Gettysburg,he met Hannah Wierman, member ofa well-known Quaker and anti-slaveryfamily. They were married in 1815and came to live in the house builtby him, which still stands, in thesoutheastern part of Upper Leacocktownship,near the East Lampeter line.This immediately became a well-known station. Hard work at the tan-ner's trade, to which he was appren-ticed in his youth, together with over-exertion during a pedestrian tour toNiagara Falls and Pittsburg in 1805,made Daniel Gibbons virtually a crip-ple, so that he was never able actuallyto run away with fugitives. He there-fore took no active part in the wonder-ful adventures and hair-breadth es-capes whicch his brain and tact ren-dered possible and successful. It isbelieved that no slave was ever re-captured that followed his directions.About 1818 or 1820 a colored mannamed Abraham Boston came to theGibbons place and remained. He wasan excellent man, and Daniel grew tolove him as he would a brother. Thekidnappers came one day and carried

him off. Daniel, at great risk, wentin search of him to Baltimore, but, forsome reason, could never get himback. This was the only person torescue whom he ever went South.In setting forth this experience in hisday-book he says, in conclusion: "0cruel man, how hast thou lost theimage"—that is, of Deity. This manand one, perhaps two, girls were theonly fugitives ever taken from theGibbons !home. Even concerning Abra-ham Boston, accounts differ, ane say-ing that he was captured in Lancas-ter whiie on his way from Columbiawith a load of lumber.

When a tap was heard on the win-dow at night, all the famiiy knewwhat it meant. The fugitives weretaken to the barn, and in the morningwere brought to the house separately,and each was asked this name, age,the name of his master, and fromwhat part of the country he came.The host then gave him a new name,so that, by means of this alias, hecould elude his pursuers. All theseitems of information he entered in aday-book, of which they finally filledabout forty pages. This record wasbegun in 1824. In 1850, after the pas-sage of the fugitive slave act, he cutthese leaves out and burned them. Dr.Joseph Gibbons was absent from homeat the time, and used to say that, hadhe been at home, this sacrifice wouldnot have been made. I still have thisbook in my possession, with the edgesof the destroyed leaves plainly visible.If fugitives expected their masterssoon, they were hidden in the field orbarn, or, if it was autumn, in thecorn shocks for a few hours, and thentaken to the road to Reading and hur-ried to the next station, the house ofFriend Johnson, before mentioned. Ifimmediate pursuit was not feared,theyworked in the neighborhood for a

while. Some, guided by the northstar, pressed on from station to sta-tion, directly to Canada. A relativewrote of this work as follows: "Manya dark night has he sent me to carrythem victuals and change their placesof refuge when not safe for himto go. I have known him to start inthe night and go (drive) fifty mileswith them when they were very hotlypursued." Two colored men, ThomasColbert and John Stewart, lived longwith him. John went back to Mary-land and, at the risk of his life,brought his wife to the Gibbons house.Soon along came another man, Robert(other name unknown),in a bad plight,his feet bleeding. He was put intothe barn to thresh until able to go onhis journey. In a few days his mastercame, bringing with him the notoriousConstable Haines, from Lancaster, andanother man. They came suddenlyupon Robert; he ran and jumped outof the "overshoot," ten feet down, dis-locating his knee. The men ranaround the barn and caught him. Bythis time Tom and John came up,with Daniel and Hannah Gibbons.Poor Robert owned this master, butJohn told them they should not takehim and was about to strike themwith a club. One of the men drew apistol to shoot John, but Daniel Gib-bons told him he would better not dothis; this was not a slave State. AsRobert had owned his master, Danieltold John he must submit, and theyput the captured man on a horse andstarted away with him. After theywere gone, John said: "Mr. Gibbons,just say the word and I will bringRobert back." The brave wife said:"Go, John, go." So John ran to aneighbor's,got a gun without any lock,ran across the fields, Tom with him,and headed off the party. The menall ran except Haines, who kept Rob-

ert between John and himself, so thatJohn would not shoot him. John or-dered Robert to get off the horse. Thishe did, and Tom and John broughthim back in triumph. Hannah Gib-bons said: "John, thee is a good fel-low; thee has done well." Robert wastaken to a neighbors, where the fam-ily physician set his knee, and, assoon as he was able, he, to quote thenarrative, "took a bee line for thenorth star."

An anecdote is told of Haines, theaforementioned worthy, which illus-trater Daniel Gibbons' methods. Oneday word was hbrought him that Haineswas in the grove on the banks of Millcreek, carrying a gun. Daniel wentdown to the grove, when the follow-ing brief conversation took place:"Weli, friend Haines, how is thee to-day?" "Good morning, Mr. Gibbons,very well, I thank you. I just thoughtI would come down here awhile andhunt squirrels." "Very well, Haines,go on and hunt. Thee will find manyred squirrels and some gray ones, butnever any black ones." On this hint,Haines' squirrel hunt was brief; cameto a sudden end. In the winter of1822, a colored man living with DanielGibbons went to the creek early inthe morning to set traps for muskrats.While he was gone a slave-holdercame and inquired for his slave, tell-ing Daniel that they had come for arunaway nigger—black, five feet teninches high, lost one of his frontteeth, etc. To this description thefriend listened in silence. What hewould have done, had questions beenasked, cannot be told; as the descrip-tion suited him of the muskrats. Butthe visitor went on to say: "He is avery ornery nigger, no dependence tobe placed in him nohow." "There isno man here," rejoined Daniel, greatlyrelieved, "who answers that descrip-

tion." "We've very good reason tothink he came here," said one, "w egot word very direct; reckon he's lyin'around here. Hain't there been nostrange nigger here?" "There was acolored man here, but he has goneaway; I don't know as he will evercome back again." The man hadstayed away so long that it seemedprobable that he had seen his pursu-ers and had sought shelter. "Tell himthat his master says that if he wilionly come back again to Baltimorecounty he sca'n't be whipped nor soldnor nuthin', but everything shall belooked over." "I'll tell him what yousay," said Daniel, "if I ever see himagain, but," he added, regaining hisaccustomed independence, "I'll tellhim, too, that if I was in his place, I'dnever go hack to you again." Thepursuers left, and that night the fugi-tive sought a more secure hidling-place.

In 1833, while on his way to theWest in a carriage, with ThomasPeart, Daniel Gibbons found a fugitiveslave, a woman, in Adams county,who was in immediate dan ger. Hestopped his journey and sent his horseand carriage back to his own homewith the woman, that being the onlyway to save her.

Pursuit was sometimes hot indeed.Once her master come for a younggirl. While Daniel Gibbons engagedhim in conversation in the sitting-room, his wife hurried her out of thehouse, and turned over her an emptyrain-water hogshead that was lyingnear. The premises were searched,of course, but no slave was found.

From his arrival at manhood until hisdeath Daniel Gibbons assisted nearly1,000 fugitives. When the fugitiveslave law of 1850 was passed he wasnearly seventy-five years old. Aftersorrowful reflection upon it, he said

to one of his household: "I have madeup my mind to go to jail." He waswilling to die in prison, as Torrey did,or to be robbed of every dollar thathe possessed,as was the heroic ThomasGarrett, of Wilmington, a short timebefore. After that time, however,many slaves were passed through byrail, this being less dangerous.

When he passed to his rest a youngman, son of one of his old friends,afterattending his funeral , wrote as follows: "To paraphrase the words ofWebster, we turned and paused andjoined our voices with the voices ofthe air, and bade him hail! and fare-well! Farewell, kind and brave oldman, the voices of those whom thouhast redeemed welcome thee to theEternal City."

No history of the Underground Rail-road would be complete without someaccount of Hannah Wierman Gibbons,born in 1787, died 1860. What mannerof woman she was, one incident willtell. In 1836 there came to her homefrom the great valley of Virginia aslave, one of the poorest, most ignor-ant and filthiest of mankind. He wasfootsore and weary, and could not tellhow he came or who directed him.Evidently ill, he became rapidly worse.A physician was called in, who pro-nounced his case smallpox. HannahGibbons shut herself up in a room withhim, and for six long weeks nursedhim carefuly and tenderly, until hewas restored to heaith. When I re-lated this incident to a friend, re-cently, she said: "And nowadays peo-ple aren't willing to ride in the streetcars with colored people." A com-mentary upon our advance (!) inChristian civilization. Hannah Gib-bons was a woman of fine intellect,andher patience, self-denial and warm af-fection were shown in every relationof life. As daughter, wife, mother,

friend and mistress of a family, shewas beloved by all; the poor fugitivesregarded her with a feeling akin toidolatry. Deeply religious, both sheand her husband were elders in theSociety of Friends. When near death,she aroused from her lethargy andasked if Abraham Lincoln was electedPresident of the United States, anevent which took place about threeweeks afterward. "Come ye blessedof my Father, inherit the kingdomprepared for you from the foundationof the world."

Dr. Joseph Gibbons was his father'sfaithful, earnest and enthusiastic as-sistant in this work, taking the activepart that Daniel Gibbons' ill healthprevented his taking. To an excitingmidnight run , with a party of fugitivesmade when he was about sixteen yearsold, he attributed a difficulty in walk-ing that troubled him during the restof his life. In 1837, when about nine-teen years old, he attended a conven-tion which met in Harrisburg to organ-ize an Anti-Slavery Society. In 1840came the first organized political oppo-sition to the slave power, in the nomi-nation of James G. Birney, of Michi-gan, and Thomas Earle, of Philadel-phia, for President and Vice Presi-dent of the united States. JosephGibbons did not vote for them, think-ing that the time was not ripe forgeneral political action. He attendedthe convention held in Pittsburg, in1844, which nominated Dr. F. J.Lemoyne for Governor of Pennsyl-vania, and voted that year for Birneyand Thomas Morris, the latter abrave anti-slavery Democrat of Ohio.In 1845, Joseph Gibbons married, inPhiladelphia, Phebe, eldest child ofThomas and Mary Earle. Of their ownUnderground Railroad work, afterDaniel Gibbons' death, no record re-mains. I remember, when a small

child, the arrival of a party of sturdyblack men. Naturally I asked whencethey came; "From Richmond," wasthe reply. Learned in geography, Isaid, "From Richmond, Virginia, orRichmond, Indiana?" To this therewas no reply. Such dangerous secretswere not told to children.

Joseph Gibbons possessed a mindlittle improved by education, butbroadened, informed and strengthenedby a wide range of reading; courage,both physical and moral, of the truesttemper; a heart deeply and tenderlyaffectionate; a cheerful disposition,keen sense of humor and fondness forhearing and telling good stories, and,above and beyond all, a "heart hatred"of cruelty and oppression and a deepinterest in every movement that hadfor its object the uplifting of the hu-man race.

Underground Railroad men weregreatly annoyed, both by decoys, pre-tended runaways, sent to them by kid-nappers, and by white men who cameostensibly on other business, but werereally spies for the slave catchers.Daniel Gibbons possessed great skillin detecting both these classes. Forthe purpose of watching all unwel-come visitors, the lane from the publicroad to the house was laid out aroundtwo sides of a field, instead of leadingdirectly to the yard, as would havebeen more convenient. Hand-bills andnewspapers advertising fugitives werefrequently sent to Daniel Gibbons. Ofthese I have a small collection whichis, I think, of historical interest.

A troublesome band was known as"the Gap gang." Led by the notoriousWilliam ("Bill") Baer, they robbed henroosts and smoke houses, acted asguides to kidnappers or masters, or asdeputy constables or just plain man-stealers.

Amid all their dangers the Under-

ground Railroad men had a brave andable helper in Thaddeus Stevens, ofwhose labors in this field the half willnever be told.

Such is my simple story.It may be worth mentioning that,

of the men and women whose laborsI have described, all but two, or per-haps, three, were members of the So-ciety of Friends, or Quakers. Theirown poet, Whittier, had thus adequate-ly portrayed them:

The Quaker of the olden time!How calm and firm and true,

Unspotted by its wrong and crime,He walked the dark earth through.

The lust of power, the love of gain,The thousand lures of sin

Around him had no power to stainThe purity within.

He felt that wrong with wrong par-takes,

That nothing stands alone,That whoso gives the motive, makes

His brother's sin, his own.and pausing not for doubtful choice

Of evils great or small,He listened to that inward voice

Which called away from all.

0, spirit of that early day,So pure and strong and true,

Be with us in the narrow wayOur faithful fathers knew.

Give strength the evil to forsake,The cross of Truth to bear,

And love and reverent fear to makeour daily lives a prayer!

Accompanying Mrs. Brubaker'sinteresting paper, and in illustrationof its text, she exhibited to her audi-ence a large number of handbills andnewspaper clippings of the period1830-40, offering rewards for runawayslaves. A few specimens of them areherewith appended:

RUNAWAY.

On Saturday night, 22d instant, fromthe farm of the late Elizabeth Brown,deceased, near Centreville, FairfaxCounty, Virginia—a negro man namedWm. Warner, said negro is about sixfeet high, quite likely and 33 yearsof age. He rode off a young bay horsefifteen hands high and took a goodmany clothes, some very good, and a

black fur hat. A reward of $50 willbe given for him if taken in the Stateof Virginia of the District of Colum-bia, and of $100 if taken and secured,so I get him again out of either.

CHARLES T. LEWIS,Executor of E. Brown.

Aug. 29-3t.$100 REWARD.

Ran away from the subscriber onthe 1st of May last, my negro mannamed

HAMLET,who sometimes takes the name ofGreen. He is stout made, high fore-head, full eyes, talkative and politelybehaved, very fond of ardent spirits,and about 28 years of age, he tookwith him a full bred yellow and whitesetter dog; the above reward will begiven for delivering the said negro tome in this city or securing him in anyjail so that I can get him.

HENRY V. SOMERVILLE.Baltimore, July 15. 50-8t.

STOP THE THIEVES.$500 REWARD.

Stolen from the undersigned, a car-riage and horses, by his slave, GeorgeQueen, a molatto man, aged about41 years, five feet 8 inches high, stoutlymade, of a bad countenance.

Also, a Black Woman, his wifeSuck, aged about 32 years with a childat the breast about six months old.

Also, her child Aaron, about 14 yearsold, who has a scar on the breast andneck, caused by a burn.

Also, her child Caroline, aged about11 years: also, his child Isaac, a verystout child, aged 6 years.

Also, his child, Seney, aged about 4years.

Of the above reward, the sum ofTwo Hundred Dollars for the appre-hension of George, One Hundred Dol-lars for that of his wife Suck and herchild Grafton, and Fifty Dollars foreach of the other children will begiven, so that they can be secured insome jail in Maryland where the abovereward will be paid with all reason-able expenses.

The undersigned is provided withwitnesses to prove the right of prop-erty should the above describedThieves and slaves be taken in Penn-sylvania agreeable to the laws of thatState.

The above thieves absconded withthe Carriage and horses and otherproperty of the undersigned on thenight of Friday the 19th of July inst:They have taken much clothing andbedding with them and are no doubtall in company wherever found.

ANTHONY KIMMEL,Near New Market Frederick County,

Maryland, July 21, 1839.

file:///Volumes/LCHS%3BLCHSFS01/OCR%20Journal%20Project/PDF%20Biblio%20Info/Pwebrecon.cgi.txt

Author: Brubaker, Marianna G.

Title: The underground railroad / by Mrs. Marianna G. Brubaker.

Primary Material: Book

Subject(s): Underground railroad--Pennsylvania--Lancaster County. Lancaster County (Pa.)--Biography.

Publisher: Lancaster, Pa. : Lancaster County Historical Society, 1911

Description: 95-119 p. ; 23 cm.

Series: Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society ; v. 15, no. 4

Call Number: 974.9 L245 v.15Location: LCHSJL -- Journal Article (reading room)

================================================================================

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Institution NameInstitution AddressInstitution Phone NumberInstitution E-mail Address

file:///Volumes/LCHS%3BLCHSFS01/OCR%20Journal%20Project/PDF%20Biblio%20Info/Pwebrecon.cgi.txt [6/15/09 1:31:23 PM]