''Child Heroes of the Underground Railroad illuminates the vital contributions of specific, underappreciated child activists within the extremely local circumstances of their daily work. It also provides meaningful context to the actions of these young activists within the much broader social practice of resisting slavery, and offers fresh insight into the complicated question of who was responsible for ending slavery. Through a thorough examination of these subjects, author Jonathan Shectman proves his central thesis: in many specific cases, children were the essential lifeblood of the Underground Railroad's operational workforce." ( amazon.com )
Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-208) and index.
Contents
The dictates of humanity -- Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave -- Ran away from the subscriber -- Tell them I love them all -- Let not the sun go down on your anger, my boy -- Up like bucks: the Rankin boys -- States of matter divide the states -- Deeds of bold daring -- Many years under the yoke -- The conductor was, himself, presently enslaved.
Part I. Radical, young, and quaker: child pioneers of the underground -- Part II. Up like bucks: the line through Ripley -- Part III. Taking their freedom: young free blacks and fugitive children.
Series 2, Black History Records, contains the Mayor's Register of Coloured Persons or Negro Entry Book, a census of free persons of color living in Lancaster city; a biographical account of Rev. James William Charles Pennington; and items related to early twentieth century Black History in Lancaster County. The collection also contains letters from anti-slavery societies, papers related to abolitionist activity, a letter regarding the American Colonization Society, and a manumission paper from the state of Virginia.
Black History Collection (MG0240) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/2b3d42c6-a313-4ebc-966f-516114048136
Conestoga Elks Lodge Records (MG0760)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Black History Collection (MG0240), Series 2, Object ID, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL. Date accessed (day, month, year).
LancasterHistory is committed to preserving and providing access to materials chronicling Lancaster County's heritage. As a historical resource, this document reflects the racial prejudices and actions of the era. In order to maintain the historical integrity and context of collection items, LancasterHistory does not censor historical documents or edit language, titles, or organization names when transcribing original content.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment--contact research@lancasterhistory.org prior to visit. Restricted access for the "Mayor's Register of Coloured Persons" found in Series 2, Folder 2: Use transcript in Folder 3 or microfilm.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-240, Series 2
Classification
MG0240
Description Level
Series
Custodial History
Processed prior to 1997 and updated from 2007-present. Added to database on 17 January 2022.
Digitization of this document was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 202010016624, 2020-2023.
"By following the story of my great-grandmother Isabella Ford's life, and adding to it with information from available sources, I have been able to get a better understanding of the circumstances of Lancaster's free blacks. Her story provides a sense of life in mid-nineteenth century Lancaster County and shows how free black families held their own, despite an environment that was often unfriendly and that restricted their opportunities by both law and custom."
Thaddeus Stevens home & law office 45-47 South Queen Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania : Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
"Submitted [to National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom] on behalf of Lancaster County Convention Center Authority and LancasterHistory.org ... in Partnership with Pennyslvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau, January 2011, Prepared by Randy Harris, consulting historian, Lancaster, PA."
xvi, 553 pages : illustrations, maps, photographs ; 26 cm.
Series
Army historical series
CMH pub ; 30-24-1
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (pages 508-532) and index.
Contents
Mustering in : Federal policy on emancipation and recruitment -- The South Atlantic Coast, 1861-1863 -- The South Atlantic Coast, 1863-1865 -- Southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, 1862-1863 -- Southern Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, 1863-1865 -- The Mississippi River and its tributaries, 1861-1863 -- Along the Mississippi River, 1863-1865 -- Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Kansas, 1863-1865 -- Middle Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, 1863-1865 -- North Carolina and Virginia, 1861-1864 -- Virginia, May-October 1864 -- Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia, 1864-1865 -- South Texas, 1864-1867 -- Reconstruction, 1865-1867 -- Conclusion.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-196) and index.
Contents
A short history of fugitives in America and an African named James Somerset -- The original meaning of the fugitive slave clause -- The Fugitive Slave Act, kidnapping, and the powers of dual sovereigns -- The rights of slaveholders and those of free Blacks in Pennsylvania's Personal Liberty Law of 1826 -- Black sailors, kidnapped freemen, and a crisis in northern fugitive slave jurisprudence -- Arresting Margaret -- Arresting Edward Prigg -- Before the court -- Deciding Prigg -- After the court.
Summary
Margaret Morgan was born in freedom's shadow. Her parents were slaves of John Ashmore, a prosperous Maryland mill owner who freed many of his slaves in the last years of his life. Ashmore never laid claim to Margaret, who eventually married a free black man and moved to Pennsylvania. Then, John Ashmore's widow sent Edward Prigg to Pennsylvania to claim Margaret as a runaway. Prigg seized Margaret and her children, one of them born in Pennsylvania and forcibly removed them to Maryland in violation of Pennsylvania law. In the ensuing uproar, Prigg was indicted for kidnapping under Pennsylvania's personal liberty law. Maryland, however, blocked his extradition, setting the stage for a remarkable Supreme Court case in 1842.
pt. 1. Telling the story -- "Drive the heathen out of the land" -- "Some hot headed ill advised persons" -- "The same spirit & frantic rage" -- "Persons of undoubted probity & veracity" -- pt. 2. Retelling the story -- "I never heard one word of it till it was just over" -- "A mighty noise and hubbub" -- "Shot, scalped, hacked, and cut to pieces" -- "One of those youthful ebullitions of wrath" -- "The innocent were destined to share the fate of the guilty" -- "A zone of vicious racial violence" -- pt. 3. Killers and abettors -- "The most respectable of men" -- "They had possession and would keep it" -- "Eternal shame & reproach" -- pt. 4. Death and reconciliation -- "The remains of the victims of a terrible crime" -- "Slaughter'd, kill'd, and cut off a whole tribe" -- "Who was left to mourn for these people?"
"A relationship between [Thaddeus] Stevens and...[Robert Boston] is an important counter narrative. Most traditional accounts of the local Underground Railroad activity emphasize the actions of white stationmasters such as William Wright in Columbia or Daniel Gibbons in Bird-in-Hand. African-American involvement while not ignored is generally presented as being of secondary importance. Each demonstrable piece of evidence of Black involvement in effort to combat slavery strengthens arguments for a tradition of Black agency and necessitates a reassessment of the lives and experiences of African Americans in the Antebellum Era."