Originally published: Lancaster, Pa. : Office of the Journal, 1883.
Includes index.
African American resources at Lancaster County Historical Society.
Summary
This book was written in 1883 by Robert Clemons Smedley, a Chester County Pennsylvania physician who interviewed participants in the underground railroad. He was not a historian and was not unbiased. But he is considered to have been conscientious in his efforts to record the stories he was told. He wrote about events as described to him by person who themselves were involved, both those fleeing slavery and those assisting them.Topics in chapters 1 & 2 include William Wright and Columbia, PA. Chapter 8 is about the "Christiana Tragedy".
Introduction: The Fugitive Slave Issue on the Edge of Freedom -- South Central Pennsylvania, Fugitive Slaves, and the Underground Railroad -- Thaddeus Stevens' Dilemma, Colonization, and the Turbulent Years of Early Antislavery in Adams County, 1835-39 -- Antislavery Petitioning in South Central Pennsylvania -- The Fugitive Slave Issue on Trial : The 1840s in South Central Pennsylvania -- Controversy and Christiana : The Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1850-51 -- Interlude: Kidnapping, Kansas, and the Rise of Race-Based Partisanship : The decline of the Fugitive Slave Issue in South Central Pennsylvania, 1852-57 -- Revival of the Fugitive Slave Issue, 1858-61 -- Contrabands, "White Victories," and the Ultimate Slave Hunt : Recasting the Fugitive Slave Issue in Civil War South Central Pennsylvania -- After the Shooting : South Central Pennsylvania after the Civil War -- Conclusion: The Postwar Ramifications of the Fugitive Slave Issue "On the Edge of Freedom" -- Appendix A: Selected Fugitive Slave Advertisements, 1818-28 -- Appendix B: 1828 South Central Pennsylvania Petition Opposing Slavery in the District of Columbia -- Appendix C: 1847 Gettysburg African American Petition -- Appendix D: 1846 Adams County Petition -- Appendix E: 1861 Franklin County Pro-Colonization Petition -- Appendix F: 1861 Adams County Pro-Colonization Petition -- Appendix G: [Second] 1861 Adams County Pro-Colonization Petition -- Appendix H: 1861 Doylestown, Bucks County Pro-Colonization Petition -- Appendix I: 1861 Newtown, Bucks County Pro-Personal Liberty Law Petition.
Just over the line: Chester County and the underground railroad. A catalogue to accompany an exhibition organized by the Chester County Historical Society
"This catalogue accompanies an exhibition held at Chester County Historical Society February 7, 2002 to December 31, 2002."-- T.p. verso.
Summary
Although this resource is described as a "catalogue", its contents are a series of articles about the underground railroad in Chester County.
"Relates the exciting tales of the legendary Underground Railroad in Chester County, Pennsylvania, an area on the front lines of the antebellum struggle over slavery and black freedom. Examines the spectrum of opinion among Quakers, the prominence of black activists, and the interracial cooperation essential to the Underground Railroad's success." [from Worldcat.org]
Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-239) and index.
African American resources at Lancaster County Historical Society
Contents
Chapters: THE ESCAPE // BLACK IMAGES IN WHITE MINDS // THE CHASE // THE RIOT // AFTERMATH // STRATAGEMS // THE TRIAL // RACE, VIOLENCE , AND LAW // RACE, RIOTS AND LAW // CONCLUSION
Summary
"This book tells the story of a riot that erupted on September 11, 1851 at Christiana, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and of the people whose lives were changed forever by that violent event. Shortly after dawn on that day, Lancaster's African-American community rose up in arms against attempted enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850; and, in the course of saving four men from the federal posse charged to reenslave them, rioters killed the Maryland farmer who was trying to reclaim his human chattel." [from the introduction]
African American resources in the Lancaster County Historical Society.
Maj. Ellwood Griest (1824-1900) was born to a Quaker family just across the Octoraro Creek from Lancaster County in West Nottingham, Chester County. He learned blacksmithing, moved to Christiana, and became very active in Republican politics and abolitionism. The Lancaster Intelligencer even accused him during the 1860 election campaign of "figuring somewhat prominently" in the Christiana Riot, although I haven't seen evidence. Griest also served with the Union army as a Sixth Corps commissary officer (a Quaker compromise?), and stayed in the army until 1866 witnessing early Reconstruction in Florida. After the war, he ran a newspaper in Lancaster and stayed active in politics. Lancaster's 1920s skyscraper, the Griest Building, is named after Ellwood Griest's son, Congressman William Walton Griest. [from http://www.lancasteratwar.com/2011/09/john-and-mary-tale-of-south-eastern.html]
Contents
Chapters: THE OCTORARO / THE BROWNS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS / THE FRIENDS / A VISITOR / THE FUGITIVES / PASSING EVENTS / A FOOT-RACE / THE DESERTED HOUSE / THE HUNTERS AND THEIR PREY / FOILED / DOCTOR KING / TIME'S CHANGES / KU-KLUX / LOST AND FOUND / MOTHER AND SON / HOME AT LAST
Summary
From the preface: "The following story, originally written for the LANCASTER INQUIRER, is founded on facts that came within the personal knowledge of the writer. The characters described are all real ones, as will be attested by many of the older inhabitants, yet living in the region of country where the events described occurred. Belonging to a generation of people and a condition of society that are rapidly passing away, they cannot fail to excite an interest in the minds of those who, living under totally different influences, learn of them only through others. The narrative of John and Mary, or rather of Mary and her child, is founded strictly on facts, and resulted from a state of society that has passed away forever. Whatever faithfully describes the influences and results of the institution of slavery, must become more and more interesting to the present generation, and in the hope that this little volume will in a measure meet this growing want, the writer has consented to its publication in the present form. That some pleasure and profit may result to the reader from its perusal is the earnest desire of THE AUTHOR."
Information files are created for specific subjects that are associated with Lancaster County, e.g. "Rebman's scrap pile", "Ten-hour house". The files contain newspaper and magazine articles about the subject.
