Underground Railroad Brochure - Explore Franklin County | PA

Underground
Franklin County played an important
role in the passage to freedom—the
Underground Railroad. Its location
on the Mason-Dixon Line signaled
escaping slaves entry to the north,
and the mountainous terrain afforded
numerous hiding places in caves and
wooded areas.
Chambersburg, Greencastle, and
Mercersburg had substantial free
black populations, and by 1860,
Franklin County had the fifth largest
African-American population.
Railroad
Franklin County offered a number
of entry points as well as the natural
protection of mountains, forests, and
caves. The Jacob Shockey farm, near
Rouzerville just across the Maryland
line, was at the foot of the South
Mountain range. The forest sheltered
the fugitives by day, and under cover
of darkness, Shockey would guide
the group eight miles to the Hiram
Wertz farm near Quincy. From the
Wertz farm, the escapees traveled
Mercersburg Escape Routes
The Mercersburg African-American
population was the largest in Franklin
County. Just eight miles over the
Mason-Dixon line, Mercersburg
offered many escape routes that
were former Native American
pathways. Escaping slaves would
follow the Warm Springs Indian
Trail, which parallels today’s
Route 75, into Mercersburg.
From here, they traveled to
Chambersburg to the safe houses
along today’s Route 30, and then
onto Shippensburg along presentday
Route 11. From Shippensburg,
escapees made their way to Carlisle,
Harrisburg, Philadelphia, into New
another eight miles to an African-
American community near Thaddeus
Steven’s Caledonia Iron Works.
Traveling today, the route would
parallel Route 997.
The community, sometimes called
Africa, was the third largest African-
American population in Franklin
County in 1850.
York state, and onto freedom in
Canada. In the 1820s, African
Americans began to settle along
Fayette Street, Mercersburg, and the
community grew. The Bethel African
Methodist Episcopal Church, believed
to be part of the Underground
Railroad, was located in this
neighborhood,
as is the
Zion Union
Cemetery.
Franklin County Explorers Guide│GREAT MOMENTS│ HISTORY│ 13

William Still
an African American active
in anti-slavery activity
William Still, an African
American active in anti-slavery
activity, compiled a catalogue
of stories of escaping slaves
that made their way to
Philadelphia’s Anti-Slavery
Offi ce and Vigilant Committee.
This account is excerpted from
The Underground Railroad,
and is to have taken place in
May 1859 with Chambersburg
a central location.
“It (the party) consisted of a
colored man, a white woman,
and a child, ten years old. David,
the colored man, was about
twenty-seven years of age,
intelligent, and was owned, or
claimed by Joshua Pusey. David
had no taste for slavery.
So after thinking of various
plans, he determined not to run
off as a slave with his “budget
on his back,” but to “travel as a
coachmen,” under the “protection
of a white lady.”
On reaching Chambersburg, Pa.,
in the evening, they drove to a
hotel, the lady alighted, holding
by the hand her well-dressed and
nice-looking daughter, bearing
herself with as independent an
air as if she had owned twenty
such boys as accompanied
her as coachman. She did not
hesitate to enter and request
accommodations for the night,
for herself, daughter, coachman,
and horse. Being politely told that
they could be accommodated,
all that was necessary was, that
the lady should show off the best
advantage possible. The same
duty also rested with weight
upon the mind of David.
The night passed safely and
the morning was ushered in
with bright hopes which were
overcast but only for a moment,
however. Breakfast having
been ordered and partaken of,
to the lady’s surprise, just as
she was in the act of paying
the bill, the proprietor of the
hotel intimated that he thought
that matters “looked a little
suspicious,” in other words, he
said plainly, that he “believed
that it was an Underground Rail
Road movement;” but being an
obliging hotel-keeper, he assured
her at the same time that he
“would not betray them.” Just
here it was with them as it would
have been on any other railroad
when things threaten to come to
a stand; they could do nothing
more than make their way out
of the peril as best they could.
One thing they decided to do
immediately, namely to “leave
the horse and carriage,” and
try other modes of travel. They
concluded to take the regular
passenger cars. In this way
they reached Philadelphia. In
Harrisburg, they had sought and
received instructions how to find
the Committee in Philadelphia.”
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African American
COMMUNITY
Supports Underground Railroad in Chambersburg
A
historic marker on Memorial Square marks the Underground Railroad
activity of Chambersburg. Many of Chambersburg’s African-American
citizens participated in the Underground Railroad and the majority
of the African-American population was concentrated in the South Ward. Henry
Watson, a local barber, and Joseph Winters, an inventor and author, were two
known agents of the Underground Railroad.
In August, 1859, abolitionist Frederick Douglass visited Chambersburg.
When he was recognized by the townspeople, he was pressed to give a speech.
The speech was given in a building on the square called the Franklin Repository,
since burned in the 1864 Civil War Burning of Chambersburg. The site is
adjacent to the 1865 Franklin County Courthouse that remains today. Douglass’
true purpose for traveling to Chambersburg was not a speaking engagement,
but a meeting with John Brown, who
had written him asking to meet in
Chambersburg. The meeting was held
in an old quarry in the area behind the
present-day Southgate Shopping Center.
Douglass was unable to dissuade Brown
from his plan to take hold of the Harpers
Ferry arsenal.
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