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7 Sites Associated with The Underground Railroad In Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

APPLICATION (Excerpts) Submitted to and Accepted by THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE/ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Into the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom

Prepared by Randolph J. Harris Consulting Historian* Lancaster, PA. 2003 through 2012

R* Responsible for lead writing, research, photography, graphic design and coordination with NPS Staff. Eighth NTF site in Lancaster County documented by Harris as of January 2017 – Thaddeus Stevens Home and Office – not included here. Bethel AME application co-author Leroy T. Hopkins, Jr, Ph.D., Millersville University, Retired. Zercher’s Hotel application co-author Darlene Colon, historian, genealogist, historical re-enactor and descendant of one of those accused in The Resistance at Chrisitiana, September 11, 1851. Then & now... Figure 1 Columbia & Philadelphia Railroad Corridor

From History of the Pennsylvania RR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896, page 123.

Amtrak Train No. 943 westbound, Bird-In-Hand Station, Lancaster County, PA, January, 2010 Photograph by RandolphHarris

Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Railroad Corridor from Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA, originally part of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, opened 1834, Currently owned and operated by National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak On behalf of Amtrak, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania/Department of Community and Economic Development & PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian, 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 [email protected] July, 2010 NATIONAL RAILROAD "ASSENG~R CORPORATION fiO MaHilr.hll5em AVl"nlle, NC, WRshinqtoli, DC 20007 \('1 702 !.!06.3%O fur 707 'lOb.2IlliO

Joseph H. Boardman Pfcsident and Chi",f EXilcutive Officer

March 3, 2010

Ms. Sheri Jackson . Northeast Region Coordinator National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Nationa.l Park Service 200 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106

RE: Underground RaUroad Site Research ftlJd Documentation For Amtrak Ranroad Corridor - Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA

Dear Ms. Jackson:

Amtrak, as owner/manager for the property that constitutes the r.ailroad corridor between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pf;Il1)sylvania, oonsents to its jnclusion in the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad NetWork to Freedom as iii. designated Site.

The historical significance of what is now known as Amtrak's Keystone Corridor has been long established. With its contributions to tbe commercial and industrial development ofthe eastern United States dating back to the early Nineteenth. Century, the Main Line ofPublic Works, an enterprise that included the Pennsylvania Canal Commission and one of Amerioa' s earliest railroad litlcg -~ the Philadelphia to Columbia RaUwad which later became a key building block ofthe Pennsylvania Railroad - was instrumental in the creation and growth of what would be known as the Underground Railroad. .

Research conducted prior to the 1970' s proved inconclusive in documenting the tlTl1'ortance of the Philadelphia to Columbia Railroad in the original creation and subsequent support ofthe Underground Rallroad system. Recently, through further in.vestigation, discovery and interpretation of the historical record, the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania and the National Park Service have determined the historical significance of various segments of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its predecessor lines, as wen as the significance of associated pieces ofro11ing stock and individual structures, to the railroad's use -- as early as circa 1835 -- to secretly transport fOImerly enslaved people to freedom. These properties and assets have either been listed in, or been determi.tled as eligible for listing in, the National Register of Historic Places. These determinations have been based on the railroad's significance to industrial, cornmercial and social h.istory.

Amtrak believes that the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Dtyclopment's application to desigo.ate the Keystone Corridor a "Site" within the National Park Service's National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom '.¥ill lay the groundwork for a better understanding of tbe hI.~SheriJackso" March 3, 2010 PI2g(! 2 origins and operation ofthe Underground Railroad, and will create opportunities for the National Park Service, the Commonwealth ofPennsylvania and Amtrak to more widely inform the public about this compelling story and present a vibrant new nation,al heritage attraction. , Amtrak understands that the Keystone Corridor's Underground Railroad history would be an integrallpart ofthe National Park Service's National Unde,rground Railroad Network to Freedom website, an,d we look forward to being permitted to display the Network to' Freedom logo when promoting this important history through various media.

J0 eph H, Boardman President and ChiefExecutive Officer cc: Lenwood O. Sloan, Director ofCultural and Heritage Tourism, Pennsylvania Tourism. Office, Department of Community and Economic Development United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Midwest Region 601 Riverfroot Drive Omaha. Nebraska 68102-4226

H22(MWR-CRlUR)

Septem ber 9, 20 I 0

Mr. Randolph 1. Harris 314 West Chestnut Street Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603

Dear Mr. Harris:

Congratulations! The National Park Service (NPS) evaluated the application for the Amtrak to be included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom (Network to Freedom). We found that it makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the Underground Railroad in American history and that it meets the requirements for inclusion as a site. We commend you on your dedication to this important aspect of our history and expect that you will join with us in continuing to exemplify the values expressed in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act.

We notified the owner or manager of the site and are sending them a Certificate of Acceptance that they may display. As a site included in the Network to Freedom, they may use the Network to Freedom logo under certain conditions, such.as in plaques or publications. The NPS Regional Program Manager will be pleased to share further information and guidelines on the use of the logo. We will a;lso include the site on the NPS Network to Freedom Web site at www.nps.gov/ugrr.

Please know that we are aware of your commitment to be stewards of all that the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act embraces. To ensure accurate interpretation of the Underground Railroad to the public, we wish to emphasize that the association with the Network to Freedom may only be represented as it has been approved in the application. We know that you are as committed to quality and high standards as we are and will realize the need for periodic review. Any site in the Network to Freedom is subject to periodic review and may be removed from the Network to Freedom if there is evidence that it no longer meets the criteria for inclusion or if the steward's activities are inconsistent with the goals ofthe National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act. In order to help us stay up-to-date, we rely on you to send us news and examples of flyers, newsletters, programs, brochures, etc. Additionally, you may post news ofyour upcoming events on the NPS Network to Freedom Web site.

Congratulations again on your extraordinary site, which we welcome into the Net\¥ork to Freedom. We wish you continued success. Please do not hesitate to contact your Regional Program Manager at any time to seek assistance, advice, information, or to let them know about your current activities. For your Regional Program Manger's contact information, please visit http://www.nps.govlhistory/ugrr/contact.htm.

Sincerely,

Ernest Quintana Regional Director

TAKE PRIDE·~ INAMERICA~ Leroy Hopkins To "[email protected]· CC "[email protected]" 08/04/20 1004:46 PM bee Subject Randolph J. Hanis Application for NPS designation

Ql This message has been replied to.

Dear Ms Jackson,

Let me first introduce myself so you can judge with what qualifications I can endorse an application for an historical designation. Although I am a professor of German here at Millersville University, I currently serve on the Board of the Lancaster County Historical Society and am a past president of that board. Additionally, from 1979-1995 I served on the Black History Advisory Committee ofthe Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Since 1983 I have published over a dozen articles on local Black history and the interaction of Blacks and Germans in Pen nsylvania and Germany. Now to the appli ca tion at hand. The application as presented has my complete support. During the past 30+ years I have had an opportunity to delve into the Black history of our region where my family has resided since at least 1777. Mr. Harris' application affords an unique opportunity to recognize and promote a facet of local history which has long been relegated to anonymity and neglect. In 1911, the fiftieth anniversary of the resistance at Christiana, the Lancaster County Historical Society organized a conference to discuss not only that historic event but also the activities of the abolitionists on the Underground Railroad that contributed to that resistance. The main focus was on the Quakers who allegedly planned and executed everything. In recent years, thanks to work of the National Park Service, a balanced account of the Underground Railroad has been made available for public consumption. This proposal to use the railroad roadway from Columbia to Philadelphia to celebrate the Underground Railroad and thereby link it to personages along the way such as William Goodridge In York (although the railroad linkage from Lancaster t o York no longer exist s, I recall riding on the train as a child) t o William Whipper in Columbia, Thaddeus Stevens/Lydia Hamilton Smith in Lancaster, Daniel Gibbons in Bird-in-Hand, and on to William Still in Philadelphia. Although the activities of the Underground Railroad clearly precede the first Introduction of the railroad in the 1830's, the use of the new mass transit system to smuggle fugitives most certainly influenced the naming of t hat activity for future generations. This is a very important opportunity to recognize a truly American story in a region which resistance to slavery not only took a new form but a new name. Amtrak's recognition of this fact is significant and commendable. On a practical and commercial level this designation will strengthen already existing cultural heritage promotional activit ies and afford school groups an opportunity to give local history a Significant socia l dimension which is frequently lacking. History is too frequently seen as the cumulative efforts of t he elite. This proposal will provide linkages to communities in which the descendants of t he original abolitionists and their helpers still live. For that reason and because I think the concept is truly inspired, I endorse the application submitted by Randolph J. Harris.

Leroy T. Hopkins, Ph.D. Professor of German Planning Commission 150 North Queen Stree t Suite 11'320 August 11, 2010 Lancaster. PA 17603 Phone: 71 7-299·8333 County Commissioners Sheri J'ackson, Northeast Regional Coordinator Fax: 717-295·3659 Scott Martin, Chairman National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom www.coJancasler.pa .us!ptan nin g Dennis P. Stuckey. Vice-Chairman Craig Lehman National Park Service 200 Chestnut Street, 3rd Floor Executive Director James R. Cowtiey, AICP Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106

Ms. Jackson:

The Lancaster County Planning Commission is delighted to support the application of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad Right of Way for inclusion in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

Lancaster County's adopted plans and policies consistently recognize the importance of the county's natural, historic, and cultural resources, and call on the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to protect and preserve them.

One of the tools we use to achieve this goal is a heritage tourism program called Lancaster County Heritage, which helps residents and visitors discover, interpret, preserve, and celebrate our heritage resources - everything from museums and historic sites to dining and lodging establishments. All of the program's deSignated resources meet strict standards for authenticity, interpretation, and visitor readiness.

We salute the National Park Service for its work on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, because it complements our efforts to recognize heritage resources at the county level. Recently, two Network sites were also designated as part of the Lancaster County Heritage program : the Christiana Underground Railroad Center at Historic Zercher's Hotel in Christiana, and the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery in Lancaster.

The Philadelphi,a & Columbia Railroad Right of Way offers residents and visitors a unique opportunity to experience an aspect of the Underground Railroad that is often forgotten - the use of boxcars to ferry people to freedom. Since much of Amtrak's Keystone Corridor still follows the route of the Philadelphia & Columbia, recognition of this fact would help to publicize the importance that Lancaster County played in the Underground Railroad.

Thank you for your careful consideration of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad Right of Way for inclusion in the National Network to Freedom.

Sincerely,

Scott W. Standish Director for Long-Range and Heritage Planning

cc: Diane Miller, National Coordinator National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Christiana Machine COlnpany

July 27, 2010

~s.SheriJackson Network to Freedom Regional Coordinator National Park Service U. S. Department of the Interior Old Customs House Chestnut Street Philadelphia, P A 19106

RE: Site Application for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad Right of Way: Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA through counties of Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, ~ontgomery & Philadelphia

Dear Ms. Jackson:

Our company was awarded a grant for establishing a visitor's center by The US Department ofthe Interior, National Park Service, Midwest Region, 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, NE 68102-4226 named The Christiana Underground Railroad Center at Historic Zercher 's Hotel. Since the inception, the center's content has been enjoyed by a vast group of visitors; educators, tourists, children of all ages, those interested in the Civil War and especially those following the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom's Historic Locations. The center's authentication and documentation of the historical events surrounding the Christiana Resistance and the Underground Railroad associated with the Zercher's Hotel and surrounding area could be experienced by a greater number of visitors with the proposed railway.

On behalf ofthe site application submitted in March ofthis year for the Railroad Right of Way between Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA (Columbia, PA) by Randolph J. Harris,

Consulting Historian for the National Railway Passenger Corporation and the

11 Green Street· P. O. Box 105 Christiana, PA 17509 800-922-0125 • 610-593-5171 Fax: 610-593-5378 Page 2 National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad Right of Way

Commonwealth ofPennsylvania, we would like to offer our endorsement acknowledging the synergism the Railway will have to increasing the interest in the National Underground Railway Network to Freedom's program.

Thank you for your consideration of this addition to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom's Historic Places.

Sincerely.

Louis J. Bond

Cc: Randolph J. Harris, Consulting Historian, Research & Documentation of Historic & Cultural Resources OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 5/31/2013

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM

GENERAL INFORMATION

Type (pick one): _X_ Site ___ Facility ___ Program

Name: Railroad Corridor from Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA, Originally part of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, opened 1834, currently owned and operated by National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak Address: Various – a railroad right of way of approximately 70 miles of the original line’s City, State, Zip: 80-plus miles. Counties: Philadelphia, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, Lancaster Congressional Districts: 6th and 16th Pennsylvania Date Submitted: July 15, 2010

Summary: What is being nominated and how it is connected to the Underground Railroad?

The 70-mile segment of operating passenger railroad line between Philadelphia and the City of Lancaster, PA was part of the original, 80-mile Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, one of the earliest railroad rights of way in the nation, beginning operations in 1834. This pioneering railroad was the eastern-most segment of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s statewide, 390-mile-long Main Line of Public Works. By the late 1830s, this same eastern segment also became one of the most secretive and expeditious transportation corridors for formerly enslaved people to reach freedom in the care of the Vigilance Committee in the City of Philadelphia. African American entrepreneurs William Whipper and Stephen Smith of Columbia owned and operated railroad box cars which were routinely used to transport freight from their successful businesses to and from Philadelphia. Some of these box cars, according to Whipper and others, were “peculiarly constructed with hidden compartments for carrying freight belonging to the Underground Railroad.” One account states that no freedom seekers were ever detected using this transport system. Columbia’s burgeoning industrial riverfront on the Susquehanna provided employment for large numbers of African Americans as early as circa 1820, emerging as a magnet for freedom seekers and humanitarians supporting the anti-slavery cause. Slave catchers were also a constant threat during these years. One abolitionist, William Wright, a Quaker, is widely credited with organizing the system of overland transport of freedom seekers from one Friends’ family home or farm to another, a distance of about 10 miles apart, or the distance one could travel overnight by foot or wagon. Together, these factors support the popular anecdotal notion of Columbia as one of the unique places where the movement emerged that became known as the Underground Railroad.

FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE USE ONLY I hereby certify that this ___ site ___ facility ___ program is included in the Network to Freedom.

______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

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Owner/Manager (Share contact information _X__Y ___ N)

Name: Joseph Boardman, President and Chief Executive Officer National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak Address: 60 Massachusetts Avenue NE

City, State, Zip: Washington, D.C. 20002

Phone: (202) 906-3960 E-mail:

Owner/Manager (Share contact information _X__Y ___ N)

Name: Kecia Babb-Jordan Director-Sales and Marketing-Northeast National Railroad Passenger Corporation-Amtrak Address: 2955 Market Street-30th Street Station

City, State, Zip: Philadelphia, PA 19104

Phone: 215-349-1160 E-mail: [email protected]

Application Preparer (Share contact information __X_Y _ N) Name: Randolph J. Harris

Address: 314 West Chestnut Street

City, State, Zip: Lancaster, PA 17603

Phone: 717-808-2941 E-mail: [email protected]

Privacy Information: The Network to Freedom was established, in part, to facilitate sharing of information among those interested in the Underground Railroad. Putting people in contact with others who are researching related topics, historic events, or individuals or who may have technical expertise or resources to assist with projects is one of the most effective means of advancing Underground Railroad commemoration and preservation. Privacy laws designed to protect individual contact information (i.e., home or personal addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers, or e-mail addresses), may prevent NPS from making these connections. If you are willing to be contacted by others working on Underground Railroad activities and to receive mailings about Underground Railroad-related events, please add a statement to your letter of consent indicating what information you are willing to share.

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom to nominate properties, facilities, and programs to the Network to Freedom. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Response to this request is required for inclusion in the Network to Freedom in accordance with the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act (P.L. 105-203).

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 25 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the National Coordinator, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, NPS, 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68102.

2 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 5/31/2013 SITES: In addition to the responses to each question, this application includes the following attachments: 1) Letter of consent from property owner for inclusion in the Network to Freedom 2) Text and photographs of all site markers 3) Original photographs illustrating the current appearance and condition of the site 4) Maps showing the location of the site

S1. Type: ___ Building ___ Object ___ District (neighborhood)

___ Structure __X_ Landscape/natural feature ___ Archeological site

_X__ Other: Railroad corridor

S2. Is the site listed in the National Register of Historic Places? _X__Y ___ N Pennsylvania Railroad – Various segments of this company’s railroad corridor (a.k.a., a right of way), various railroad-related buildings, structures and some preserved rolling stock, all from various historic periods, have been listed in, or determined eligible for listing in the National Register. However, no resource among these is specifically associated with the Underground Railroad.

S3. Ownership of site: ___ Private ___ Private, non-profit (501c3) ___ Multiple ownership

___ Public, local government ___ Public, state government _X__ Public, federal government

S4a. Type(s) of Underground Railroad Association (select the one(s) that fit best) ___ Station ___ Assoc. w/ prominent person ___ Rebellion site ___ Legal challenge

_X__ Escape ___ Rescue ___ Kidnapping ___ Maroon community

___ Destination ___ Church w/active congregation ___ Cemetery __X_ Transportation route

___ Military site ___ Commemorative site/monument ____historic district/neighborhood

___ Archeological site ___ Other (describe)

S4. Describe the site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad. Introduction - why the original historic right of way is segmented for purposes of this application: The Network to Freedom applicant, Amtrak, supports the Network to Freedom designation of a portion of the railroad corridor that it is authorized to operate and manage for passenger service: the railroad right of way of approximately 70 miles between the City of Philadelphia and the City of Lancaster, Lancaster County, PA (See Figures 3 and 5). This railroad corridor segment is estimated to include approximately 600 acres, and trains along this line were used to secretly transported freedom seekers to Philadelphia, as early as 1838.

Norfolk Southern Railroad owns the approximately 10 miles of freight-only rail line between Lancaster and the Borough of Columbia, which is the remainder of the original Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad corridor. Norfolk Southern has chosen not to consent to apply for participation in the Network to Freedom at this time. Therefore, the Lancaster to Columbia segment of the original historic railroad line is not part of this application. However, in order to describe and interpret the role of this early railroad in the origins and operations of what became known as the Underground Railroad, this application includes physical descriptions of the Borough of Columbia and its environs, and accounts of persons who resided in that riverfront community, circa 1800 through 1920, and whose lives are integral to this historical narrative.

3 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 5/31/2013 In between Columbia to the west (settled as a community around a river ferry circa 1720-See Figures 5, 8 - 12) and Philadelphia to the east, the corridor of the former Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad passes through town centers, small villages and surrounding countryside with deep associations to Underground Railroad and Anti-slavery activities. Many of these places are resources included in the Network to Freedom Program, or are listed in, or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. These areas include:

* City of Lancaster, settled 1730, first organized as a borough in 1742, then by 1818 became a city and seat or Lancaster County, established in 1729. Lancaster was capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812, after which the capital was moved to Harrisburg. By 1800, Lancaster was regarded as the largest inland City in the young United States of America. The City’s original four square mile town plan was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Here, Abolitionist U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) lived during the final 26 years of his life. He harbored freedom seekers at his various properties and he is buried here (a Network to Freedom Site, 2006). The home and law office of Thaddeus Stevens and his long-time property manager and confidante, Lydia Hamilton Smith are partially restored as part of the Lancaster County Convention Center. These historic adjacent buildings are expected to be opened by 2013 as an education and interpretive center focusing on the lives of Stevens and Smith, the American Civil Rights Movement and the Underground Railroad. Also in Lancaster is Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a few blocks from the Stevens & Smith Site, and one of the earliest places of worship of this denomination established outside of Philadelphia (1817). Bethel AME’s Living the Experience live performance about the Underground Railroad was designated as a Program in the Network to Freedom 2005. Lancaster is also the site of the historic Fulton Opera House, built on the foundations of the county’s original prison, a Network to Freedom Site, 2008. See Figure 14.

* Village of Bird-In-Hand, Leacock and East Lampeter Townships, Lancaster County, some six miles east along the existing railroad line from the City of Lancaster. Here, just 2,250 feet from the rail line, is the former residence and farm of Daniel and Hannah Gibbons, described in several accounts of the Underground Railroad as the most active in this region. See Figures 15 & 16.

* Borough of Christiana, where, about two miles south of town and the railroad line, the Resistance at Christiana occurred on September 11, 1851, a key challenge to the effectiveness of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and an event that further polarized the Northern and Southern states over the issue of slavery. This heritage is on display at Zercher’s Hotel, Christiana, a Network to Freedom Site, 2003 and the location of the Christiana Underground Railroad Visitor Center, a Network to Freedom-supported interpretive center, 2006. Zercher’s Hotel was determined eligible for the National Register in 1999. Directly east of Zercher’s Hotel (now the office of a functioning machine shop) is what is believed to be the last stone arch bridge from the original Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad. It spans Pine Creek, dividing Lancaster and Chester Counties. See Figures 17 & 18.

* Chester and Delaware counties, communities with extensive anti-slavery and Underground Railroad heritage. See Figure 19 for map view of concentration of Underground Railroad safe houses spanning these two counties between Lancaster and Philadelphia, and which surround the general right of way of the Amtrak line.

* Historic Belmont Mansion, overlooking the historic City of Philadelphia, and site of the long- abandoned inclined plane where freedom seekers are recorded as leaving the false end box cars of Smith and Whipper. Belmont Mansion is a Network to Freedom Site, 2008. Extensive areas of the City of Philadelphia are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

See additional description of Underground Railroad and other historic sites below under S8.

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Background: The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad –

The following descriptions, historical accounts and chronology below are based mainly on content found in the website of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the Commonwealth’s State Historic Preservation Office, focusing on the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad and key historical figures associated with these public and private institutions.

According to PHMC, the PA Main Line of Public Works, which included the P&C RR as its eastern-most segment, was born of intense competition to claim railroad dominance in this emerging technology among and between the neighboring states of New York and Maryland.

Following the opening of a 15-mile section of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in May, 1830 as the nation’s first active commercial railroad (See Figure 2), Pennsylvania’s Main Line of Public Works began as a railroad and canal system built by the Commonwealth, beginning with canal sections in about 1829 and completing the connections across the state by rail, canal and inclined planes by 1834.

This eastern section of The Main Line ran westward from Philadelphia through Montgomery, Delaware, Chester and Lancaster counties, holding closely to the alignment in current use as a section of the Keystone Corridor of Amtrak.

This first segment of combined rail and inclined planes (one plane at each end) was known as the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad. First using horse-drawn cars and soon after steam locomotives, individuals and businesses paid fees to the state to gain access to the line for freight and passenger service. The Main Line eventually progressed to Harrisburg and across the state to Pittsburgh, connecting with other divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal. See Figures 2, 5 & 6.

The Main Line consisted of the following principal sections, moving from east to west:

Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad: 80 miles-Philadelphia to Columbia in Lancaster County; Eastern Division Canal: 43 miles-Columbia to Duncan's Island at the mouth of the Juniata River; Juniata Division Canal: 127 miles-Duncan's Island to Hollidaysburg; Allegheny Portage Railroad: 36 miles-Hollidaysburg to Johnstown; Western Division Canal: 103 miles-Johnstown to the terminus in Pittsburgh.

The 395-mile long system opened in 1834 and was sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857. The hybrid transportation of railroads, canals and inclined planes cut travel time across the state from the 23 days that it took by freight wagon to just 4-1/2 days. The introduction of steam locomotives soon shortened the trip to only 3-1/2 days. The central focus and location of the Borough of Columbia in this regional context is described as follows:

Located just across the Mason-Dixon Line, which separated Pennsylvania from Maryland and the slaveholding states, Columbia held an important geographic location on the Underground Railroad. Since 1790, Columbia included a proportionately large free black population and by 1820, the black community had grown to 288 people. Its citizens were early activists in the abolitionist movement, establishing the Columbia Abolition Society in 1818. For these reasons, people came to regard Columbia as a place where free blacks might prosper. But like most free black communities, Columbia encountered its share of racial violence in the decades before the Civil War. In 1834 and 1835, race riots took place in the town, making a particular target of Stephen Smith, who was singled out for verbal and physical attacks (“Columbia: from the PHMC website, “Stephen Smith- Behind the Marker: http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=296).

See S5 and S11 below for expanded text and photographs of all related historical markers, including those commemorating individuals related to the P&CRR, etc.

5 Figure 2

First segment: Baltimore & Ohio RR Philadelphia & Est. 1830 Columbia Railroad

Railroad Maps of North America: The First Hundred Years— By Andrew M. Modelski, Geography and Map Division Library of Congress, Washington D.C., 1984, page 36, showing the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad completed in 1834 as part of the PA statewide Main Line of Public Works, spanning Philadelphia to Pittsburgh by rail, canals and inclined planes.

Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Railroad Corridor from Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA, originally part of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, opened 1834, Currently owned and operated by National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak On behalf of Amtrak, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania/Department of Community and Economic Development & PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian, 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 [email protected] July, 2010 Columbia & Philadelphia Railroad Corridor - Figure 3 General Location within Southeast Pennsylvania Region, Spanning counties of Lancaster, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware &Philadelphia

Portion of original rail corridor the subject of this application

Southeastern Pennsylvania/Northern Maryland/Northern Virginia, circa 1820 Base map from History of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, 1835-1919, by Paul Westhaeffer. National Railway Historical Society, Washington D.C. Chapter, Science Press, Ephrata Pennsylvania, 1979.

Illustrating early transportation corridors, some of which were later used to develop railroads, of which some were used by freedom seekers, notably the 80-mile Columbia & Philadelphia Railroad, completed 1834 and shown here in red (annotated by Randolph Harris).

Rand McNally & Co. “11 X 14 Map” Pennsylvania, 1895

Fulton, Franklin, Cumberland, Adams, York, Lancaster, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties & Philadelphia, PA. Approximate paths described as the Central and Southeastern Corridors of the Underground Railroad, according to William Switala in Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania, 2001.

Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, which extended approximately 80 miles from the City of Philadelphia to the Susquehanna River at the Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, PA. 1921 illustration reproduced from The Pennsylvania Railroad - Triumph II - Philadelphia to Harrisburg, 1828-1998, by David W. Messer, Edited by Charles S. Roberts. Red arrow an- notation shows portion of the line that is the subject of this NTF application. Above: illustrations of the type of locomotive engine and horse-drawn cars used in the early years of operation of the P&CRR: left, from Watkins,1896:12; and right, from Overly, 1984:22.

Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Railroad Corridor from Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA, originally part of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, opened 1834, Currently owned and operated by National Railroad Passenger Corporation – Amtrak On behalf of Amtrak, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania/Department of Community and Economic Development & PA Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian, 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 [email protected] July, 2010 Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge & Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom

“View of Columbia from Wrightsville,” History of Lancaster County, I. Daniel Rupp, 1844

“Canal Basin, Columbia,” circa 1870. Courtesy, Columbia Historic Preservation Society, Columbia, PA

Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of the Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected]

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM

GENERAL INFORMATION

Type (pick one): X Site Facility Program

Name: Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal at Columbia, Lancaster County, PA.

Address: Wooded Susquehanna Riverfront property, east bank between the PA Route 462 Bridge, PA Route 30 Bridge and the Norfolk Southern Railroad right of way.

City, State, Zip: Columbia, Pennsylvania 17512

County: Lancaster Congressional District: PA-16

Physical Boundaries of Site/facility: Approximately 20 acres of wooded riverfront property on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, extending north of the PA Route 462 Bridge and ending at the US Route 30 Bridge; to the west is the riverfront and east is the active Norfolk Southern railroad.

Date Submitted: July 15, 2014 Resubmission: Yes X No Round:

Is there a website? Yes X No Visitor phone number? Yes X No Phone number:

Summary: What is being nominated and how it is connected to the Underground Railroad.

The extant piers and abutment of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, and nearby ruins of locks of the Pennsylvania Canal along the Susquehanna River are being nominated as the remains of three major transportation facilities at the riverfront in Columbia, Lancaster County, PA which provided the means of flight for thousands of freedom seekers, circa 1830. When in operation, these facilities included a massive, wooden covered bridge spanning the Susquehanna River, which connected with one of the nation’s earliest railroads, and the adjacent canal system. Opposite this industrial riverfront stood many of the town’s homes and commercial establishments where white abolitionists and free Africans provided shelter, employment and other support. This early inter-related transportation network became a well-known hub of Underground Railroad activity. From here, the formerly enslaved could travel east to Philadelphia, north to Harrisburg, the state capital, as well as west to Pittsburgh. This activity was a continuation of transportation history that began with river crossings here in 1734, while anti-slavery activities can be traced to about 1800. This community sentiment became widely known, such that in the period 1815-20, Southern plantation owners freed hundreds at Columbia, encouraging many more to follow this path for decades to come.

FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE USE ONLY I hereby certify that this site facility program is included in the Network to Freedom. ______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

Owner/Manager (Share contact information X Yes No)

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016

Name: Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, PA – ATTN: Samuel F. Sulkosky, Borough Manager & Secretary/Treasurer

Address: 308 Locust Street

City, State, Zip: Columbia, Pennsylvania 17512

Phone: 717-684-2467 ext 7318 - 717-449-0235 (cell) Fax: E-mail: [email protected]

Application Preparer: (Share contact information X Yes No)

Name: Randolph Harris

Address: 314 West Chestnut Street

City, State, Zip: Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603

Phone: 717) 808-2941 Fax: E-mail: [email protected]

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: The authority to collect this information is the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act (P.L. 105-203). We will use this information to evaluate properties, facilities, and programs nominated for inclusion in the Network to Freedom. We may not conduct or sponsor and you are not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Your response is required to obtain or retain a benefit.

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 25 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Park Service, 1201 I Street, MS 1237, Washington, DC 20005.

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016 SITES: In addition to the responses to each question, applications must also include the following attachments: 1) Letters of consent from the property owner for inclusion in the Network to Freedom 2) N/A-Text and photographs of all site markers 3) Original photographs illustrating the current appearance and condition of the site being nominated 4) Maps showing the location of the site

All attachments supplement, but do not replace the text.

S1. Type:

Building Object District (neighborhood)

X Structure Landscape/natural feature Archeological site

Other (describe):

S2. Is the site listed in the National Register of Historic Places? X Yes- Partially No

What is the listing name: Columbia National Historic District:

The Borough includes the Columbia National Historic District and the same boundaries of that District are included in a state-certified Historic District with administrative procedures in place for historic resource protection provided by a Historic Architectural Review Board.

The subject bridge piers and abutment in Columbia is located within the NRD but the canal ruins, located about 800 feet to the north, are not.

NRD boundaries: Roughly bounded by Susquehanna River, Union, Cedar, 4th, and 5th Sts., Chestnut to 9th St., Columbia, Pennsylvania. Coordinates 40°02′02″N 76°30′12″WCoordinates: 40°02′02″N 76°30′12″W. Area 171 acres (69 ha) NRHP Reference # 83002249[1] Added to NRHP May 6, 1983

S3. Ownership of site:

Private Private, non-profit (501c3)

X Public, local government Public, State government Public, Federal government

S4a. Type(s) of Underground Railroad Association (select the one(s) that fit best)

Station X Assoc. w/ prominent person Legal challenge Escape

Rescue Kidnapping Maroon community Destination

Church Cemetery Military site X Transportation route

Commemorative site/monument Historic District/Neighborhood Archeological site

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016 S4. The site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad.

Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is a community with a social and economic history that includes many early episodes of anti-slavery and Underground Railroad-related activities. This historical record thereby provides a firm context to better understand the history of African Americans in the United States. (Delany, 1848, The North Star ; Frederick Douglass Paper, 1853, Rochester, New York; Evans, 1870, The Evening Express, Lancaster; Still, 1872: p. 809; Smedley, 1883: 23 and 45-46; Seibert, 1889: 34; Bordewich, 2005: 137).

The confluence of three major transportation facilities at the riverfront in Columbia, Lancaster County, PA provided the means of flight for thousands of freedom seekers while the adjacent homes and commercial establishments of white abolitionists and free African Americans provided shelter, employment and support over a period spanning the late 18th through the first half of the 19th century, according to the authors noted above and several others.

The early public works projects here included the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Canal between Columbia and the Harrisburg area (1833); the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge (1834), which was supplemented by 1840 with a railroad line that extended beyond the bridge and connected the City of York; and regular freight and passenger rail service between Philadelphia and Columbia (1834). See Illustrations, particularly Nos. 8, 9 and 10.

From here, Underground Railroad operatives helped to guide the formerly enslaved east to Philadelphia and points north, often secreted in railroad box cars, as well as west to Pittsburgh via canal boats.

This activity was a continuation of transportation history that began with regular commercial river crossings begun by the town’s earliest settlers, the Quaker Wright Family, in 1734. The earliest accounts of anti-slavery activity can be traced to about 1800. This community sentiment became widely known, such that in the period 1815-20, Southern plantation owners freed hundreds at Columbia. Many of these families remained, finding support from families of early white settlers. This integrated community grew and continued to assist people fleeing enslavement. They became increasingly skilled at eluding ever-present bounty hunters (Smedley, 1883: 27-31, 35).

By 1833 the Pennsylvania Canal's Eastern Division ran 43 miles along the east side of the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Duncan's Island (north of Harrisburg at the mouth of the Juniata River). The canal included 14 locks with an average lift of 7.5 feet. The state originally planned a canal of 24 miles running between the Union Canal at Middletown to the Juniata. However, the plan changed in 1828, when the state opted to extend the Eastern Division 19 miles further south to connect with the nearly completed Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad at Columbia (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania Canals, Page 2 http://web.archive.org/web/20070724231552/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/canals/page2.asp?secid=31).

On October 7, 1834, the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad section of the Pennsylvania Main Line opened between Columbia and Philadelphia. Two trains carrying Governor George Wolfe and other state officials were drawn by steam locomotives named Lancaster and Columbia. The trains left Columbia at 8 a.m. and arrived at Philadelphia at 6 p.m. (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Pennsylvania Canals, Page 3 http://web.archive.org/web/20070724231552/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/canals/page3.asp?secid=31).

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016

The extant stone piers and abutment of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge (built in 1834 and destroyed by Union militia in 1863), along with the nearby ruins of the 1833-era lock chambers of the Pennsylvania Canal along the Susquehanna River at Columbia, Lancaster County, PA represent the most tangible remains of this combined and inter-related public and private transportation network.

A county history describes the subject location during this period:

“Columbia being the most important place along the river which was spanned by a bridge, runaway slaves sought to cross the river at this point. Some remained among the colored people. Their masters often followed, and arrived before their slaves, and caught and returned them to slavery. William Wright conceived the idea of passing these fugitive slaves from one friend to another; located at intervals of ten and twenty miles. After these stations were established, friends were selected, who would pilot or direct these fugitives from one to another. The principal stations in this county were Columbia and Daniel Gibbons' place, one mile west from Bird-in-Hand, in Lampeter Township. Sometimes half a dozen or more runaways were placed in the care of these agents, and they were almost invariably carried through in safety on the "underground railroad" when placed in charge of its agents. It was not always an easy task, when the fugitive slaves found themselves among friends of their own color, and where they could earn good wages, to induce them to go beyond Columbia.”( Ellis & Evans, 1883: 74).

Two key secondary sources provide details of Underground Railroad activity involving Columbia’s bridges, canals and railroads.

One is a letter, written in 1871 by wealthy lumber merchant and equal rights proponent, William Whipper (1804-1876) to William Still (1821–1902) who published Whipper’s account in his seminal book, The Underground Railroad, 1872:

“The Susquehanna River was the recognized northern boundary of the slave-holding empire. The borough of Columbia, situated on its eastern bank, in the county of Lancaster, was the great depot where the fugitives from Virginia and Maryland first landed. The long bridge connecting Wrightsville with Columbia, was the only safe outlet by which they could successfully escape their pursuers. When they had crossed this bridge they could look back over its broad silvery stream on its western shore, and say to the slave power: "Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther." Previous to that period, the line of fugitive travel was from Baltimore, by the way of Havre de Grace to Philadelphia; but the difficulty of a safe passage across the river, at that place caused the route to be changed to York, Pa., a distance of fifty-eight miles, the fare being forty dollars, and thence to Columbia, in the dead hour of the night. My house was at the end of the bridge, and as I kept the station, I was frequently called up in the night to take charge of the passengers.

“On their arrival they were generally hungry and penniless. I have received hundreds in this condition; fed and sheltered from one to seventeen at a time in a single night. At this point the road forked; some I sent west by boats, to Pittsburgh, and others to you in our cars to Philadelphia, and the incidents of their trials form a portion of the history you have compiled. In a period of three years from 1847 to 1850, I passed hundreds to the land of freedom, while others, induced by

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016 high wages, and the feeling that they were safe in Columbia, worked in the lumber and coal yards of that place. I always persuaded them to go to Canada, as I had no faith in their being able to elude the grasp of the slave-hunters.” (Still: The Underground Railroad, 1872: 736).

However, Whipper’s published assertion about the use of railroad box cars and canal boats as transportation devices in support of the Underground Railroad was not the first time this secret system was made public. An earlier account appeared in 1870 in a feature article in a Lancaster, PA newspaper by a contemporary of Whipper’s in Columbia, Samuel Evans (1823-1918). Evans was a native of nearby Donegal Township, Lancaster County. He was a veteran Civil War officer, justice of the peace from the Columbia area, and widely published newspaper columnist, author and historian. He was the co-author of the 1000-plus page The History of Lancaster County, 1883 (Samuel Evans Collection, Manuscript Group 47, Archives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania).

Evans’ article, “Recollections of Slavery – Columbia the rendezvous of the fugitives - Some notable incidents of the struggle for freedom,” was published in the May 17, 1870 edition of The Lancaster Evening Express. Here, he revealed details of the Whipper and Smith box cars and many other Underground Railroad episodes and anti-slavery activities in Columbia and throughout Lancaster County:

“Hundreds of fugitives, fleeing from slavery, were safely piloted through this place [Columbia] through agency of the U.G.R.R. Many were secreted in a false end of a lumber car belonging to William Whipper, and taken to the Philadelphia planes, and from thence sent around Philadelphia to New Bedford. Goodrich (sic) – (should be “Goodridge”), of York, was the agent there, and usually sent word a day in advance when freight might be expected in Columbia. Cato Jordan, who took the cars across the bridge usually conducted them across, where another agent was waiting to conduct them through Black’s Yard around the town to Tow Hill.

“On several occasions, Thomas Bessick and other agents, boldly took slaves to the cars in open day, and purchased tickets for them to Philadelphia, when their master was in town, and had men employed to watch the house where the fugitives were supposed to be concealed” (Evans: The Lancaster Evening Express, May 17, 1870).

By the early 1850s, Columbia’s riverfront has been nationally recognized as an industrial center, a source of ready employment for freedom seekers, as well as an acknowledged as a haven for additional passengers on the Underground Railroad, according to an article in The Frederick Douglass Paper, “A Slave Hunt in Eastern Pennsylvania.”

“The “shore” along the river presents at this time one of the most animated scenes that can be imagined. To witness the truly American go ahead energy which is piling up the Lumber by the million feet, almost daily, is well worth a visit of five hundred miles. One may look with astonishment when he beholds the vast fleet of Timber and Board Rafts now lying in the river opposite this place. I presume there are piled at Columbia during the Rafting Season at least 50,000,000 feet of boards. Twice as much more is run to “tide,” from which place Baltimore, Philadelphia and Wilmington, (Del.) markets are supplied. The greatest portion of the Lumber “drawn” is done by negroes; they receive $1.50 per “crib.” - They not unfrequently draw out six a day per man. In passing along the shore this morning I observed that the negroes were in an unusually good humor. I inquired of one of them what it meant. He says, “Cim, haven't you heard the news?” I answered 'No' “Why, the U.S. Deputy Marshals, together with two assistants, came to town yesterday in the cars, for the purpose of escorting three of our men to the 'Rural Districts' of

OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires: 07/31/2016 Old Virginia. Two of the three, having families in town, upon reflection came to the conclusion that they would rather not accompany the Union-savers, but would take the cars that night, which they did, and by this time they are far on their way to Canada.” It is unnecessary to say that the Railroad upon which they traveled is called the “underground.” It is wondered whether J.S. got any money in advance this time.” The Frederick Douglass Paper, Rochester, New York, May 3, 1853.

Columbia’s principal Underground Railroad operatives - biographical perspectives:

Fergus Bordewich, in his nationally recognized, 2005 book about the Underground, draws on Smedley (1883: 28) and Ellis and Evans’ (1883: 73-74) for his description of Columbia’s pivotal role in the origins and growth of the movement, and the related critical work of the Wright and Gibbons Families:

“Underground Railroad activity steadily continued to grow in the farm country outside Philadelphia. A particularly strong node of activism was developing at Columbia, Lancaster County, where Quaker William Wright, a respected descendant of the town’s pioneer founder, had established a welcoming atmosphere for African Americans who settled near his home on the Susquehanna. Slave catchers and kidnappers followed. Wright is locally credited with hitting on the idea of passing fugitives along from one home to another at intervals of ten or twenty miles, with other Friends designated to pilot them in between. He sent them first to his brother-in-law and fellow Quaker, Daniel Gibbons, who lived… twenty miles to the east.” (Bordewich, 2005:137-138).

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, citing a variety of sources, describes the life of Stephen Smith (1796-1876), abolitionist, entrepreneur and business partner with William Whipper, as well as Underground Railroad supporter and activist:

“Stephen Smith was born a slave in Dauphin County in 1795, fifteen years after the state had first passed its gradual abolition act. Young Stephen was the son of a slave woman, Nancy Smith; his father was unknown. He was indentured to General Thomas Boude on July 10, 1801, when he was four or five years old, separating the boy from his mother. Boude was a lumber merchant from nearby Columbia, Lancaster County. Smith worked in the lumberyard, earning some money for his efforts. Boude was a former Revolutionary War officer from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania who allowed Smith to manage his entire lumber business as Smith approached manhood. Eventually, he saved enough not only to pay $100 for his freedom, but also to purchase $50 worth of lumber to start his own business.

Despite widespread prejudice, he developed a lumber and real estate empire with partner William Whipper and became one of the wealthiest African Americans in nineteenth-century Pennsylvania. In 1857, Dun and Co., a commercial reporting agency in America that evaluated local businessmen and women, including Stephen Smith and William Whipper, estimated the company's annual sales at $100,000 per year and labeled Smith "King of the Darkies” .” ( http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=296,with references to "Racism, Slavery, and Free Enterprise…” Business History Review, September 1986; Jack Brubaker, The Lancaster New Era, July 1, 1994; Larry Gara, The Liberty Line, 1996; Journal of Lancaster County Historical Society, "From Slavery to Freedom: Middle Class African Americans in Lancaster County").

7 Illustration 1

Pennsylvania, Southeast PA Region & Columbia/Wrightsville Area

Columbia

South Central Pennsylvania. From Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Civil War 150th commemoration kiosk, Columbia PA.

Columbia, Lancaster County US Route 30 Bridge

Wrightsville, York County

1834 Bridge piers & abutment PA Route 462 Bridge N

River Park: red oval represents improved area; white oval unimproved area of approximately 20 acres.

Canal ruins, Approx. 800 feet within wooded area

Bridge abutment

Bridge piers

PA Route 462 Bridge

Canal ruins

Bridge abutment & pier

National Register of Historic Places, District Map, Columbia Borough. Courtesy Lancaster County Planning Commisson, 2014

Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge Abutment, 2013. View East , above. View North east, below.

Veterans Bridge, built 1930. Piers of the 1834 Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, foreground. View south from US Route 30 Bridge.

Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge Abutment. Members of Columbia Borough River Park Focus Group stand atop structure, looking west toward piers at river’s edge, April 2014.

Pennsylvania Canal lock remains, built 1830. Members of Columbia Borough River Park Focus Group tour remains, April, 2014.

Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of The Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected] Historic Columbia Illustration 8 Pennsylvania’s Main Line of Public Works Pennsylvania state legislature authorizes construction of railroads, incline planes and canals in 1826 to create what became the Main Line of Public Works. This system opened to passenger and freight traffic between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh by 1834. Maps and historical content above from Visitor Center, Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site, National Park Service, Gallitzin, PA.

The Eastern, Juniata, and Western Divisions, supplemented by the Philadelphia & Colum- bia and the Allegheny Portage Railroads, constituted the Main Line from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, forerunner of the Pennsylvania Railroad. From "Pennsylvania Canals". Pennsyl- vania Historical and Museum Commission. Page 3. http://web.archive.org/web/20070724231552/http:// www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/canals/page3.asp?secid=31 Accessed 7-14-14

Southeastern Pennsylvania/Northern Maryland/ Northern Virginia, circa 1820

Illustrating early transportation corridors, some of which were used by freedom seekers, and some of which were later used to develop railroads. As shown in His- tory of the Cumberland Valley Railroad, 1835-1919, by Paul Westhaeffer. National Railway Historical Society, Washington D.C. Chapter, Publisher, 1979. Science Press, Ephrata Pennsylvania.

Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge—concentration point for freedom seekers heading east and north, from The Underground Railroad, From Slavery to Freedom, Seibert, 1896. Regional routes and pathways of the UGRR generally followed current rail and highway corridors. Seibert’s map based on Smedley’s narratives of 1883. See legend above.

Timeline: Earliest York County Railroads

1 1838—York and Maryland Line Railroad completed from the Maryland Line to City of York, Pennsylvania, connecting the Baltimore & Susquehanna Railroad in Maryland, allowing first train travel to York.

2 1840—extension from York to Wrightsville 2 completed. Tracks laid through the Columbia- Wrightsville Covered Bridge, providing rail connection to Philadelphia & Columbia Rail- road, which becomes part of the Pennsylvania 1 Railroad in 1857.

From York's Past-York Blog, Media One PA, posted January 28, 2013 by Stephen H. Smith. http://www.yorkblog.com/ From—A New Map of Pennsylvania with its Canals, Rail-Roads & Distances From yorkspast/2013/01/28/the-earliest-york-county-railroads-question- Place to Place along the Stage Roads. Published by H. S. Tanner, Philadelphia, PA; about-hersheys-station-and-stoners-station-in-hellam-township/ engraved by W. Brose, Philadelphia, PA, 1836. Numbers added. Accessed 7-14-14 Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of The Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected] Historic Columbia Illustration 11 Train travel— Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, 1834-37

Above: “Locomotive “Lancaster”-1834,” First of two steam engines to travel the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad; the other was called “The Columbia.” From From History of the PRR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896.

Left: “First train schedule of the Pennsylvania System, 1837.” Poster, Courtesy Columbia Historic Preservation Society.

Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, constructed 1834. View east from Wrightsville toward Columbia. Longest wooden covered bridge of its time, this span allowed for trains, a cartway for wagons, horses and pedestrians and a mule tow path on the downstream side (right side) shown here, that allowed canal boats to be drawn by ropes to locks and dams on each side of the river. The Pennsylvania Canal on the Columbia riverfront allowed travel north and west, while the Tidewater Canal on the Wrightsville riverfront extended south to Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. Photo-illustration courtesy Columbia Historic Preservation Society. Photographer/artist and date unknown.

“The long bridge connecting Wrightsville with Columbia, was the only safe outlet by which they William Whipper could successfully escape their pursuers. When they had crossed this bridge they could look back over its broad silvery stream on its western shore, and say to the slave power: "Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther.” William Whipper, letter to William Still, New Brunswick, N.J., December 4, 1871, from Still’s The Underground Railroad, 1872. From William Still’s The Underground Railroad, 1872, page 749.

Wrightsville, York County (left) and Columbia, Lancaster County From a detail of the Joshua Scott Map of Lancaster County, 1824. Courtesy, LancasterHistory.org, Lancaster County’s Historical Society & James Buchanan’s Wheatland. Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of The Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected] Historic Columbia Illustration 14

The final paragraph of this Maryland newspaper advertisement illustrates the notoriety of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge as an established focal point and conduit for freedom seekers by the early 1840s. Reward notice published in the American Commercial Daily Advertiser, Baltimore, MD, Sep. 7, 1842.

Pennsylvania Canal, Columbia, circa 1870. View South. Photographer unknown. Courtesy, Columbia Historic Preservation Society

Columbia Riverfront, 1940. From Penn Pilot (Historical Aerial Photo Library), Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Penn State University, University Park, PA. http://www.pasda.psu.edu/about/

Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of The Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected] Historic Columbia Illustration 16 Front Street in Columbia, PA, 1843. From History of the Pennsylvania RR, 1846-1896 by J. Elfreth Watkins, PE, 1896, page 141. View south showing west elevations of Front Street buildings along north-south railroad line. These properties appear in the map in plan view below.

Location of remains of Bridge abutment Smith & Whipper and canal basin Business Property

Bridgen's Atlas of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1864 Published by D. S. Bare, Lancaster County, PA.

Remains of the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge and Pennsylvania Canal Borough of Columbia, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Application to National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program Submitted July, 2014 on behalf of The Borough of Columbia, Pennsylvania Prepared by Randolph J. Harris, consulting historian * 314 West Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 * [email protected] Columbia’s industrial riverfront, 1850. Illustration 17 Area of the bridge crossing the Susquehanna River, with property holdings of key Underground Railroad activists: the Wright Family; William Whipper; Stephen Smith; U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Detail of “Map of the Township of West Hempfield, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 1850.” Courtesy, Columbia Historic Pres- ervation Society, Columbia, PA. B

TOLL HOUSE at ABUTMENT C A

E B

D C A A

A) business properties of William Whipper; B) properties of "S. Smith" and "T. Stevens." among others along the railroad line at Front Street. Deed records show these owners as Stephen Smith and U.S Congressman Thad- deus Stevens; C) junction of railroad line from Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge over Susquehanna River, at the site of the western terminus of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad, established in 1834; D) Canal Basin of the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works; E) Wright Family Residence; F) Original Building of the First National Bank of Columbia, private corporate investors in both bridges that spanned the River at this location.

Front Street, Columbia, PA, two views: 1940 and 2012: View south, from Veterans’ Bridge (built 1940), carrying former US Route 30 (Lincoln Highway), now PA Route 462 over the Susquehanna River between Wrightsville, York County and Columbia, Lancaster County. Railroad right of way at left is the historic western terminus of the Philadelphia & Columbia Railroad.

WILLIAM WHIPPER’S LUMBER YARD Photo courtesy Columbia Historic Preservation Society

COLUMBIA, LANCASTER COUNTY, PA Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 2012

The First National Bank Museum, Locust and South Second Street, Borough of Columbia. Public heritage site and private home. Bank William Whipper (1804-1876) circa 1835. Oil on canvas, attributed to records of Whipper and Smith maintained here. William Matthew Prior. Collection of Designated a Network to Freedom Facility, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, 2003. NY.

Freedom seeker rides atop train car, illustrating one example of use of railroads. From Still’s The Underground Rail- road, 1872, page 118. No illustrations are known to exist showing false end box cars used by Whipper and Smith to transport freedom seekers on the Philadel- phia & Columbia Railroad.

Stephen Smith

1795-1873) Photograph courtesy, Charles L. Blockson African-American Collection, Temple University Libraries

Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal, November 15, 1873 From LancasterHistory.org http://www.lancasterhistory.org/images/stories/ education/columbiachristiana/intell_obit_smith.jpg

Stephen Smith to Daniel Given, 1840 Letter establishes Smith’s involvement in Underground Railroad activities. From LancasterHistory.org—Lancaster County’s Historical Society & President James Buchanan’s Wheatland

News report of burning of Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge, June 28, 1863 by Union forces to stop Confederate Army’s advance on Lancaster and Harrisburg. Thwarting the advance of Southern troops here resulted in their retreat and engagement with the Union Army at Gettysburg, July 1,2 & 3.

Contemporary interpretive planning and cultural tourism marketing

Map and Guide produced by Lancaster County Heritage – 1st edition 1999. 2nd Edition 2001, Lancaster County Heri- tage—A partnership between the County of Lancaster County, the Historic Preservation Shows the Columbia to Christiana UGRR route Trust of Lancaster that generally traces the original Philadelphia & County, and the Columbia Railroad corridor. These depicted Pennsylvania Dutch pathways were adapted from Wilbur Seibert’s Convention & Visitors 1898 map, based on Smedley’s accounts, and Bureau. from Spotts’ Pilgrims Pathways, 1963. See Illustration 10.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM

GENERAL INFORMATION

Type (pick one): _X__ Site ___ Facility ___ Program

Name: FULTON OPERA HOUSE, SITE OF OLD LANCASTER COUNTY JAIL

Address: 12 -16 North Prince Street

City, State, Zip: LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA 17603-3808

County: LANCASTER Congressional District: 16TH PA

Date Submitted: JANUARY 12 2008

Summary: Describe in 200 words or less, the significance to the Underground Railroad, of the site, program, or facility nominated for inclusion in the Network.

A National Historic Landmark, the Fulton Opera House in Lancaster, Pennsylvania ranks among the nation’s oldest continually operating theaters. It also marks the site of a dramatic episode in the history of the Underground Railroad when the property was the location of the original Lancaster County Jail. It was from this now mostly demolished prison that an unusual and daring escape occurred in 1835. Two formerly enslaved African American women were seized by bounty hunters, lodged in the prison on a temporary basis, but escaped. One account states they were secretly released by an unlikely co-conspirator: the chief law enforcement officer of Lancaster County, Sheriff David "Dare-Devil Dave" Miller (1795-1858). The women, however, told sympathizers they escaped themselves, apparently to give "cover" to Sheriff Miller. In a court appearance in Philadelphia two years after the escape, the Sheriff denied any involvement. However, he admitted his involvement to a confidante, a widely recognized Underground Railroad activist. Miller was elected to his post as an Anti-Mason, and was a humanitarian who suppressed race riots against African Americans. A veteran, he was also a hotel owner, an early railroad entrepreneur, and, according to local tradition, a supporter of the region’s Underground Railroad.

In 1852, the prison was partially demolished and Fulton Hall was constructed on portions of the foundation, built in 1774-1775. Remnants of the prison are displayed inside the theater’s public area and are also visible on the building’s exterior.

FOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE USE ONLY I hereby certify that this ___ site ___ facility ___ program is included in the Network to Freedom.

______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

1 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 Owner/Manager (Share contact information __X_Y ___ N)

Name: Harvey W. Owen, President Board of Trustees Fulton Theater, Inc.

Address: 12-16 North Prince Street

City, State, Zip: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17603-3808

Phone: 717-394-7133 Fax: 717-397-3780 E-mail: [email protected] Owner/Manager (Share contact information _X__Y ___ N)

Name: Aaron A. Young, Managing Director Fulton Theater, Inc.

Address: 12-16 North Prince Street

City, State, Zip: Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17603-3808

Phone: 717-394-7133 Fax: 717-397-3780 E-mail: [email protected] Application Preparer (Enter only if different from contact above.) (Share contact information ___Y ___ N) Name: Randolph J. Harris

Address: 314 West Chestnut Street

City, State, Zip: Lancaster, PA 17603

Phone: 717-808-2941 Fax: E-mail: [email protected]

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 15 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the National Coordinator, National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, NPS, 601 Riverfront Drive, Omaha, Nebraska 68102.

2 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 This application includes the following required attachments: 1) Letter of consent from property owner for inclusion in the Network to Freedom. 2) Text and photographs of all site markers 3) Photographs illustrating the current appearance and condition of the site being nominated 4) Maps showing the location of the site

S1. Site type: _X__ Building ___ Object ___ District (neighborhood)

_X_ Structure ___ Landscape/natural feature ___ Archeological site

S2. Is the site listed in the National Register of Historic Places? _X__Y ___ N Fulton Opera House, National Historic Landmark (1969), and contributing structure to the City of Lancaster National Historic District, est. 2001.

S3. Ownership of site: ___ Private _X__ Private, non-profit (501c3) ___ Multiple ownership

___ Public, local government ___ Public, state government ___ Public, federal government

S4. The site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad.

A National Historic Landmark, the Fulton Opera House was constructed in 1852 on North Prince Street in the City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It ranks among the nation’s oldest continually operating entertainment facilities. The Fulton also marks the site of a dramatic episode in the early history of the Underground Railroad when the property was the location of the original Lancaster County Jail. It was from this lockup – now mostly razed from the site -- that an unusual and daring escape occurred during the summer of 1835 by two formerly enslaved African American women who were seized by bounty hunters on the rural Lancaster County farms on which they had been living and working for about three years. One of the women and her eldest daughter were taken from the Bart Township farm of Jacob Bushong (1813-1880), a Quaker who, with his father Henry, were widely known as Underground Railroad operatives. The Bushong farm was located about a mile from the William Parker House, site of the Resistance at Christiana in 1851. This area of Lancaster County included many Quaker family-owned farms where freedom seekers were regularly provided safe harbor. The mother and daughter and another African American women from a separate farm were taken to the County jail by the four bounty hunters. Their plan was to temporarily lodge the women in the Lancaster County Jail before taking them South. Reports of these seizures spread quickly through the community. The published narrative account of these events does not describe the status of the third woman seized after the escape, who was reported to have been the eldest daughter of Mrs. Wallace. The women were quickly assisted in their release and flight by an unlikely co-conspirator: the chief law enforcement officer of Lancaster County, Sheriff David "Dare Devil Dave" Miller (1795-1858). 1

According to this same account, the freed women told their story to Lancaster County’s most well known Underground Railroad stationmaster, Daniel Gibbons of the Village of Bird in Hand, East Lampeter Township. They claimed they had managed to escape the County Prison themselves, apparently to give "cover" to Sheriff Miller. However, the Sheriff was asked soon after how the women were able to escape. He replied cryptically to Gibbons’ son, Dr. Joseph Gibbons, also an Underground Railroad activist:

1 Smedley, R.C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005 [1883], pages 71-73.

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The site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad, continued

“The account given by the women seemed so strange and incredible that Dr. Gibbons interviewed that eccentric character “Devil-Dave” Miller, who was then sheriff, and lived in the jail. When asked how it happened that he allowed two negro women to slip through his fingers, he winked and laughed. It was afterwards discovered that he opened the door and let them walk out. This was the only black woman known to Daniel and his son who persisted in keeping her secret.” 2

See Figures 14 through 16 for the account of the escape written by Robert C. Smedley

The Smedley account, written in ca. 1880 and published in 1883, is consistent in all but a few details with an 1837 newspaper account of a trial in Philadelphia of a woman accused of fleeing enslavement in Maryland about eight years earlier, being arrested several years later in Lancaster County, PA and held in Lancaster County jail, from where she escaped with at least one other person.3

A colored woman named Margaret Brooke, about thirty years of age, was arrested near Germantown on Monday last, and taken before Judge Randall, as an alleged slave. It appeared in evidence that she ran away from her master in Baltimore about eight years ago, and was arrested about five years later, with others, and committed to the jail in Lancaster, whence she made her escape…..Her arrest on Monday last produced great excitement. John O. Price, Esq. of Baltimore is the claimant. The prisoner is a bright mulatto.”4

The approximate years stated in the news account nearly track those in the Smedley chronology: a slave flees from her master in Baltimore about eight years earlier, which would have been 1829 or 1830, and then five years later (which would have been 1834-35), was arrested with others in Lancaster, but then made her escape from jail.

The case was heard before a judge in Philadelphia, and included testimony from David Miller including his account of what had happened two years earlier (ca. 1835):

"A woman was put in prison there [Lancaster], claimed as a slave. I was the Sheriff of the county at the time. I was not at home. Two of the reported slaves made their escape though the roof of the prison. I cannot say that this woman is one of them. I never saw here. I believe she is--but I know nothing on the subject more than I was told."5

Miller noted in his statement that he met John O. Price in Lancaster “about two years ago” in connection with Price’s attempts to secure the return of a slave woman. Miller stated that his deputy, “Mr. Reed,” was on duty at the time of escape; hence his inability to confirm key details of this event. Miller also was shown and acknowledged as accurate a written order by Lancaster County Associate Judge Dale (date not specified in the news account) granting John O. Price the right to remove "Pegg" (presumably for Margaret), his slave from Pennsylvania to Baltimore.

2 IBID 3 Another Slave Case, The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 29, 1837, p. 2 4 IBID 5 The Case of Margaret Brooks, an Alleged Slave, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 1, 1837, p. 2

4 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 Other testimony was given that Margaret, interviewed while in custody in Philadelphia by an associate of Price, said that she had "effected [sic] her escape in Lancaster by means of a knife given her by a person unknown to her."6

At the close of this case, Margaret Brooke apparently was turned over to James O. Price and returned to Baltimore.7

This does show that there was an imprisonment of a female slave or slaves in Lancaster ca.1835, that their planned removal to Maryland was sanctioned by a County Judge, and that they escaped prison.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported soon after that money had been raised to secure her release and that she returned in Philadelphia.

We sometime since gave the particulars of the arrest, conviction and removal of a slave, named Margaret Brooke, the mother of two children, who escaped from bondage about eight years ago, and subsequently escaped from the Lancaster jail. We have since learned that through the liberality of a number of our citizens, the sum of $100 was raised, which, with $100 thrown off by her owner, John O. Price, Esq., secured her release. She arrived in this city from Baltimore on Tuesday last, and was immediately restored to her children. 8

These news accounts also repeat the story of escape by means of a knife. This would seem to be the same incident as described by Smedley, but with additional details on Margaret (Pegg) Brooke.

Miller claims not to have been present at the time of the escape, and certainly doesn't say that he opened the doors and let the women walk out, as reported more than 40 years later by Smedley. Miller could have been prosecuted under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 if he admitted to helping a fugitive escape.

However, Sheriff Miller’s biography is consistent with possibly being involved in such a daring escape. Elected to office in 1833, Miller began his term in early 1834 and served until the end of 1836, when he moved to Philadelphia. Miller was a member of the Anti-Masonic Party, later a Whig, avid horseman, the owner of hotels in both Lancaster and Philadelphia and an early railroad entrepreneur. One biographer links Miller with Thaddeus Stevens, state and federal legislator, Abolitionist and Underground Railroad activists, through their advocacy of Anti-Masonic politics in the mid-1830s. Miller was also known for his humanitarian actions, such as opposing capital punishment and paying fines from his own funds rather than see a debtor family without shelter. 9

“Social, original, generous to a fault, he espoused the Anti-Masonic cause with all his energy and in 1833 that strange fanaticism was at its height. The master spirit was Thaddeus Stevens, a Vermont Yankee living in Adams County, Pennsylvania.

“David Miller ran for sheriff of Lancaster County as one of two Anti-Masonic candidates. He will always be remembered for his humanity and generosity as sheriff. He announced that rather than assist at a hanging, he would resign, and it frequently happened that he

6 IBID 7 A Slave Made Free, The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 14, 1837, p. 2. 8 IBID 9 Devil Dave rode his horse into court, but surprising Lancastrian also rode it up church aisle and into local saloons, The Sunday News, Lancaster PA. July 8, 1934, p. 6.

5 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 would satisfy execution on a poor man’s property out of his own pocket, rather than see his house sold over his head. He made no money by this valuable office, but left it far more needy than he entered it.

“He was a true man of the world, a fierce partisan and a fighting friend. A fond husband and a devoted father, and particularly chivalric in his treatment of women.” 10

For three days in August 1834, the Lancaster County Borough of Columbia was the scene of racially charged rioting of white citizens against African Americans. A history of Lancaster County states that these acts of violence were sparked by the jealousy of white working men against Stephen Smith, a prominent Black lumber and coal dealer who employed many African Americans in his businesses. Adding to this sentiment were a number of racially-motivated riots in other northern cities, among them Philadelphia and New York. Sheriff David Miller is reported to have recruited a large posse and suppressed the violence through the arrests of many of the rioters.11

Miller’s political involvement and the conduct of his official duties, coupled with his social and business affairs, as well as the philosophical perspectives attributed to him, all tend to support the assertions in the community today, based solely on oral tradition, that Miller was also a supporter of the region’s Underground Railroad operations.12

The present owner of the former hotel and dwelling of Samuel Miller (1772-1818), David Miller’s father, and the site of David’s Miller’s death in 1858, described the history of the house during David Miller’s ownership and occupancy as being used “as part of the Underground Railroad.” When asked to provide the source of that assertion, the owner referred the questioner to another area resident, a life-long member of the community, from whom he heard the story. The long-time resident stated that he could not recall from where that information derived, but that it was relayed to him over the years from members of his family and others in the community.

See Section S10 below for additional biographical information, and Figures 7 through 10 for illustrations of David “Dare Devil Dave” Miller, his business properties and homestead.

The remnants of Lancaster County Jail at the Fulton Opera House Today:

In 1852, Fulton Hall was built on portions of the foundation of the original Lancaster County Prison.

According to Lancaster County’s Office of the Recorder of Deeds, the land sold to Christopher Hager that contained the Lancaster County Jail and courtyard measured 148 feet between North Prince and North Water Streets, along West King Street and an equal distance separated the property on its northern border. Frontage along both North Prince and North Water Street measured 154 feet and 2 and one half inches. 13 See Figures 4 through 6 for maps, site plans and other views of the subject site.

“In Ellis and Evans’ History of Lancaster County [1883] is the statement that part of the old jail building was included in the Fulton Hall, and, judging from the present appearance of the

10 John W. Forney, writing in Forney’s Progress, Philadelphia, PA, April 5, 1879. 11 History of Lancaster County, Ellis and Evans, Lancaster, PA, 1883. Pg. 574. 12 Randolph Harris, application preparer, in personal interview with John Tannehill, owner of the David Miller House, Village of Lampeter, West Lampeter Township, Lancaster County, PA, 11-2-2005. Subsequent discussion with Henry Benner, life-long resident of the Village of Lampeter and retired public school teacher. 13 Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds, Vol. 7, Book X, page 549.

6 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 lower portion of the Water Street wall of the opera house, it would seem that the materials of the old jail had been used to construct that wall, at least.”14

The Commissioners of the County of Lancaster decided in 1849 to build a new prison on the east end of town. Approval was obtained from the State Legislature to sell the old jail property.15

This analysis corresponds with a special report on the Fulton Opera House for the National Park Service:

“Beneath the stage is a large room approximately 30 by 40 feet, which the Fulton Foundation plans to utilize for a museum. There also may be seen part of the foundation of the old jail, used by the original contractor to help support one wall of the building.”16

The current stage area and the corresponding lower level area of the Fulton Opera House are located immediately inside the western elevation of the building along North Water Street. This area of the jail complex is believed to have served as the open-air court yard where the last of the area’s Conestoga Native Americans were massacred in 1763. See Figures 11 and 12.

Another extant portion of the building from the prison/jail era is described in an interpretive display (See Section S6 below) within the building. This wall section is reported to have been built in 1774-75.

S4a. Type(s) of Underground Railroad Association (select all that apply)

___ Station ___ Assoc. w/ prominent person ___ Rebellion site ___ Legal challenge

_X__ Escape ___ Rescue ___ Kidnapping ___ Maroon community

___ Destination ___ Church w/active congregation ___ Cemetery ___ Transportation route

___ Military site ___ Commemorative site/monument

___ Other (describe):

S5. Provide a history of the site since its time of significance to the Underground Railroad, including physical changes, changes in ownership or use of the building(s) and site.

The following narrative was derived from “Fulton Time Line,” compiled by the staff of the Fulton Opera House c. 1990. This timeline provides information relevant to the site as the location of the County Prison; the origins of the entertainment venue and the activities that have occurred on the site to date, including performances and physical changes. The main sources for this chronology include local newspaper accounts from the 19th and 20 centuries; County deeds, the 1987 Henke Doctoral Dissertation and the application to the National Park Service for listing in the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark, 1969. See Bibliography for full citations.

14 Walter C. Hager, Fulton Hall and its Graven Images, Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society, Vol. 22, No.9, Lancaster, PA. December, 1918. 15 IBID. 16 John D. McDermott. The Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings-Special Report, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Washington, D.C. 1968.

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Fulton Time Line 1740 – 1995

È Between 1739-40, the Lancaster County Prison is built on the northwest corner of Prince and King Streets. Portions of the prison foundation still exists, forming part of the Fulton’s rear wall on Water Street.

ÈDecember, 1763 marks a time of great infamy in Lancaster County. A series of savage murders occurred around Christmas time in the courtyard of the Lancaster County Jail, which is within the footprint of the current Fulton Opera House. Hence, all historical accounts of the theater and opera house include a reference to The Paxton Boys (also called Paxtang Boys) and their massacre of the last of the Native American Conestoga tribe in Lancaster County in late 1763. Iroquois and other remnants of the Susquehannock had attacked whites near Harrisburg and an angry mob retaliated by killing the peaceful Conestogas in their village south of Lancaster. The remainder of the tribe was placed in protective custody in the jail yard, but then slaughtered when the men from Paxton broke down the prison yard gates.

È Dr. Robert C. Smedley’s Underground Railroad narrative, written in 1883, does not provide a specific month or day(s) in the summer of 1835 when the arrest occurred by the formerly enslaved African American women, who were assisted in their escape by Sheriff Miller.

È In mid-1852, the old prison is torn down and Christopher Hager, a city retailer and civic leader, builds Fulton Hall, named for Robert Fulton, the Lancastrian of steamboat fame. Its first floor was used for political meetings, convocations and graduations, concerts, lectures and dramatic recitations. The second floor was for “men’s societies” and the third floor was a shooting gallery. In the basement, local farmers and merchants stored raw wool, tobacco, and fertilizer.

È October 15, 1852 the first professional performance to the Fulton: Kendell A. Dickinson’s Ethiopian Minstrels.

One can find great irony in that this site, where atrocities were committed against the last Native Americans in the area, and where in the mid-19th century, the venue’s first professional performance satirized and belittled African American people and their heritage in a minstrel stage show, and where in the late 19th century William F. Cody’s extravagant and, some say, exploitive "Buffalo Bill's Wild West" made five appearances, that other notable and particularly countervailing events and programs also occurred on the site:

• First and foremost may be the 1835 release of the formerly enslaved women by Sheriff Miller, which is the subject of this application; • In 1856, the Republican Party of Lancaster County is organized on the premises by some 20 prominent community representatives. Included in the leadership of this assembly was the county’s then former Whig Party U.S. Congressman, Thaddeus Stevens, who in 1858 was again elected to Congress, this time as a member of the newly formed national Republican Party; • For a period during the Civil War (1861-1864) the Fulton Hall is “dark”, but the building is used as an armory by the Lancaster Fencibles, and the home guard drills there; • After the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1863) the building briefly serves as a hospital for some of the wounded; • In 1865, after the surrender at Appomattox, the Patriot Daughters begin holding benefit performances at Fulton Hall to raise money to build the Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Penn Square, the City of Lancaster’s town square just one block away from the Hall;

8 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 • In 1866, the Fulton stages the first of 67 productions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, based on Harriett Beecher’s Stowe’s novel with its strong anti-slavery message. Theater records indicate that the last performance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin was in 1927; • In October of 1873, the Fulton stages a benefit performance of Othello for orphans and widows of the Civil War featuring famed actor E.L. Davenport who calls the then renovated* Opera House, “a gem … the most beautiful little temple of art in the United States.”

*In 1873, the owners hire theatre architect Edwin Forrest Durang (descendant of America’s “first” actor, Lancaster born John Durang, and ancestor of modern playwright Christopher Durang) to remodel the interior, lowering the auditorium 12 feet, building a balcony and installing a proscenium arch and a gaslight chandelier.

ÈIn 1904, Lancaster’s most well-known and prolific architect, C. Emlen Urban, is hired to provide plans and oversee the extensive modifications to the interior in neo-classical style: walls were raised 14 feet and a second balcony installed, along with an orchestra pit and box seats. Urban also designs the grand staircase and foyer.

ÈBetween the 1870s and the 1920s, an extensive list of notable performers appear at the Fulton, including Edwin and Junius Brutus Booth; Mark Twain; Maurice, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore; Helen Brown, who was later known as Helen Hayes; anti-alcohol crusader Carrie Nation; editor/politician Horace Greeley; heavyweight champion John F. Sullivan; Sarah Bernhardt; Minnie Maddern Fiske; Modjeska; E.A. and E.H. Sothern; Fannie Brice, Fannie Kemble; Fanny Davenport, and Fanny Janauschek; Otis Skinner; Joseph Jefferson; Maude Adams; Houdini; George M. Cohan; Douglas Fairbanks Sr.; Billie Burke; James O’Neill; W.C. Fields; Lillie Langtry; Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; Anna Pavlova; Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn; Al Jolson; Lillian Russell; Sophie Tucker; Spenser Tracy; the D’Oyly Carte Opera Co.; the Ziegfield Follies; Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra; John Phillip Sousa and his band; and Buffalo Bill Cody. Other exotic acts during this period included the diminutive General Tom Thumb and Anna Swan, the Nova Scotia Giantess; The Great Zenoz – a one-legged gymnast – and Millie- Christine, the “two-headed African Nightingales.”

ÈBy 1915, with fewer traveling shows available, the Fulton turns to vaudeville and burlesque and by 1920, motion pictures are shown.

ÈBetween 1930 and 1940, the Fulton experiences continuing deterioration as a full time movie house; films become second or third run.

ÈBy 1952, during its centennial year, plans are suggested to demolish the Fulton and to use the site for parking, but Lancaster Mayor Kendig Bare refuses to issue a building permit and the building’s demise is held off.

ÈThe building is used for live performances and films for more than a decade when in 1963, the not-for-profit Fulton Foundation is organized. Nathanial E. Hager, the great-grandson of Fulton Hall founder, Christopher Hager, is named Foundation chair.

ÈIn 1969, the Fulton is designated a National Historic Landmark, and in 1985, the World Premiere of the film “Witness,” shot in Lancaster County and starring Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, occurs at the Fulton.

ÈBetween 1994 and 95, after a successful capital campaign, the Fulton is closed for a $9.5 million renovation. It reopens in ’95.

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S6. Describe current educational programs, tours, markers, signs, brochures, site bulletins, or plaques at the site. Include text and photographs of markers.

The Fulton Opera House and Fulton Foundation offer an extensive series of programs of an educational nature. The Fulton's educational programs mainly focus on teaching youth and adults the skills of professional theatre making. Classes are scheduled year-round (broken into 4 quarters) in topics focusing on movement, voice and acting. The Fulton also offers specialty programs such as make-up, or a program that goes into the schools called "Neighborhood Bridges" which promotes literacy through drama.

Other outreach efforts include touring plays, performance workshops and residencies. Fulton representatives and performers have been invited onto the rosters of both the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour (PennPAT) Program and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts’ "Artists- In-Education” Program. Further, the Fulton has developed a Youtheatre program that has been supported and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Starbucks Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. This program focuses on at-risk, disabled and disadvantaged teens that are presented with the opportunity to create and perform original plays with social justice themes.

Fulton Opera House administrators believe the site’s association with the compelling stories of Sheriff “Dare Devil Dave” Miller and in particular, his assistance to freedom seekers through his probable involvement with the region’s Underground Railroad operations, will provide significant historical elements to add to the theater’s regular public tours as well as marketing and promotional materials.

See content in Section S9 below for information on tours, public access and other historical signs, markers, plaques, etc.

S7. Identify historical sources of information. Include a bibliography.

Beal, Rebecca J. Jacob Eichholtz, 1776-1842: Portrait Painter of Pennsylvania Philadelphia. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1969.

Ellis, Franklin & Evans, Samuel. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck, 1883.

Hager, Walter C. Fulton Hall and its Graven Images Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society, Vol. 22, No. 9. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, December, 1918.

Henke, James Scott, From Public House to Opera House – A History of Theatrical Structures in Lancaster, PA, Dissertation, Doctor of Philosophy (Theater), Universitiy of Michigan, 1987.

McDermott, John D. The Fulton Opera House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings-Special Report, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Washington, D.C. 1968.

Smedley, R.C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Introduction by Christopher Densmore. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2005 [1883].

The Sunday News, Lancaster PA. July 8, 1934.

10 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 29, December 1 and December 14, 1837. Philadelphia, PA. Copyright by The American Antiquarian Society, 2004.

Recorder of Deeds, County of Lancaster, Lancaster, PA.

Fulton Staff and Administrators, The Fulton Time Line - A chronology of the Fulton Opera House and the site of Lancaster County Jail - 1740-2003. Lancaster, PA c. 1990.

S8. Describe any other local, state, or federal historic designation, records, signage, or plaques the site has.

A marker of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission is positioned on the sidewalk at the main entrance to the building. It reads:

“Fulton Opera House

Built in 1852 and named Fulton Hall in honor of Robert Fulton. It is considered an excellent example of the 19th century “Opera House.” For more than 75 years, every major star of the American theater appeared on its stage.”

On the front of the building near the main door is a marker that describes the site’s National Historic Landmark Status. It reads:

Fulton Opera House

Has been designated a Registered National Historic Landmark

Under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1933. This site possesses exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States.

U.S. Department of the Interior. National Park Service, 1969.

Also on the front of the building is historical marker No. 16, placed by the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, a private not for profit organization founded in 1966 to advocate for the preservation of the historic architecture of Lancaster County.

The exterior rear foundation wall of the building contains a marker commemorating the December 1763 massacre of the Conestoga Indians within the prison yard.

Inside the first floor lobby is an interpretive plaque and a rough hewn wooden door surmounted by a segmental stone arch. This passage (not operable) is described in the plaque as a remnant of the former Lancaster County Prison upon which foundations the Fulton Hall, later Fulton Opera House was built. The plaque reads:

“This part of the wall with segmental arch is believed to be a fragment of the old Lancaster County Jail that stood on this site. With the exception of some foundations and a few walls, most of this jail was razed to make way for the Fulton Opera House, built in 1852. The first jail on the large corner lot of West King and North Prince Street was a log structure built about 1739-1740. This jail was enlarged with a stone addition in 1745-1746. A large stone section, facing Prince Street, was erected in 1774-1775. Most likely, this wall and segmental arch date from this third stage of construction.”

11 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 This interpretive display was installed during the 1994-95 rehabilitation of the Opera House. Plaque data is derived from accounts of public records contained in Ellis & Evans’ History of Lancaster County, 1883, pages 207-211.

S9. Is the site open to the public, and under what conditions?

The Fulton Opera House is a full-time live performance facility that presents stage productions year round, while also serving as concert hall for the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. The Fulton also offers educational training in theatre arts to the community at large and also conducts public tours of the facility at various times annually.

There are approximately 210 performances a year at the Fulton. In addition, the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra performs an additional 38-40 performances. Including the many various classes conducted at the facility, the Fulton serves approximately 120,000 people a year.

Every weekday at 11 a.m. (and on weekends by appointment) Fulton staff and volunteers conduct an hour-long tour of the building which focuses on the history of the building, including the murder of the last of the Conestoga Indians in the jail that occupied the site during the colonial-era. The humanitarian actions of Sheriff Miller in 1835 will provide a positive balance to those tragic events of that earlier time. The tours also describe the many major performers who have appeared here, the historic poster collection, the way that theatrical performances are now produced, and the stories of the many ghosts who are alleged to visit the old theatre. In addition to this regular guided presentation, tours are conducted at other times by appointment with school groups, boy and girl scout troupes, etc.

The theatre is also open for public tours one hour prior to performances (which take place Tuesdays - Sundays throughout the year - with 3 weeks off during the summer). Additionally, the box office lobby is open Mondays - Fridays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and 2 hours prior to performances. Classes take place on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon and on Monday evenings from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. Rehearsals take place in the building 6 days a week.

With the research compiled for this application, it is anticipated that details of the County Jail and the efforts of Sheriff Miller to aid freedom seekers will be related during future public tours and that the potential exists for an interpretive exhibit on this chapter in the building’s history.

S10. Describe the nature and objectives of any partnerships that have contributed to the documentation, preservation, commemoration, or interpretation of the site.

Between 1994 and 1995, the Board of the Fulton Opera House conducted a successful capital campaign, which raised just over $9.5 million in public and private funding from local, county and state sources. These funds were used for construction of a new four-story addition to the north end of the building for public gathering space and upper floor administrative offices; a major overall and/or replacement of the theater’s major building systems; and substantial renovations of interior finishes, lighting, sound systems, etc. The Fulton reopened in ’95. This public private partnership involved approximately $3.5 million in donations from local individuals, corporations and foundations; a $3 million economic development grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; a $1 million loan from the City of Lancaster; a $1.1 million loan from the County of Lancaster; and a $900,000 matching grant from Lancaster County.

These resources for an improved physical plant, combined with a renewed commitment to professional theatrical productions, classes, concerts and public tours have resulted in expanding support for the continuing operations of the theater, so that this historic venue will continue to be a destination that the public can enjoy and also be informed about significant events in the history

12 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 of American theater, as well as social and political affairs. Designation of the Fulton as a National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site will greatly enrich the significance of this National Historic Landmark.

S11. Additional data or comments.

Biographical notes by John W. Forney on Sheriff “Dare-Devil Dave” Miller, excerpted for this application from Forney’s writing in his weekly publication, Forney’s Progress, Philadelphia, PA, April 5, 1879. Forney would have been about age 17 when Miller served as sheriff.

“David Miller was not a myth or a legend but a real man of real qualities. I cannot better describe him than by the phrase: He was "a character."

“Handsome, dashing, impetuous, enthusiastic, brave, he became, like a thousand others of this same school, a sort of popular idol. No trial of strength, no horse-race, no county fair, no training, no circus, no election, no improvement, no murder case, no accident, no party or ball in which he was not either partner, starter, spectator, participant, judge, witness or jury man. Man, woman and child admired, trusted and wondered at him. Some feared his daring nature, but none hated him. He was called "Dare-Devil Davie Miller” by all classes in a district of five hundred miles.”

“David Miller’s first wife (Catherine Carpenter (1802-1847) was a woman of exceeding beauty, and when first married (1820), inclined to gay colors and fashionable attire, but soon after, became a member of the Mennonite persuasion, and down to the day of her death dressed in their severely simple way. I recollect the contrast between her sweet and tranquil face, plain gown and Quaker bonnet, and the sparkling air and jaunty step of her bright husband, “Dare-Devil Dave,” with his ruffles and diamonds.

“He was a true man of the world, a fierce partisan and a fighting friend. A fond husband and a devoted father, and particularly chivalric in his treatment of women.”

David Miller ran for sheriff of Lancaster County as one of two Anti-Masonic candidates. He beat the Democrats, who had also two candidates, by one thousand majority, but he had a tough contest with his Anti-Masonic competitor, Mr. Hugh Mehaffy.* He will always be remembered for his humanity and generosity as sheriff. He announced that rather than assist at a hanging, he would resign, and it frequently happened that he would satisfy execution on a poor man’s property out of his own pocket, rather than see his house sold over his head. He made no money by this valuable office, but left it far more needy than he entered it.”

“He was the most famous whip of his day and whether he drove or rode he was the meteor of the turnpike, the toast of the dinner table, the star of the ballroom and the favorite of sporting men and ladies. He has left behind a good name for public spirit and private benevolence.”

*According to a newspaper account, Miller beat the Anti-Mason Mehaffy by just 17 votes. The Sunday News, Lancaster, PA, July 8, 1934: “Devil Dave rode his horse into court; but surprising Lancastrian also rode it up church aisle and into local saloons.”

13 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 Biographical Notes on John W. Forney, editor/publisher of Forney’s Progress, Philadelphia, PA.

The American editor and publisher John Wien Forney was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1817, the son of Peter Forney and Margaret Wien. He died in Philadelphia, December 9, 1881. Forney also pursued a minor political career, serving as both Clerk of the House of Representatives and Secretary of the Senate.

Forney left school at thirteen to work as an apprentice for the Lancaster Journal. By age sixteen he was writing editorials for the Journal, and at age nineteen Forney became joint owner and editor of a new publication, the Lancaster Intelligencer. Two years later Forney purchased the Journal and created the Intelligencer and Journal.

Politics also interested Forney and he actively supported U.S. Senator (later President) James Buchanan (D - Penn.), who also hailed from Lancaster. In 1845, with Buchanan’s support, Forney was appointed deputy surveyor of the port of Philadelphia. In the same year Forney sold his Lancaster paper and moved to Philadelphia to become the editor of the Pennsylvanian, a position he held for seven years. Forney pursued his interest in politics and in 1851 he was elected to his first term as Clerk of the House of Representatives, where he served until 1857. Beginning in 1853 Forney also worked as an editor for the Washington Daily Union, the national Democratic organ.

After unsuccessful attempts to advance his political career as a cabinet member under President James Buchanan (1857-1861), and a failed bid for one of Pennsylvania’s senatorial seats, Forney returned to Philadelphia in 1857 to establish a new newspaper, the Philadelphia Press. Forney’s disappointment with the Buchanan administration also prompted him to shift his support to the Republican Party, and in 1860 he was again elected Clerk of the House of Representatives; this time as a Republican. Forney actively supported President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), whose influence helped to elect Forney Secretary of the Senate (1861-1868), making him the only Secretary to have previously served as Clerk of the House. During this active political period Forney’s journalistic pursuits also thrived. He found time to start yet another new paper, the Washington Chronicle, as well as maintain his editorship of the Philadelphia Press. The Press published Forney’s “Letter from Occasional” column, which offered editorials on political issues of the day.

In 1880 Forney returned to the Democratic Party after starting Progress, a weekly journal of political discussion, in 1878. Forney was also the author of several books, including Letters From Europe (1867), Anecdotes of Public Men (1873, 1881), and The Life and Military Career of Winfield Scott Hancock (1880).17

Attachments: 1) Photographs: historical and contemporary views

a) Fulton Opera House, front b) Fulton Opera House, rear c) Fulton Opera House, streetscape, North Prince Street d) Fulton Opera House, streetscape, North Prince Street, c. 1870 e) Lancaster County Jail, illustration, circa 1800 2) Letter from property owner to NPS in support of Network to Freedom Application 3) Figures : illustrations, location maps, etc.

17 Dictionary of American Biography, New York, New York. Charles Scribner & Sons, 1958-1964.

14 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM

GENERAL INFORMATION

Type (pick one): _X__ Site ___ Facility ___ Program

Name: Grave of U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868)

Address: Concord-Shreiner Cemetery Corner of North Mulberry and West Chestnut Streets

City, State, Zip: City of Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603

County: Lancaster Congressional District: 16th, Pennsylvania

Physical Location of Site/facility (if different):

Address not for publication? N/A

Date Submitted: January 13, 2006

Summary: Describe in 200 words or less, the significance to the Underground Railroad, of the site, program, or facility nominated for inclusion in the Network.

U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868) was a pivotal figure in the public affairs of Pennsylvania and the nation from the 1820s through 1868, when he died in Washington D.C. As a state representative he championed free public education in the early-mid 1830s. During two terms in the U.S. Congress, he was a member of the Whig Party (1849-53) and help found the Republican Party (1859-1868). An avowed Abolitionist and Constitutional scholar, Stevens played key roles in the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He also laid the groundwork for the 15th Amendment, enacted after his death. The “old Commoner” was one of the prime movers of Reconstruction and was the leading advocate for the Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Stevens was an Underground Railroad activist during his residency in Lancaster, PA (1842-1868). Appropriately, the south face of Stevens’s memorial in Lancaster is inscribed with the epitaph: "I repose in this quiet and secluded spot, not for any natural preference for solitude. But finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death, the principles which I advocated through a long life. Equality of man before his creator."

Owner/Manager (Share contact information __X_Y ___ N) Name: Alex Munro, President, The Concord- Shreiner Cemetery Foundation Address: 740 East End Avenue, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17602-3714 Phone, Fax, e-mail: (717) 295-9666 FAX (717) 295-9652

Application Preparer (Enter only if different from contact above.) (Share contact information _X__Y ___ N) Name: Randolph Jon Harris, a NPS Network to Freedom Partner Address: 233 North Barbara Street, Mount Joy, PA 17552 (717) 653-8859 Home/office – (717) 808-29541 cell [email protected]

1 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 Privacy Information: The Network to Freedom was established, in part, to facilitate sharing of information among those interested in the Underground Railroad. Putting people in contact with others who are researching related topics, historic events, or individuals or who may have technical expertise or resources to assist with projects is one of the most effective means of advancing Underground Railroad commemoration and preservation. Privacy laws designed to protect individual contact information (i.e., home or personal addresses, telephone numbers, fax numbers, or e-mail addresses), may prevent NPS from making these connections. If you are willing to be contacted by others working on Underground Railroad activities and to receive mailings about Underground Railroad-related events, please add a statement to your letter of consent indicating what information you are willing to share.

2 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 SITES:

The following materials have been submitted with the application for this site: 1) Letters of consent from property owner for inclusion in the Network to Freedom 2) Text and photographs of all site markers 3) Photographs illustrating the current appearance and condition of the site being nominated 4) Maps showing the location of the site

S1. Site type: ___ Building __X_ Object-Grave Memorial ___ District (neighborhood)

___ Structure ___ Landscape/natural feature ___ Archeological site

_X__ Other (describe): Cemetery

S2. Is the site listed in the National Register of Historic Places? _X__Y ___ N What is the listing name: City of Lancaster National Historic District

Concord- Shreiner Cemetery is a contributing structure to the City of Lancaster National Historic District, listed in the National Register of Historic Places September 7, 2001. The memorial at Stevens’s gravesite, approximately 4 feet wide by 8 feet long and 7 feet high, is the most prominent in the small public cemetery. From its inception, this burial ground accepted ownership of plots and burials of people of all races. The cemetery grounds measure approximately 130 feet X 260 feet, which is an area of .79 acre, and generally the equivalent of two standard lots based on the City of Lancaster town plan.

S3. Ownership of site: ___ Private _X__ Private, non-profit (501c3) ___ Multiple ownership

___ Public, local government ___ Public, state government ___ Public, federal government

S4. Describe the site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad. Provide citations. Supplemental chronologies are encouraged.

The site -- Concord-Shreiner Cemetery in Lancaster, PA -- is associated with the Underground Railroad and the Anti-Slavery Movement through the presence at this public burial ground of the grave and memorial of Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868), U.S. Congressman, early civil rights advocate and Underground Railroad activist.

Stevens’s memorial – with its compelling epitaph - is the only existing physical remnant of Steven’s life that is currently accessible to the public and which provides the visitor with a powerful outward testimony of his progressive quest for racial equality.

Stevens’s stately memorial in Lancaster has for more than 100 years been the site of on going commemorations to this significant historical figure by local residents, scholars and historians. The gray, granite memorial bears the moving epitaph, written by Stevens himself, and is positioned, appropriately, on the south-facing elevation:

"I repose in this quiet and secluded spot, not for any natural preference for solitude. But finding other cemeteries limited as to race by charter rules, I have chosen this that I might illustrate in my death, the principles which I advocated through a long life. Equality of man before his creator."

3 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 S4. Describe the site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad, continued.

His home and law office in Gettysburg, PA have long been demolished, leaving no opportunity to fully interpret his legacy through a physical site in that community. Plans currently are underway to preserve and interpret Stevens’s Lancaster home and law office either as part of a public convention center or as a stand alone development. While the future of the overall project is not certain at this time, national level recognition of the burial site of “The Old Commoner” just a few blocks from his one-time home and office presents a critical opportunity to focus needed attention on this man, his memorial and its message.

Stevens was a pivotal figure in the public affairs of Pennsylvania and the nation from the 1820s through 1868, when he died in Washington D.C. Stevens was an attorney, major landowner and an industrialist in Gettysburg, Adams County from the 1817 through 1842. There he distinguished himself as a defender of African American freedom seekers in that border county. As a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly representing Adams County, Stevens made his most indelible mark as a state legislator when he delivered a key speech in 1835 that preserved legislative support for free public education. He served in the U.S. Congress, represent ting Lancaster County as a member of the Whig Party from 1849 until 1853.

He served as a Republican for a second term from 1859 through his death on August 11, 1868. An avowed Abolitionist, attorney and Constitutional scholar, Stevens played key roles as strategist and advocate for the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He also laid the groundwork for what would become the 15th Amendment, enacted after his death. He was one of the prime movers of Reconstruction in the Southern States following the Civil War and was the leading advocate in the U.S. House of Representatives in the Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson. Stevens was also a newspaper publisher. He served as co-counsel to defendants charged with treason against the United States in connection with the Resistance at Christiana, PA, also known as the Christian Riot, September 11, 1851. In the months following the incident, Stevens and his co-counsels obtained acquittals for their clients who were tried in Philadelphia federal court. The Resistance, the acquittals and the resulting weakening of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 have been described it as a critical series of events that created a flashpoint leading to the outbreak of the Civil War some ten years later.

Stevens’s Underground Railroad involvement documented to date rests on three elements: 1) the direct harboring of freedom seekers at his home/office in Lancaster, PA, 1842; 2) his financial and tactical support for infiltration into the activities of slave catchers in Lancaster County, circa 1850; 3) contemporary archeological excavations on the site of properties Stevens’s owned in Lancaster that indicate harboring of freedom seekers.

1) Direct Harboring of Freedom Seekers: In 1842 Stevens is recorded as harboring a major contingent of 26 armed freedom seekers at his home and office in the City of Lancaster in 1842, the year he moved there from Gettysburg, Adams County, PA. 1 It is believed that this home/office was demolished, circa 1980. This contingent of former slaves is reported to have fled Anne Arundel County, MD, making their way to York, PA, before arriving in Columbia, Lancaster County and finally at Stevens’s home and office in the City of Lancaster. Stevens is reported to have fed them and directed them to the next stop on the Underground, the farm of Daniel Gibbons, located near the village of Bird-in-Hand, some 10 miles east of Lancaster. Gibbons and his wife Hanna, along with their son Dr. Joseph Gibbons, are described in Siebert, Smedley and Still as Lancaster County’s most prolific station masters from their farmstead (no longer extant). Joseph Gibbons is reported to have corresponded regularly with Stevens. A letter dated April 17, 1862 from Stevens to Joseph Gibbons is included in The Papers of Thaddeus Stevens: Volume I. 2

1 Smedley, R. C. – See Bibliography 2 Palmer, Beverly – See Bibliography

4 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 S4. Describe the site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad, continued.

2) Financial and Tactical Support to Thwart Slave Catchers: Stevens is reported to have been directly responsible for several actions in the late 1840s of thwarting the actions of slave catchers in Lancaster County and the surrounding region. He paid at least one acquaintance over a number of years to infiltrate the rings of slave bounty hunters who were tracking freedom seekers then being sheltered at Underground Railroad stations in the rural Lancaster County farms of Stevens’s network of associates. These activities are documented in two Lancaster newspapers – The Inquirer and The Examiner & Herald -- and in The New York Times, all published in late October and early November 1883. The articles were written by persons who knew Stevens personally and who had direct knowledge of Stevens’s secret activities.

On November 3, 1883, The New York Times published an article (page 3, Col. 1) with the headline:

THAD STEVENS'S ALLIES ------INTERESTING REMINISCENCES OF THE DAYS OF SLAVERY; HOW RUNAWAY NEGROES WERE SAVED FROM CAPTURE AND AIDED ON THEIR WAY TO CANADA From the Lancaster (Penn.) Examiner.

The headline above and the accompanying article was based directly on, and attributed to, two separate but directly related news stories published nearly concurrently in the two leading Lancaster, PA newspapers: The Examiner & Herald (Publisher/Editor John A. Hiestand) on October 27, 1883, and in The Inquirer, (a weekly; Ellwood Griest, Publisher/Editor). They show the same publication date, although The Examiner's first account makes reference to The Inquirer's prior publication. 3

The Examiner & Herald article was published in response to what had been in The Inquirer perhaps a few days prior: A "hitherto unpublished letter”, dated January 9, 1847 written by Thaddeus Steven (not yet a U.S. Congressman) to Judge Jeremiah Brown, Jr., a resident of Fulton Township, Lancaster County, PA.

[The name of Judge Jeremiah Brown, Jr. appears years later (1898) in Siebert's, The Underground Railroad, as an agent, or UGRR operative.]

This letter is also reprinted in the 1963 pamphlet, The Pilgrim’s Pathway, by Franklin and Marshall College (Lancaster, PA) professor, Dr. Charles Spotts.

Neither of the two Lancaster newspapers (as far as can be determined) nor The New York Times mentions the source of the 1847 Stevens-to-Brown letter.

In the letter re-printed in the Lancaster papers and, a few days later in The New York Times, Stevens warns Judge Brown to immediately move the two Negro girls he or his brother were then harboring. Stevens also openly describes his other recent actions in support of the Underground Railroad and makes reference to a spy who kept him apprised about the activities of slave catchers in the County. That letter elicited a question in print from the publisher of The Inquirer, Major Ellwood Griest, as to the identity of that spy.

In a turn of journalistic tables unprecedented today, a response to the newspaperman's query was published by John Hiestand, editor of the competing newspaper, The Examiner, as stated above, on the same date as the Stevens-to-Brown letter was reprinted in The Inquirer, and in which Major Griest stated his question as to the identity of the spy.

3 The Inquirer, Lancaster, PA, October 27, 1883. See Bibliography and see S-11, Page 9.

5 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 S4. Describe the site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad, continued.

Editor Hiestand declared that the Stevens spy was Edward H. Rauch (1820-1902), by then (1883) editor of the Mauch Chunk, PA (today's Jim Thorpe, PA ) newspaper, The Democrat.

Then, in the October 31, 1883 edition of The Examiner & Herald, Hiestand published the response by "Capt." E.H. Rauch, verifying Hiestand's account and the declaration that he, Rauch, was indeed Stevens's spy. This entire exchange was then re-printed in the November 3, 1883 edition of The New York Times.

To solidify the community connections with these journalists and their publications, it should be noted that E.H. Rauch assisted Stevens's close associate, Edward McPhearson, in the editing and production of The Independent Whig, a newspaper started in November 1851 by a joint stock company with Thaddeus Stevens as the head, according to A History of Lancaster County by Ellis & Evans, 1883.

In his 1883 letter, dated October 29 from Mauch Chuck, PA, Rauch wrote to Hiestand at The Examiner that only four other men were aware of his activities:

"A.H. Hood, George Ford, the Rev. Robert Boston (colored) and I also believe Dr. Joseph Gibbons."

The latter was the son of Daniel Gibbons, Lancaster County's most prolific stationmaster who reportedly helped in excess of 1,000 fugitives prior to 1850. The reference to Robert Boston is slightly incorrect. In 1847 Robert Boston was not a pastor. He first appears in the 1850 census as a barber. In 1863 the local directory identifies him as pastor at Lancaster’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

3) Archeological Excavations, 2002-2003: The Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County initiated a professional dig at the site of the homes, law office and tavern owned by Thaddeus Stevens at the corner of South Queen and East Vine Streets. These properties were among the first properties he acquired when he moved to Lancaster in 1842. He retained ownership of some of these buildings until his death. He sold one residence to his long-time live-in housekeeper, property manager and confidante, Lydia Hamilton Smith (1815-1884). Prof. James Delle of Kutztown (PA) State University, and Prof. Mary Ann Levine of Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, PA) conducted the dig. Evidence from the site and their hypothesis were described in Smithsonian Magazine in February, 2004. 4 See also: Thaddeus Stevens' House Archaeological Dig at www.w3webdesign.net/archdig/

Profs. Delle and Levine have presented a hypothesis that the cistern in the ground behind Stevens’s law office and adjacent to a tavern he owned was used as a place for hiding freedom seekers in the early to mid- 1850s. This hypothesis is based on the historical characteristics of Stevens, Smith and their associates; examination of the fill material found in the cistern; the presence of a crudely installed brick-sealed opening at one end of the otherwise well-crafted cistern; examination of the fill behind that opening; and the location of these features adjacent to an area of the tavern’s north foundation wall that was obviously opened and later repaired/replaced. This opening would accommodate passage of a human, as would the opening at the end of the cistern itself.

S5. Provide a history of the site since its time of significance to the Underground Railroad, including physical changes or alterations.

The funeral of Thaddeus Stevens was held on Monday, August 17, 1868. 5 An estimated 20,000 people lined the streets of Lancaster to witness the funeral procession and burial. Newspapers reported the vast uneasiness in the crowds as Steven’s casket was accompanied to Concord Cemetery by a contingent of armed African American Zouaves. These guards stood watch over Stevens’s body in the Rotunda of the US Capital and they traveled aboard the train to Lancaster with the Congressman’s remains.

4 - Bordewich, Fergus M., Smithsonian Magazine, Digging into a Historic Rivalry – See Bibliography 5 - The Daily Evening Express, Lancaster, PA 8/18/1868. See Bibliography.

6 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 S5. Provide a history of the site since its time of significance to the Underground Railroad, continued.

The Rev. Dr. J. Isidor Mombert, rector of Saint James Episcopal Church, Lancaster, delivered the eulogy. He stated, in part:

“Thaddeus Stevens loved liberty. This inborn love of liberty and abhorrence of all exclusiveness, made him actually select this retired spot for his burying place, for he refused even to allow his ashes to lie in a cemetery, which, unlike God’s earth and air, forbids that those who are created with His image carved in ebony instead of ivory, should sleep there their last sleep.”

The cemetery was founded in 1836 and has served as such until today. The site was first managed by its founder/owner, Martin Shreiner (1767-1866), who wrote:

“Having taken pleasure and interest in establishing and laying out ‘Concord Cemetery,’ at present an ornament to the city, and with the view of having it continued and kept for all time to come in a good and suitable condition…I order and direct...that suitable persons...take charge and care of it. “ -excerpt from Martin Shreiner’s will

Shreiner, who lived on West Chestnut Street directly across from the north end of the property, first called the site Concord Cemetery. In the years following Shreiner’s death and internment on the site, cemetery managers changed its name to Shreiner Cemetery. Since its inception, the site has been governed by plot owners and community residents and has maintained a policy of accepting burials from persons of all races.

The Thaddeus Stevens Memorial Association installed the Stevens memorial in the first decade of the 20th century. The fund was made possible through the personal, community leadership of John H. Landis, Superintendent, U.S. Mint, Philadelpia; William H. Griest, Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and Dr. N.C. Schaeffer, Superintendent, Public Instruction, Lancaster, PA.

From 1939 to 1941, William Frederic Worner, Librarian of the Lancaster County Historical Society (1922- 1935) and his associates documented the grave sites and the overall conditions of the cemetery: “At the time of our visits the cemetery was in a state of neglect.” 6

The year 1990 marked the successful completion of a community fundraising campaign that began in about 1986 and was responsible for establishing a fund for on going maintenance.

State Rep. P. Michael Sturla of Lancaster in 2000 secured a state grant of approximately $30,000 to create a special partnership with the private cemetery that allowed for seasonal maintenance by the City of Lancaster.

S6. Describe current educational programs, tours, markers, signs, or plaques at the site. Include text and photographs of markers.

A historical marker placed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Historical and Museum Commission is locate at the site at the corner of West Chestnut and North Mulberry Street. The marker reads:

Thaddeus Stevens Lawyer, congressman, defender of free public schools, abolitionists lies buried in the rear of this cemetery. He believed in the “Equality of man before his Creator.” Resided in Lancaster from 1842 until his death, 1868.

6 - Tombstone Inscriptions from Graveyards in Lancaster County, PA, Vol. 8 – See Bibliography.

7 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 Also located within the grounds of the cemetery near the West Chestnut Street entrance is the 1990 plaque referenced above describing the community residents who assumed leadership roles in the community to care for this historic site.

S7. Identify historical sources of information. Include a bibliography.

Citations for Footnotes:

1) Smedley, M.D., R.C., History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania, Lancaster, PA, 1883; reprinted in paperback, Rutgers University, page 38. 2) Palmer, Beverly Wilson, The Papers of Thaddeus Stevens, Vol. I, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 1997. 3) The Inquirer, Lancaster, PA October 27, 1883, Page 2. 4) Fergus M. Digging into a Historic Rivalry, Smithsonian Magazine, February, 2004, Pg. 96. 5) Daily Evening Express, Lancaster, PA, Tuesday, August 18, 1868, Page 1. 6) Worner, William Frederic, Tombstone Inscriptions from Graveyards in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Volume 8, The Lancaster County Historical Society, 1941, Page 7.

The Inquirer, Lancaster, PA, October 27, 1883, page 2.

The Herald and Examiner, Lancaster, PA, October 27 and 31, 1883, page 1.

“Thad Stevens’ Allies” The New York Times, November 3, 1883, page 3.

TWO NOTABLE GRAVES The Washington Post (1877-1954); May 20, 1883, page 7.

Blockson, Charles L. African Americans in Pennsylvania – A History and Guide, Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press), 1994.

Ellis & Evans, History of Lancaster County, 1883

Pinsker, Matthew. Vigilance in Pennsylvania. Underground Railroad Activities in the Keystone State, 1837-1861 (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission), 2000.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. (New York: Russell & Russell, 1898).

Still, William. The Underground Rail Road, 1872. (Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co.) 1970.

S8. Describe any other local, state, or federal historic designations, records, signage, or plaques the site has.

These are described above: 1) Contributing structure (site) to the City of Lancaster National Historic District, and 2) location of PHMC roadside marker commemorating the gravesite of Thaddeus Stevens.

S9. Is the site open to the public, and under what conditions?

The site is open from dawn until dusk daily. Adjacent neighbors volunteer as gatekeepers and general monitors, alerting police to any suspicious activity or loitering.

8 OMB Control No. 1024-0232 Expires 12/31/2006 S10. Describe the nature and objectives of any partnerships that have contributed to the documentation, preservation, commemoration, or interpretation of the site.

Through the on going work of the Thaddeus Stevens College, the Concord-Shreiner Cemetery Foundation and the groups and individuals referenced above under S6, a Master Plan for cemetery improvements has been produced by a local landscape, architectural and planning firm. The Master Plan, excerpted here and with illustration copies included, was produced by the Lititz, PA firm of Derck & Edson & Associates, LLP. This Plan will be utilized for future fundraising and improvements throughout the site. The Plan was developed for the Concord- Shreiner Cemetery Foundation.

In the weeks and days prior to the annual Stevens commemorative event on April 4, students and faculty of Stevens College join with neighborhood residents and other community volunteers who are organized with the help of Pennsylvania State Representative P. Michael Sturla, to clean the cemetery grounds of winter debris. The volunteer crews trim trees and shrubs, mulch flowerbeds and plant flowers in preparation of the commemorative events on April 4.

S11. Additional data or comments. (Optional)

The Inquirer, Lancaster, PA, October 27, 1883 Page 2.

“This and That” was a regular column in this newspaper, written by Elwood Griest, an associate of Thaddeus Stevens and an affiliate of many of the prominent Quaker Abolitionists of Lancaster County, circa 1840-1850.

From original edition, Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster, PA

9 OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 1

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM APPLICATION FORM The Underground Railroad Network To Freedom Program - National Park Service GENERAL INFORMATION Element Element Type: Site ____ Facility __X___ Program _____ Element Name: _First National Bank Museum Element Address: _Second & Locust Streets______Columbia, Lancaster County Pennsylvania 17512

Congressional District: 16th District of Pennsylvania – Hon. Joseph Pitts of Kennett Square, PA

Date submitted: July 14, 2003

Abstract: The First National Bank Museum is one of the few banks in the United States still preserved within its original setting, and among its original records are books of accounts from the antebellum period providing a rare view of the degree of wealth of two prominent African American businessmen who also acted as Underground Railroad conductors. During the Bank’s years of operation in the early and middle nineteenth century, Stephen Smith and William Whipper used their own financial resources and the actual railroad cars in which they shipped lumber to Philadelphia to secretly forwarded freedom seekers onto the next station in their hazardous journey. Whipper is recorded in William Still’s seminal book on the Underground Railroad to have given at least $1000 a year to freedom seekers in the years leading up to the Civil War. They were the wealthiest members of an African American community in the place where most historians recount, albeit anecdotally, that the Underground Railroad received its name.

Owner or Manager Name: __Nora and Michael Stark______Address: _Second & Locust Streets, Columbia, Lancaster County PA 17512 Phone, Fax, e-mail: Tel: (717) 684-8864 Fax: (717) 684-8048 e-mail: [email protected]

Application Preparer (Enter only if different from Owner or Manager identified above) Name: __Teresa Weisser, Randolph Harris, Nora Stark______Address: c/o Randolph J. Harris, Neighborhood Preservation and Community Development Services 233 North Barbara Street, Mount Joy, Pa 17552 Phone, Fax, e-mail _Ms. Weisser – 717 - 871-0331; [email protected] Mr. Harris – 717 – 808-2941; [email protected]

I hereby certify that this __ site __ facility __ program is included in the Network to Freedom.

______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 10 hours per response including time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20013-7127.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 2 SECTION B: FACILITIES

In addition to the responses to each question, applications must also include a letter of support for inclusion in the Network to Freedom from the facility owner or manager

F1. Facility type: _____ Archive _____ Library __X___ Museum _____ Research Center _____ Other (describe):

F2. Provide an abstract of collections.

The First National Bank Museum collection provides direct and indirect insight into the Underground Railroad through a wide range of media including photographs, currency, minute and ledger books from the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company and other early organizations and entities within the community, civil war era artifacts, newspapers, maps, and the original fixtures within the bank including the walnut teller’s cages, and steel vault with an original Ferrell and Herring safe dated 1852 inside.

F3. Describe the collection, detailing its significance to the Underground Railroad.

Two leather bound books, approximately 18 X 24 inches, contain the most significant connection to the Underground Railroad. The first being a ledger type from the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company that details the financial activities of Stephen Smith and William Whipper from 1837- 1841, two known stationmasters on the Underground Railroad. The second document is a ledger/minute book from the Old Columbia Public Grounds Company that contains records related to Stephen Smith’s lumber business which provided him with the ability to either provide refuge for escaping slaves within his vast lumber operation or to provide transportation within secret compartments located within the 22 railcars that he owned. Although limited in quantity, these documents are the only known primary materials that provide a significant degree of insight into the business and personal financial affairs of one of the wealthiest Black men in antebellum America and how that wealth enabled him to assist fleeing slaves in their quest for freedom.

F4. Describe the types of Underground Railroad or slavery-related collections or materials the facility has.

From the participation in the various UGRR workshops and conferences over the past few years, the museum owner/operators have collected and maintains for access by visitors a collection of articles and publications from local and national historians such as Dr. Leroy Hopkins, Willis Shirk, Dr. Charles Blockson and books by authors such as William Still, Wilbur Seibert, Vincent Harding, W.E.B. Dubois, Thomas P. Slaughter, R.C. Smedley and others. The two original leather bound ledgers from the Columbia Bank and Bridge and the Old Public Grounds provide primary materials for the Museum’s initial research library. The Bank Museum also holds original Confederate currency which depicts Black slaves working on the Plantations as part of its frontal design.

F5. Identify and describe the types of documents the facility has to identify the provenance of its collections.

Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds, Account Number 1104295800000, indicates Nora Stark as owner of record, of the site.

The museum’s origin dates back to 1958 when the current owner, Nora Motter-Stark’s mother and father purchased the property from the estate of Effie Detwiler, daughter of Solomon Detwiler, founder of the bank. The Motters bought the property with all of the bank fixtures still intact and began the task of restoring and preserving the bank portion of their home into a “Bank Museum” and opened it to the public for tours in 1967. This is the home where the current main curator, Nora Motter-Stark, at the age of 4, began assisting with tours of the museum. The

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 3 property and museum are now in the ownership and care of Nora Motter Stark and her husband, Michael Stark.

The two original leather bound ledgers from the Columbia Bank and Bridge and the Old Public Grounds provide primary materials for the Museum’s initial research library and they were a part of the overall archives of the bank when it was acquired by the parents of the current owner.

F6. Identify and describe the types of guides or indexes that are available for the facility’s collections.

Currently, The Bank Museum owner/operators are working with Dr. Tracey Weis of Millersville University, Millersville, Lancaster County, PA to create such a guide and a website to catalog documents or information in Museum collection.

F7. Describe the level of training of the staff.

Nora Motter-Stark is the curator and primary interpreter for the facility. She has participated for the last three years in local conferences and workshops being sponsored through Millersville State University through a NEH funding commitment to develop curriculum relating to the UGRR. More recently she has become a mentor in the workshops for educators. Through this initiative she has led tours and discussions of the First National Bank Museum and its connection to the UGRR and Stephen Smith and William Whipper.

As part of the ongoing effort to provide an authentic interpretive experience Ms. Motter-Stark has read the numerous UGRR books and publications produced by local historians and scholars. This continuing research has helped form the basis of our guided tours and the interpretation of the life of Stephen Smith and William Whipper as it relates to the UGRR and this facility.

F8. Describe the types of publications, reports, or services the facility performs or produces.

The Bank Museum owner/operators are presently working with Millersville University scholars to produce such reports and develop a website to publish any such reports.

F9. Identify and describe the conditions of public access to the facility.

Guided tours are by appointment and the admission fee is $5.00/ adults and $4.00 for seniors and students. There are also special rates for groups and motor coach operators. The facility is ADA accessible and includes restroom facilities

F10. Describe visitation workload at the facility.

Tours are mainly on a seasonal basis with May, June, September, and October being the busiest times of the year. All marketing and coordination for tours is done by Nora Motter Stark with tours being given by Nora and Michael Stark on as needed basis for individuals and groups. The Bank Museum currently receives approximately 500-700 visitors per year.

F11. Describe the facility’s copying capabilities and policies.

The office has a new HP6110 printer, copier, and scanner that are available to the public for copying at a cost of $.25 per page.

F12. Describe the nature and objectives of any partnerships that have contributed to the operation of the facility.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 4

Through its partnership and participation in the Millersville University UGRR NEH project, the First National Bank Museum received additional exposure within our region as an UGRR interpretive facility. The museum is one of the sites educators visit during their weeklong workshops at Millersville during the summer. Additionally, Millersville University is working directly with the museum to develop a website that will detail this facility’s resources and its connection to the UGRR along with several other sites/facilities within the community. These efforts should continue to raise the awareness about this facility and the UGRR.

Also, in addition to its status as a contributing structure in the Borough of Columbia National Historic District, The First National Bank Museum in 1997 was designated an authentic Heritage Resource – Site, by Lancaster County Heritage, a partnership of the County of Lancaster, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County. This public/private partnership won a program organizational award from the National Association of Museums and Historical Organizations in 1999. Partnership members worked with the owners or more than 100 sites in Lancaster County from 1995 through 2000, to research, document and verify earlier research, resulting in the establishment of a program that requires its accepted resources/sites to present their history in a well-researched, authentic and culturally sensitive way. Heritage Resources accepted into this program are included on Lancaster County’s Web Site as official Heritage Resources. The site owner/operators may use the Partnership logo and each site is permitted to display a specially made outdoor banner.

In addition, the documentation in this application will be provided to the Lancaster-York Heritage Region, a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania supported public/private initiative to preserve and protect the historic, cultural and natural resources in a region of South Central Pennsylvania made up of Lancaster and York Counties. This is one of 10 such multi-county areas in Pennsylvania known as Heritage Regions.

The mission of the LYHR combines historic preservation with heritage tourism, sustainable development and economic development. The Management Action Plan for this Heritage Region includes the theme of: Quest for Freedom – which is a holistic cultural heritage initiative to protect and preserve sites associated with William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” of religious tolerance in the colony he founded, as well as sites associated with the Underground Railroad.

As part of the Quest for Freedom thematic treatment of the region, LYHR will produce a new Underground Railroad Map & Visitors Guide in December, 2003. Portions of the research and documentation compiled as part of this application will be included in the new Map & Guide. Thousands of copies of this professionally produced and printed publication will be made available free of charge at visitor centers across both counties, at this site, and at various historic/heritage sites and local archives.

The submitters believe that this Map and Guide serves the intent of the NPS Network program to allow the public to gain a better understanding of the Underground RR through readily available displays and interpretive material, both on-site and available throughout the larger community. The administrators of the LYHR have also encouraged the submitters of this facility application to allow the research and documentation to be use in other Heritage Region initiatives that might include future on-site recognition through signage, roadside markers, inclusion on website, etc.

F13. Additional data or comments.

The First National Bank Museum is part of a 1814 Federal style 6500 sq. ft. townhouse located at Second and Locust Streets (170 Locust), Columbia, PA. This building is located in a National

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 5 Historic District established in 1982 and is currently regulated by a local historic district that requires improvement reviews by a Historic Architectural Review Board.

This building was originally built as a residence for James Wright, Jr., his uncle William Wright, was one of the founders of the Columbia Abolition Society. In 1854 two brothers named Solomon and Daniel Detwiler rented the front two rooms within this structure and started the Detwiler Brothers Private Bank. When the National Bank Act went into effect in 1864, the bank became the 371st financial institution to be chartered under this new act and assumed the name of The First National Bank of Columbia-charter 371. This bank and the Detwiler Brothers Private Bank were instrumental in the financial and economic development of the community.

In 1917 the First National Bank of Columbia merged with the Columbia National Bank to form the First-Columbia National Bank. The Columbia Bank and Bridge was the successor of the Columbia National Bank, which was the bank that built Columbia’s first covered wooden bridges across the Susquehanna River and more importantly, was the bank that Stephen Smith and William Whipper held substantial stock in and utilized for their banking transactions for their business and personal affairs.

Upon the merger mentioned above in 1917, the First-Columbia National Bank moved out of what is now the site of the First National Bank Museum.

* * * * * * The following account provides insight into the significance of Smith and Whipper in the legacy of the Underground Railroad and the experience of African Americans and their supporters in the community of Columbia during the most critical years of the resistance to slavery: 1820 – 1860.

During the early and middle nineteenth century, the African American businessmen and Underground Railroad operators Stephen Smith and William Whipper maintained personal and business accounts in the Columbia Bank, an earlier name of the First National Bank. Smith also held a significant block of the Bank’s stock. The two men used their financial resources and the means of transportation at their disposal to provide assistance to freedom seekers fleeing northward, through Columbia, often to Philadelphia and other areas of relative safety.

Born in Middle Paxton Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania toward the end of the eighteenth century, Stephen Smith had been brought to Columbia as a young child to be indentured to Thomas Boude, a local lumber merchant and Revolutionary war veteran. In 1815 or 1816, at the age of about twenty, Smith succeeded in securing freedom from his indenture. He immediately went into the lumber business for himself and soon began investing in Columbia real estate as well. His business prospered, allowing him to finance further investments in stock, including the stock of the Columbia Bank and Bridge Company. Smith also served as a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and acted as a leader of Columbia’s large black community. In the mid-1830s, William Whipper, Smith’s future business partner and possibly a relative of the Smith family, moved from Philadelphia to Columbia. Born in Little Britain Township, Lancaster County, in about 1804, Whipper may have spent his childhood in Columbia, though that, like most of the other details of his early life, is uncertain. What is known is that Whipper came to Columbia sometime before 1836, becoming a partner in Smith’s lumber and coal business at some point during the late 1830s or early 1840s. In 1841, Smith moved to Philadelphia to establish a lumber and coal yard there, while Whipper continued to manage the firm’s Columbia operations. Both men were actively involved in the operation of Columbia’s “station” on the Underground Railroad during their years of residence in the Borough.

According to some accounts, Stephen Smith was, in a sense, present at the creation of the resistance movement among Blacks and their sympathizers in the North, and the origins of what came to be known as the Underground Railroad itself. In his History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania, R.C. Smedley traces the Railroad’s beginning to “some cases of kidnapping and shooting of fugitives” which occurred in Columbia in

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 6 1804 that “incited the people of that town, who were chiefly Friends or their descendants, to throw around the colored people the arm of protection and even to assist those who were endeavoring to escape from slavery.” (Smedley 26) Smedley goes on to note that Smith’s own mother, a slave to a family in the Harrisburg area, was the first victim of an attempted kidnapping in the Columbia area. Having fled to the town to join her young son, Mrs. Smith was pursued by her owner, who found her and attempted to return her to slavery. Thomas Boude intervened and prevented the capture, but the incident and others like it so enflamed sentiment within Columbia that the residents began to offer assistance to other freedom seekers. Unfortunately the incident involving Mrs. Smith can not be independently corroborated and so must be regarded as part of the legend of the resistance movement and ultimately the Underground Railroad. If true, however, it suggests a pattern of early activity in support of freedom seekers in the Columbia area.

While this report may be open to question, there can be no doubt that the town and especially Smith and Whipper, its two wealthiest African American residents, eventually became important links in the network which aided former slaves fleeing northward to freedom. In a letter written to William Still on December 4, 1871, William Whipper reported, “I knew that it had been asserted, far down in the slave region, that Smith & Whipper, the Negro lumber merchants, were engaged in secreting fugitive slaves.” (Still 766) Drawn to Columbia by its strategic location on the eastern bank of the Susquehanna River, the “recognized northern boundary of the slave-holding empire” (Still 763) in the years before the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, the freedom seekers were hidden and aided by members of the town’s large African American community and by sympathetic whites. Indeed, some sources suggest that the term “Underground Railroad” originated from the comments of frustrated slave hunters, who managed to track escaping slaves as far as Columbia, only to lose the trail within the community. Supposedly these individuals were heard to comment that “There must be an underground railroad somewhere.” (Switala 13) In fact, during at least some of the years of the Railroad’s operation, freedom seekers were actually fleeing Columbia by way of the tracks of the town’s real railroad, hidden in rail cars owned by Smith and Whipper. With a fleet of twenty-two railroad cars used primarily for the transportation of lumber and coal, Smith and Whipper had the means to carry escaping slaves from Columbia to Philadelphia. In his letter to Still, Whipper recalled that, as the Underground Railroad stationmaster in Columbia, he

“… was frequently called up in the night to take charge of the passengers. On their arrival they were generally hungry and penniless. I have received hundreds in this condition; fed and sheltered from one to seventeen at a time in a single night. At this point the road forked; some I sent west by boats, to Pittsburgh, and others to you in our cars to Philadelphia. …” (Still 764)

Possessed of a larger fortune than his African American neighbors, Whipper also estimated that “directly and indirectly from 1847 to 1860, I have contributed from my earnings one thousand dollars annually.” (Still 767)

Smith’s financial contributions to the operation of the Railroad are not known, but it is clear that, during his years in Columbia, he too was actively involved in aiding fugitive slaves. In a brief note preserved in the collection of the Lancaster County Historical Society, Smith questions Daniel Gibbons, the stationmaster of another Underground Railroad stop near Lancaster, as to the fate of three escaping slaves who, he had heard, had been recaptured near Lancaster. Gibbon’s answer has not survived, but the letter clearly reveals that Smith also served as an operator of the Underground Railroad in Columbia.

As the wealthiest members of Columbia’s African American community, Stephen Smith and William Whipper were instrumental in providing financial support and transportation to freedom seekers who came through the town in search of personal liberty and better lives for themselves and their children.

Evidence for Smith and Whipper’s involvement in the Underground Railroad is provided by Whipper’s letter to William Still, which was published in Still’s The Underground Rail Road: A

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 First National Bank Museum, Columbia, PA 7 Record of Facts, Authentic Narratives, Letters, & c. as well as by Smith’s letter to Daniel Gibbons. Secondary sources describing Underground Railroad activities in Columbia include Smedley’s History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania and Wilbur H. Siebert’s The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. The connection between Smith and Whipper and the Columbia Bank, now the First National Bank Museum, can be established through examination of a bank ledger in the collection of the Museum. Smith’s ownership of stock in the Bank is detailed in a collection of Columbia Bank and Bridge Company records now held by the Lancaster County Historical Society.

* * * * * * *

Bibliography: The following sources of information used in this application include:

Columbia Bank and Bridge Company ledger, 1839-1840, ms., First National Bank Museum, Columbia, Pa.

Columbia Bridge Company Collection, 1809-1843. MG-217. Lancaster County Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster.

Delany, Martin. The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States. Philadelphia: M.R. Delany, 1852.

Fishel, Leslie. “Smith, Stephen.” American National Biography. vol. 20. Ed. John A. Garraty, Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

McCormick, Richard P. “William Whipper: Moral Reformer.” Pennsylvania History 43 (1976): 23- 48.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. New York: Russell & Russell, 1898.

Smedley, R. C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Lancaster, Pa.: Printed at the Office of the journal, 1883.

Smith, Stephen. Letter to Daniel Gibbons. 5 Mar. 1840. From Columbia to Christiana: African Americans in Lancaster County. Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster. 27 May 2003 http://www.lancasterhistory.org/education/afam/resources/letter_trans_smith.html.

Still, William. The underground rail road. 1872. Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co., 1970.

Switala, William J. Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 2001.

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM The Underground Railroad Network To Freedom Program National Park Service Element Type: Site _____ Facility _____ Program __X___

Element Name: BETHEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH Element Address: 450-512 East Strawberry Street Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA 17602-4449

Congressional District: 16th - Pennsylvania – Hon. Joseph Pitts, Member Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Date submitted: January 8, 2004

Abstract. Bethel A.M.E. is the oldest church in the denomination in Lancaster County and the third organized in Central PA. Founded in 1817, Bethel was the most important Black institution in Antebellum Lancaster City, serving not only the spiritual needs of its congregation, but also a proving ground for Black youth at a time when all Black Pennsylvanians had lost the vote (1838) and citizenship was declared an exclusive right of the non-Black majority (Dred Scott Decision, 1857). During a period when violence erupted in many urban centers directed at abolitionists and Blacks in general, the leaders of Bethel petitioned for and received a free African school. Oral tradition indicates extensive involvement in Underground Railroad activities. This heritage is preserved and shared through the educational and interpretive programming offered within Church facilities. “Living the Experience” is coordinated by a Church affiliated corporation that for six years has presented this living heritage both to expand church ministry and to empower church leaders and members toward social and economic development in the neighborhood in which Bethel AME Church located. The Church is a contributing structure to the City of Lancaster National Historic District. Owner or Manager Name: Phoebe M. Bailey, Executive Director, Bethel Harambee Historical Services On behalf of Reverend Edward M. Bailey, Pastor Address: 450-512 East Strawberry Street Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA 17602-4449

Phone, Fax, e-mail: 717-393-8379 – FAX 717-396-8382 [email protected]

Application Preparer (Enter only if different from Owner or Manager identified above) Name: Phoebe M. Bailey c/o Bethel Harambee Historical Services, and Randolph J. Harris, Neighborhood Preservation & Community Development Address: 233 North Barbara Street, Mount, Joy, Pennsylvania, 17552 Phone, Fax, e-mail: Ms. Bailey (717) 393-8379 [email protected] Mr. Harris (717) 653-8859 [email protected]

I hereby certify that this __ site __ facility __ program is included in the Network to Freedom.

______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

SECTION C: EDUCATIONAL AND INTERPRETIVE PROGRAMS

In addition to the responses to each question, applications must also include the following attachments: 1) Letters of support from people consulted in the development of the interpretive program 2) An example of an audience feedback card or questionnaire or other audience feedback mechanism 3) A letter of support for inclusion in the Network to Freedom from the owner or manager of the program

P1. Program type: __X___ Interpretive program. _____ Tour. _____ Education program. ___X__ Living history or performance. __X___ Commemorative or Cultural Center. _____ Other (describe):

P2. Describe the Underground Railroad theme or message of the program, and how it is conveyed to the audience.

As educational and heritage tourism program initiative, Bethel Harambee Historical Services, Inc. since 1997 has produced “ Living the Experience”, a live, audience-interactive performance depicting the role of Bethel AME Church and the City of Lancaster in the Underground Railroad. This program was the first organized initiative to promote the activity of Lancaster on the Underground Railroad. The reenactment is a unique account of the events and people on the Underground Railroad and the time of enslavement. All who attend this performance become a fleeing enslaved African during the early 19th century who has found their way to Bethel AME Church. In addition to this intensely interactive experience, attendees are provided a full course Southern style meal that is served in the adjacent Cultural Center, a former public school that served a mostly African American student population. At the end of each meal there is a question and answer segment that unfolds the secret coded messages hidden in the many spirituals sung during the performance. Other pertinent information about the enslavement era is discussed along with issues concerning the community as it is today.

Additionally, the reenactment was the first heritage tourism program initiative in the region to re-tell the inspiring stories of Congressman Thaddeus Stevens and Lydia Hamilton Smith, Rev. Steven Smith, William and Eliza Parker, and others known to be involved in the forefront of local, regional and national social and political activism against slavery and in support of the Underground Railroad.

P3. How were the program’s themes identified?

Much of the information and research for the reenactment was conducted through a task force comprised of historians, educators, business persons, tourism consultants, representatives of the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau, antiquities collectors, researchers and others with knowledge of local history. These persons worked diligently in verifying and documenting the information conveyed in “Living The Experience”.

P4. Identify historical sources of information and how they were used to develop the program. Include a bibliography.

It is through the research efforts for this program, that more interest and interpretation of the people and events of the Underground Railroad was adopted by other agencies and organizations, such as the Lancaster County Historical Society. The Society opened its doors for interns to research its archived information, which provided valuable documentation of the history of the Underground Railroad in Lancaster.

Bibliography: Anderson, Osborne Perry “A Voice from Harper’s Ferry”

Blockson, Charles L. The Underground Railroad in Pennsylvania (Jacksonsville, NC: Flame International), 1981.

Blockson, Charles L. African Americans in Pennsylvania – A History and Guide Baltimore, MD: Black Classic Press), 1994.

Ellis & Evans, History of Lancaster County, 1883

McClure, James. Almost Forgotten. A glimpse at black history in York County, Pa.(York Daily Record/York County Heritage Trust), 2002.

Pinsker, Matt. Vigilance in Pennsylvania. Underground Railroad Activities in the Keystone State, 1837-1861 (PHMC), 2000.

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. (New York: Russell & Russell, 1898).

Smedley, R. C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Lancaster, Pa.: Printed at the Office of the journal, 1883.

Still, William. The Underground Rail Road. 1872. (Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co.) 1970.

“Thad Stevens’ Allies” New York Times, 11/3/1883, p. 3, col. 1.

P5. Describe the educational objectives of the program, tour, or performance.

The most important aspect of the reenactment is to tell the story from an African point of view, and also to educate individuals on the effectiveness of Africans in working for their own freedom, and how the African church was very instrumental in providing safe haven, education, food, money, and spiritual growth and affirmation.

P6. For whom is the program intended?

The general public.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 1

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD NETWORK TO FREEDOM APPLICATION FORM

The Underground Railroad Network To Freedom Program National Park Service GENERAL INFORMATION Element Element Type: Site __X___ Facility _____ Program _____ Element Name: Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, Christiana Machine Co Element Address: 11 Green Street, Christiana, Pennsylvania, USA 17509 Congressional District: 16th – Pennsylvania – Hon. Joseph Pitts, Kennett Square, PA Date submitted: July 14, 2003 Abstract: Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House and Christiana Machine Co -- played a central role in events in 1851 that have been called, collectively, a major spark in the kindling of the Civil War ten years later. The Christiana Riot placed the Lancaster County community on the historical map and the events also represented a significant point in the notable career of U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, the Abolitionist and Underground Railroad activist, who, as a then sitting Whig Party Congressman from Lancaster County, served as co-counsel in the successful defense of the 38 citizens charged with treason against the United States for their participation in what is now referred to as The Resistance at Christiana.

It was at Zercher’s Hotel that the official inquest began. The thirty-eight accused with treason were held at Zercher Hotel until they could be transported to prison in Philadelphia for trial.

The eventual acquittal of the Christiana townsmen on federal treason charges effectively challenged the legal and political strength of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law. Commemorative events marking the 60th anniversary of the Resistance were held on the steps of the hotel in 1911. The extant monument on site was dedicated to those involved in the Resistance.

Owner or Manager Name: Louis J. Bond, Vice President Address: Same as above Phone, Fax, e-mail: (215) 593-5171 * FAX (215) 593-5378, or (717) 665-2275 or (610) 593-6346

Application Preparer (Enter only if different from Owner or Manager identified above) Randolph J. Harris and Darlene Colon c/o R.J. Harris, Neighborhood Preservation & Community Development, 233 North Barbara Street, Mount, Joy, Pennsylvania 17552 Phone, Fax, e-mail: Ms. Colon (717) 291-1253 [email protected] Mr. Harris (717) 653-8859 [email protected]

I hereby certify that this __ site __ facility __ program is included in the Network to Freedom.

______Signature of certifying official/Title Date

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 2

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 3

SECTION A: SITES

This application include the following attachments: 1) Letter of support from property owners for inclusion in the Network to Freedom 2) Text and photographs of on-site marker. 3) Photographs of current condition of site applying for inclusion in the Network

S1. Site type: ___X____ Building. _____ Structure. _____ District. ___X__ Object. Landscape or natural feature. _____ Archeological site. _____ Other (describe):

S2. If the site is on the National Register of Historic Places, under what name is it listed?

Name: Christiana Machine Company (according to PHMC records) Determination of Eligibility July 11, 2000 by Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Officer: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission – Bureau for Historic Preservation

S3. Ownership of site: __X___ Private for-profit.

S4. The site’s association and significance to the Underground Railroad.

The current office building of The Charles Bond Company, an operating industrial facility in the Borough of Christiana, Pennsylvania, was known as Zercher’s Hotel at the time of what has been called, until recently, The Christiana Riot. The site played a central role in a series of events, beginning on September 11, 1851, that have been collectively interpreted as a major spark in the kindling of the Civil War ten years later. The Christiana Riot forever placed the eastern Lancaster County community of Christiana on the historical map. These events also represented a significant point in the notable career of Abolitionist, Underground Railroad activist and U.S. Congressman, Thaddeus Stevens. The Whig Congressman from Lancaster County served as co-counsel for the defense of the 38 citizens charged with treason against the United States for their participation in what is now referred to as The Resistance at Christiana.

Located at 11 Green Street in the Borough of Christiana, the eastern edge of the County of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the original stone section of the building was constructed circa 1833 by William Noble as his residence and in conjunction with his development of multiple buildings in that immediate area, along the Pine Creek, as an early machine shop and foundry complex. The residence was expanded some time after 1846 when the entire property was acquired by Samuel L. Denney.

According to two of the secondary sources cited here (Forbes and Katz) the building was used as a hotel during the critical period of 1851, then under the ownership and operation of Frederick Zercher. Over the years, this building has served as a hotel, railroad depot, town post office, telegraph office, jail and currently as the offices of the Charles Bond Company, a manufacturing firm in operation at the site since 1915.

It was here that the postmortem examination of the body of slain slave owner Edward Gorsuch was held, marking the first phase of the official inquest into the nationally significant events. The thirty-eight people accused of treason were held at Zercher’s Hotel until they could be transported to Moymensing Prison in Philadelphia for trial.

The eventual acquittal of the Christiana townsmen on federal treason charges in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in December, 1851 effectively challenged the legal and political strength of the Fugitive Slave Law, and began its eventual demise.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 4 Commemorative events marking the 60th anniversary of the violent engagement were held on the steps of the hotel in 1911. The extant monument on site was dedicated to those involved in the Resistance.

The actual building on the William Parker farm where the confrontation took place was located in the Township of Sadsbury some 2 and 1/8 miles to the southeast of the Zercher Hotel and its location at the center of the Borough of Christiana.

The “Riot House,” as it was known locally, was demolished in 1899. A Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PMHC) commemorative marker is located near the confrontation site, approximately one-half mile to the northeast, on Lower Valley Road, Sadsbury Township.

PMHC Marker Data:

Name: The Christiana Riot County Location: Lancaster Marker Location: Lower Valley Rd., South of Christiana, Sadsbury Twp., Lancaster Dedication Date: April 25, 1998 Marker Text:

The 1850 federal Fugitive Slave Act strengthened the position of slave-owners seeking to capture runaways. Pursuing four escaped slaves, Maryland farmer Edward Gorsuch arrived Sept. 11, 1851, at the Christiana home of William Parker, an African American who was giving them refuge. Neighbors gathered, fighting ensued, and Gorsuch was killed. This incident did much to polarize the national debate over the slavery issue.

Thus, Zercher’s Hotel – now the offices of the Charles Bond Company, remains today as the most prominent and significant existing building and site, buttressed in importance by the 1911 commemorative marker, where the Resistance at Christiana can be interpreted.

The town of Christiana and its environs was a haven for runaway slaves as well as free Blacks in the first half of the 19th century. The rural area surrounding this small town was a thriving agricultural area and remains so today. A small scale industrial facility, William Noble’s foundry and blacksmith shop opened in 1833 on what was to become, within the following year, the right of way of one of the earliest railways in America: the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad. The formal opening of the road was on October 7, 1834, after the double track had been completed.

African Americans found not only freedom in this community but paying jobs and homes where they could raise families. New arrivals were a common site in the first half of the 19th century and African Americans generally felt safe there among the many Quaker families whose religious beliefs did not tolerate slavery.

At the same time, within the same larger community, there was a group of men known as The Gap Gang. They were notorious for kidnapping those in the black community, not caring whether they were free or runaway and selling them into slavery in the South. They knew Christiana was a haven for runaways, and they were known to stalk their “prey” in the community. But yet even this rough crowd knew of the reputation a local farmer, William Parker, himself a runaway, who vowed to let no slaveholders or bounty hunter take back a freedom seeker or a free man, if he could prevent it. (1)

1 The Atlantic Monthly, The Freedman’s Story. 1866

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 5 The morning of September 11, 1851, Maryland slave owner Edward Gorsuch, his son Dickinson, along with U.S. Marshall Kline and others approached William Parker’s home at about 4 AM hoping to catch him off guard. Gorsuch was notified that two of his four slaves who had run away were staying there. Gorsuch was unaware that an operative of Abolitionist William Still, who found out about the plan, had warned Parker.

“One year after the passage of the law, at a time when alarm and excitement were running high, the most decided stand was taken at Christiana, in the state of Pennsylvania, to defeat the law, and defend freedom. Fortunately for the fugitives the plans of the slave-hunters and officials leaked out while arrangements were making in Philadelphia for the capture, and, information being sent to the Anti-slavery office, a messenger was at once dispatched to Christiana to put all persons supposed to be danger on their guard.” (William Still, Page 361)

Gorsuch became enraged when, upon demanding the return of his slaves, he was challenged and rebuffed by Parker. Gorsuch and Parker, both leaders in their churches, bantered back and forth, both quoting scriptures to support his own view. Someone in Gorsuch’s posse became nervous and fired a shot which grazed Parker. This set the confrontation in motion. Parker’s wife, Liza, ran upstairs and began to blow a fish horn to sound an alarm throughout the valley that they were in need of help. Although the posse continued to shoot at her, she continued to blow the horn until she saw help coming.

Two neighbors, Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, came to the Parker home in response. Lewis was a Quaker. He and Hanway both refused to be deputized by Kline and aid in the capture of the runaways as called for under terms of the U.S. Fugitive Slave Law. Kline was incensed.

Shots were fired from both sides. Edward Gorsuch lay dead, his son Dickinson was gravely injured.

The body of the elder Gorsuch was taken to the Zercher Hotel, which was then also serving as a station for the railroad. A postmortem was done in a side room. The inquest also was held there. That evening, the train carrying Pennsylvania Governor Johnston, on a campaign trip from Harrisburg to Philadelphia, stopped at the Christiana station, where the body of Gorsuch was laid out. While Johnston’s fellow passengers disembarked to view the remains, the Governor remained in the train. Author Jonathon Katz states that Johnston’s disinterest had been a calculated political act, meant to convey his disapproval of the fugitive law and slave catchers. 2

Thirty-eight of those arrested were held over for trial and kept at the Zercher Hotel until passage could be arranged for them to Moyamensing Prison in Philadelphia. Among them were Castner Hanway and Elijah Lewis, who upon hearing that there were warrants for their arrest, voluntarily came to the Zercher Hotel and gave themselves up. 3

2 Katz, Jonathan. Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974), 159 3 Katz, Jonathan. Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974), 120 4 Katz, Jonathan. Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974), 123 5 Katz, Jonathan. Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974), 127 6 Bacon, Margaret Hope. Rebellion at Christiana (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1975), 137 7 Forbes, Ella. But We Have No Country ( New Jersey: Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers, 1998)

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 6 Numerous officials were also present the day after the event. Many took rooms at the Zercher Hotel in order to perform their duties. Some were Lancaster District Attorney John L. Thompson, Lancaster Alderman J. Franklin Reigart, U. S. Marshall Anthony E. Roberts from Philadelphia with a detachment of Philadelphia police, United States Attorney John Ashmead and U.S. Fugitive Slave Commissioner Edward D. Ingraham, who issued the papers for Gorsuch to retrieve his “property.” Also present at the time was a strong force of U.S. Marines from the Philadelphia Navy Yard. (4)

U.S. Congressman Thaddeus Stevens, acting as part of a team of defense counsels, along with Attorney David Paul Brown and a Mr. Black, also had quarters at the Zercher Hotel (5) They worked long hours there, interviewing those arrested, trying to sort out the actual participants in the confrontation from those who had no part, but had been swept up in the dragnet. (6)

Also, in 1911, the 60th anniversary commemoration was held on the porch of the Zercher Hotel (by then called J.D. Harrar’s Store) and in attendance were descendants of those who participated. The only person alive was Peter Woods, who was only 17 at the time. (7)

S5. Provide a history of the site since its time of significance to the Underground Railroad, including physical changes or alterations.

The subject building was originally constructed during the period of ownership of, first William Noble (1833-1846), and apparently expanded by Samuel Denney, 1846 through 1851. Frederick Zercher established his hotel in the building that same year. The building was not used as part of the machine shop at that time.

In 1863 the building, along with the industrial facilities, was purchased by Isaac Brommell. IN 1869 it was acquired by J.D. Harrar and operated as a general store under the name J.S. Harrar and Sons. It appears under this name in the “Business Review of Lancaster County,” published in 1891. The building was acquired by the Charles Bond Company in 1915.

The Christiana Machine Company has been determined to be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places based the following criteria of significance: Categories A: notable events in the development of commercial agriculture and industry; and Category C: design and construction, as a notable example of an evolutionary complex of industrial buildings approaching two centuries of operation.

A site plan of the machine shop and foundry complex made by Bond Company staff notes that the subject building was constructed in two sections. The northern most portion was built first, “prior to 1847” while the southern portion built “prior to 1851.”

This indicates that the current six-bay, two and one half story, stone and frame building, with an overall stucco finish, appeared much the same at the time of the Resistance, when it was known as Zercher’s Hotel. The position of the two buildings and their uses are described in the enclosed map, which is a detail of the 1864 Atlas of Lancaster County by H.F. Bridgen. This atlas shows the railroad depot as the older, frame northern building, while the hotel is immediately adjacent to the south and is dated four years later.

In 1833, entrepreneur William Noble, in anticipation of the coming railroad, constructed a two- story dwelling house, foundry, blacksmith shop, and machine shop at the confluence of the Doctorial and Pine Creeks, on the eastern boundary between Lancaster and Chester Counties.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 7 The following year, when these industries began operating, the Columbia and Philadelphia railroad completed a set of double tracks to Philadelphia. The rail line ran through Noble’s property and served as the dam-breast for the water-wheel-house, which provided power for the shops.8

William Noble encountered several setbacks during the first decade of the foundry’s operation, apparently having difficulties in securing laborers. Certainly the Panic of 1837 and the six-year economic depression that followed had an impact as well, and the foundry stood idle between 1844 and 1846. In the latter year, Noble sold the works to Samuel L. Denney, who revived the foundry and machine shop to the extent that workers were attracted to the small town. In 1851 Denney removed a mile up the Doctorial and established a second machine shop. During the course of his career, Denney received patents on at least twenty different machines relating to commercial agriculture and railroad technology. The town of Christiana expanded markedly under Denney. He acquired building lots and constructed dwellings for worker housing, established the railroad station and post office, and converted his own home (the original two- story stone dwelling) into an inn.

After 1851, the foundry and machine shop complex passed through several hands before Isaac Broomell acquired it in 1863. As members of the Society of Friends, the Broomell family members were committed to moral reform movements, and related by ties of marriage and friendship to the Pownalls and Hanways, key figures in the Christiana Resistance.9

The subject property is now used as the office of the Charles Bond Company. According to Louis J. Bond, a site owner/manager and great-grandson of Charles Bond, his family’s firm purchased the Christiana Machine Company in 1915, and company offices were maintained by the Bonds in one of the earlier frame buildings on the grounds of the industrial complex, located approximately one block south and east of the subject. That building was destroyed by fire within the last several decades, according to Mr. Bond.

The building, originally the Noble-Denney House, is believed to have first housed the Bond Company offices sometime after 1941 when a industrial use brick building with a clerestory, know as the Gear Shop, was constructed and joined the former combination hotel, town post office, one-time railroad depot and jail, with the majority of the remainder of the machine shop and foundry.

This re-alignment meant that the railroad no longer ran directly in front of the subject site, as it had since the line was dedicated in 1834 and as depicted in the enclosed photograph of a simulated aerial view, “Christiana in 1846,” taken from Ellis & Evans History of Lancaster County Pennsylvania, 1883.

8Franklin Ellis and Samuel Evans, History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia:

Everts and Peck, 1883), pp. 1032-35.

9See, e.g., Frances Broomell, Memory Book including notes from Annie E. Hanway and Emma

Hanway written at Christiana Institute, 1864, in Levi Pownall Papers, MG 187, Lancaster County

Historical Society, Lancaster, PA.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 8 There are no known photographs or detailed descriptions of the interior spaces of the subject property.

S6. Describe current educational programs, tours, markers, signs, or plaques at the site. Include text and photographs of markers.

The Site now includes the 1911 marker – an obelisk – commemorating the 60th anniversary of what was then called the Christiana Riot, September 11, 1851. The marker text notes the death of Maryland farmer and slave-owner Edward Gorsuch, and lists the names of the 38 defendants in the treason trial. The marker was moved to this site from its original location directly across (due west) Green Street as part of the 150th Anniversary commemoration, September, 2001.

Marker text is as follows:

South face:

In Commemoration of the “Christiana Riot” September 11, 1851 and the Treason Trials September 23 – December 17, 1851.

East face:

Indicted for treason U.S. Circuit Court E.D. PA. Aug.T., 1851.

Castner Hanway George Reed Elijah Clark Ezekiel Collister Wilson Lewis Gates William Berry Thompson - Joseph Scarlet Benjamin Johnson John Holliday William Thomas John Jackson Peter Woods Samuel Williams Thomas Butler - Elijah Lewis Daniel Caulsberry William Williams Nelson Ford William Brown Lewis Clarkson Josh Hammond James Jackson Alson Pernsley Benjamin Isaiah Clarkson Nelson Carter Pindergast nd George Williams William Brown 2 Henry Curtis Henry Simms William Parker John Morgan - Jacob Moore Henry Green Washington Charles Hunter John Berry Williams

North face:

Killed: Edward Gorsuch He Died For Law Wounded Dickinson Gorsuch Father and Son Of Baltimore Co., MD Joshua Gorsuch

West Face:

Tried: Nov. 24. – Dec. 11, 1851 Castner Hanway. Not Guilty He Suffered for

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 9 Freedom

S7. Identify historical sources of information. Include a bibliography.

The Atlantic Monthly, The Freedman’s Story. 1866

Bacon, Margaret Hope. Rebellion at Christiana (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1975)

Bridgen, H.F. Atlas of Lancaster County Penna., From Actual Surveys by H.F. Bridgen and Assistant (Philadelphia: HJ.F. Bridgen, 1864).

Broomell, Frances. Memory Book including notes from Annie E. Hanway and Emma Hanway written at Christiana Institute, 1864, in Levi Pownall Papers, MG 187, Lancaster County Historical Society, Lancaster, PA.

Christiana Machine Company Records, 1877-1929 and Trade Catalogues, 1879-1949, MG 2135, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE.

Ellis, Franklin and Evans, Samuel. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts and Peck, 1883).

Forbes, Ella. But We Have No Country ( New Jersey: Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers, 1998)

Katz, Jonathan. Resistance at Christiana: The Fugitive Slave Rebellion, Christiana, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1851 (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1974). http://muweb.millersville.edu/~ugrr/christiana/introduction.html

Siebert, Wilbur H. The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. (New York: Russell & Russell, 1898).

Smedley, R. C. History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania. Lancaster, Pa.: Printed at the Office of the journal, 1883.

Spiese, Monica. Christiana Machine Company – Draft of a Historic Significance section of a nomination to the National Register of Historic Places (Lancaster, PA: Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County, 2001).

Still, William. The Underground Rail Road. 1872. (Chicago: Johnson Pub. Co.) 1970.

Personal Interviews:

Bond, Louis J. Interviewed by Randolph J. Harris. Mount Joy, PA, July 2003. For information on company history. Notes at residence of interviewer: 233 North Barbara Street, Mount, Joy, Pennsylvania 17552.

Rettew, LaVerne “Bud” - Interviewed by Randolph J. Harris. Mount Joy, PA, July 2003. For information on company history, physical evolution of the building and its multiple owners. Notes at residence of interviewer: 233 North Barbara Street, Mount, Joy, Pennsylvania 17552.

OMB Control No.1024-0232 Expires 11/30/2003 Zercher’s Hotel - A.K.A. Noble-Denny House, A.K.A. Christiana Machine Co., Christiana, Lancaster County, PA July 14, 2003 10 S8. Describe any other local, state, or federal historic designations, records, signage, or plaques the site has.

N/A

S9. Is the site open to the public, and under what conditions?

The site is open to the public only during special community events and upon special request to the owners who are very supportive of historical research into the site working historians and others with similar goals and interests. The site is not handicap accessible.

S10. Describe the nature and objectives of any partnerships that have contributed to the documentation, preservation, commemoration, or interpretation of the site.

In addition to the partnership and collaborative effort described above, the site owners have permitted the property to be open for tours, most recently during the 150th anniversary of the Christiana Resistance and in 1998 for an architectural history tour sponsored by the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County.

In addition, the owners, Christiana Machine Co. (DBA: Bond Caster and Wheel, Inc.) have contracted with the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County to have the site listed in the National Register of Historic Places. That nomination is pending, following the determination of eligibility of July 2000.

S11. Additional data or comments.

The documentation in this application will be provided the Lancaster-York Heritage Region, a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania supported, public/private initiative to preserve and protect the historic, cultural and natural resources in a region of South Central Pennsylvania made up of Lancaster and York Counties. This is one of 10 such multi-county areas in Pennsylvania known as Heritage Regions.

The submitters believe that this Map and Guide serves the intent of the NPS Network program to allow the public to gain a better understanding the Underground RR through readily available display and interpretive material, both on-site and available throughout the larger community. The administrators of the LYHR have also encouraged the submitters of this site to allow the research and documentation to be use in other Heritage Region initiatives that might include future on-site recognition through signage, roadside markets, website inclusion, etc.