Click Here to Return To Milestones Vol 12 No 3
Although we normally associate slavery with the Southern States, some of Beaver County's early settlers listed slaves as their possessions. Slavery was never an important part of the economic picture in the County and it wasn't long before residents divested themselves of an unwanted blemish.
The laws and attitudes of the residents of our Commonwealth had long before determined the eventual fate of the institution of slavery. In 1780, the Pennsylvania legislature passed laws providing for its slow eradication. A child born of slave parents could not remain a slave after 21 years of age. Therefore we can assume that by 1801, no slaves existed at ages 21 or below, and also that by 1820, all slaves in Pennsylvania must be 40 years or older. County records support this trend. The 1876 Bicentennial Directory of Beaver County indicated the trend of slave ownership here in 1803. Then there were four slaves listed in the county. By 1818 the total had risen to eight and then dropped to five in 1820. But by 1830, there were no slaves in Beaver County.
Actually the very first settler in Beaver County, Levi Dungan of Frankfort Springs, owned two slaves whose names were Fortune and Lunn. One story has it that Lunn had a favorite apple tree on the property of Dungan and requested he be buried under it when he died. When his wish was granted, the tree, for years after became known as "Lunn's Tree".
The James Nicholson family prior to 1820 held slaves in Big Beaver Township on land that now makes up New Galilee. They had three slaves named Pompey Frazer, Tamar Frazer, and Betty Mathers. According to the office of records and deeds in the courthouse the three Negroes and their offspring were to share in the inheritance of the estate. It is apparent the Nicholson's thought highly enough of their slaves in that they were buried nearby the family in Mount Pleasant Cemetery with this inscription: "Pray. Let our bones together lie Until the resurrection day."
Three other slaves were known to be held in the county in the early 1800's. One was Isaac Hall, owned by a Captain John Ossman, and the other two, Henry and Henley Webster, were owned by John Roberts near Hookstown.
There are also records in Bausman of a contract of indentureship between one Mathias Hook and a Negro boy simply known as "Evans" in the year 1797. This contract was for only one year where Evans agreed to work for room and board in order to repay Hook's expenses in carrying Evans from slavery.
As a general rule, with few exceptions, the people and churches here were sharply against the institution of slavery. This was particularly true in certain areas like Hookstown, New Brighton, and Darlington and with religious groups particularly the Reformed Presbyterians and the Quakers.
Beaver Countians were outspoken as abolitionists. It was common to hear anti-slavery tirades in various locations. Perhaps this was the legacy of John Brown, purported to have attended Greersburg Academy in Darlington. Famous anti-slavery proponents such as William Lloyd Garrison, Stephen Foster, Frederick Douglas, and Abby Kelly lectured at Schuster's or Abolitionist Hall in New Brighton. Darlington organized a petition, sponosred by William and Dr. George Scott, to ban slavery. In January 1836, an anti-slavery society was organized at Greersburg Academy. In November of 1837, Rev. A.B. Quay of the Beaver Presbyterian Church set up the Beaver County Colonization Society (They purchased slaves from bondage and shipped them back to their homelands). There was an abolitionist society formed in Chippewa that met at the Red Brick Schoolhouse. The Honorable John Reddick of Hanover Township, an ardent disciple of Benjamin Lundy, a Philadelphia Quaker and originator of the "Humane Society", was so outspoken against the slave trade in nearby Wheeling, a band of "White Caps" was created to "put a stop to this meddler once and for all." But apparently sentiment was strong enough in his favor that no known threat was ever carried out. Of course, the most renowned abolitionist around was A.B. Bradford of Darlington. More will be mentioned on Bradford with the fugitive slaves.
As far as organizations were concerned, three churches were prominent in the anti-slave movement. First was the Reformed Presbyterians (Covenanters) who were probably the initial abolitionst group in the County. Then came the Quakers who had always been outspoken in the area of human rights. The Quakers were strong in the New Brighton area. The third group was the United Presbyterians and its "splinter group", the Free Presbyterians. Some of the more active moralists from these religious groups were: James Haggerty and Rev. William McElwie of Hanover and Frankfort Springs; Rev. Marcus Ormond of Tomlinson's Run near Hookstown; Rev. William Taggart McAdam of Beaver; and of course Arthur B. Bradford of Darlington and Rev. George Gorman of Frankfort who founded the Free Presbyterian Church locally. These individuals and organizations were often secretly or overtly involved in assisting runaway slaves.
When the Fugitive Slave Laws were instituted, many Countians became active "lawbreakers". These laws mandated the return of runaway slaves to their owners under severe penalty of federal law. Those found assisting runaways could end up losing their personal property. But this did not deter people from what they felt was a righteous cause.
Geographically, Beaver County was natural as an important link in the plans for helping slaves get to Canada. The southward flow of the Ohio River into the heart of the South led runaway slaves north to the point where the river's bend turned sharply south again. And there the Beaver River pointed northward to freedom. Likewise, the Negro coming north along the Monongahela or Youghigheny Valley soon came to the same point. Slaves taking the overland route using only the North Star as their guide, also might easily end up here. It was at this point where the abolitionist was able to assist fugitives more readily. Near the juncture of the rivers, two definite routes emanated. One went north following the Beaver Valley and its tributaries, eventually to the Great Lakes, Niagara Falls, and Canada. The other route went northwest to Darlington, through Columbiana County via Salem, and then to Cleveland and then to Canada by boat.
As mentioned before, the Quakers and particularly the Townsends in New Brighton, were leading "conductors" in the Underground Railroad. Evan Townsend is remembered for his ingenious trapdoor into his cellar that secluded runaways; Benjamin Townsend hid his travelers in a cave near the junction of Penn Avenue and Allegheny Road; and David Townsend used an island in the Beaver River to hide slaves.
Also previously mentioned was Arthur Bradford who was unquestionably the most active individual abolitionist and "conductor" in the area. Bradford's crusade against slavery began when he witnessed a woman slave being auctioned off in Washington, D.C. and then separated from he rfamily. After that Bradford became almost solely responsible for the formation of the Free Presbyterian Church in Darlington. But perhaps just as importantly, his home, "Buttonwood" harbored unnumbered fugitive slaves in their journey from slavery to the Promised Land. This was such a dangerous proposition that Rev. Bradford had his property placed in the name of friends so he would not lose it if caught. One cannot minimize the importance of Arthur B. Bradford to the Anti-slave movement in Beaver County.
It is difficult in most cases to identify all the conductors" due to the clandestine nature of the business. Some recorded workers were: Samuel C. Claw, supervisor of New Sewickley Academy; Thomas Silliman of New Galilee; and Thomas Nicholson, Andrew Miller, and James Nelson who used their homes and resources to assist runaways.
The Underground Railroad did not run without mechanical difficulties". After all there had to be some pro-slave people in the County, and there were tempting rewards offered by some "slave-catchers". Beaver, for example, was very conservative in its interpretation of the fugitive slave laws. And individuals, such as Billy Braden of Chippewa Township, often attended abolitionist meetings to "discuss" the issue. Once confronted with the question as to whether he had ever read anything by Garrison (a noted abolitionist writer), he said, "I read the Star (a pro-slavery newspaper) and the Bible and that is enough for any man."
For several years, Richard Gardner, a Negro, whose real name turned out to be Richard Woodson, lived in Beaver, earning a living washing, starching, and pressing linens. He also served as a Methodist preacher. Many of his neighbors were shocked to see Gardne rarrested by one Benjamin Rust, a slave agent, and taken by steamboat back into slavery. Eventually $600 was raised for his release, and he was able to return to his family.
In other incidents, a slave attempting to cross the icy Ohio River was drowned. In Cannelton, near Darlington, three fugitive slaves hiding out in the coal mine of William Welsh, refused to surrender to slave catchers, and as a result, brush was pushed into the mine entrance and set ablaze. All three men perished.
So even with basically pro-slavery sympathizers, it wasn't an easy road for abolitionists in the County. Yet, when the Civil War began, there were no further records of anti-slave feelings here. The Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 and the Thirteenth Amendment officially ended those disagreements on the topic of slavery even though it never really had a serious foothold in Beaver County.
Bausman, Rev. Joseph H., History of Beaver County Pennsylvania.Rev. Paul Weyand, "The Anti-Slave Movement in Beaver County," 1904, pp. 1141-1154.
Caldwell, J.A. 1876 Bicentennial Atlas of Beaver County, 1876.
Dunaway, Wayland F, A History of Pennsylvania, 1948, pp. 185-6.
Mansfield, Ira F., Historical Collections: Little Beaver River Valleys, 1911, p. 140.
Weyand and Reed, Beaver County's Centennial Directory, 1876, pp. 47-8.
"Free at Last" Western Advertiser, July 11-17, 1974.
McClure, Marie, "Slavery in this County Was Abolished by 1830", Central News, Sept. 30, 1876.
Withrow, Laura, "Ashes Strewn to the Wind," Pittsburgh Dispatch, February 5, 1899.
McLaughlin, Vivian, "Buttonwood and a Great Abolitionist" (talk presented to meeting of the DAR, November, 1980).
Ross, Margaret, "Slavery in Beaver
County" (News item to Valley Tribune, January 29, 1981.