—Thomas Garrett, as quoted in A Key to Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
A Network of Safe Houses and Secret Routes
Members of the Society of Friends, persecuted in Britain since their founding in the early 1650s, settled in Pennsylvania starting in 1681, when William Penn was granted the charter for the colony. Moving beyond their religious beliefs that taught equality and nonviolence, they became publicly vocal against the institution of slavery and the first to protest against it in Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1688. Even though it took another hundred years to establish the Chester County Abolition Society in 1789, they had already begun developing a network of safe houses and secret routes to aid freedom seekers on what would become the Underground Railroad.
Not limited to these activities, Quakers organized anti-slavery meetings, published pamphlets, and participated in state and national abolitionist organizations working tirelessly to shift public opinion against slavery and advocate for legislative change. They also provided legal assistance and established schools for African Americans as part of promoting education and equality for all races and genders; actions that were pivotal in empowering former enslaved individuals and their descendants to better lives when abolition did occur.
While numerous Quakers and other abolitionists participated in the cause in Chester County, several families left an indelible mark.
The Coxes
Starting with John and Hannah Cox, the Cox family was deeply intertwined with the Underground Railroad in Chester County. Their Longwood Farm, now part of Longwood Gardens, was more than a prosperous agricultural estate. It was one of the first safe havens that freedom seekers could reach when they crossed the line into Pennsylvania. The Coxes sheltered, fed, and clothed them before guiding them to the next safe station.
In 1853, the Coxes and other Quakers committed to abolition, two African Americans and several non-Quakers, established the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends after splitting from the at Old Kennett Meeting. The Coxes sold a part of Longwood Farm in 1854 to provide land to construct the Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting House, which by May 1855, had become a hub of abolition activity. John and Hannah Cox also extended their involvement in social movements to regional and national organizations to advocate more widely for abolition, women’s rights and temperance.
The Mendenhalls
In addition to their outward activities, the Mendenhall home, located very close to the Pennsylvania line, was a sanctuary for freedom seekers where women and children were hidden in a room in the springhouse and men were hidden in the barn. A special compartment constructed in the house shielded freedom seekers completely from discovery.
The Barnards
One of ten children born to Quakers Richard and Sarah (neé Chambers) Barnard in Marlborough village, Eusebius Barnard attended the Friends School at Westtown where he was recognized for his strong character and intellect.
The Barnards were deeply involved in the abolitionist movement throughout their lives, sheltering, feeding, clothing, and offering respite to freedom seekers before orchestrating their movement to the next safe house under the cover of darkness. Several of their five children who survived to adulthood also played a significant role in the family’s abolitionist efforts, including their youngest son Enos, who was just old enough to ride a horse when he led a group of 17 men to safety.
Eusebius was a founding member of the Longwood Progressive Meeting, and his brother William met with President Lincoln, urging him to end slavery. Eusebius Barnard’s contributions to the abolitionist movement were officially recognized in 2011 with a Pennsylvania Historical Marker placed at his Pocopson Farm, known as “Barnard Station.”
The Fussells
Born into a Quaker family in Chester County in 1794, Bartholomew Fussell was shaped his father and sister who supported his education, a journey that took him to Maryland. He taught school during the day and studied medicine at night, eventually graduating from the Medical College of Baltimore. While there, opened a Sunday school for African Americans and taught them to read the Bible.
Fussell’s most significant contribution to the abolitionist movement was his participation in the Underground Railroad in Kennett Square, at The Pines, his home that was equipped with a root cellar where he hid freedom seekers. He also provided medical services as needed. Fussell was a signatory to the Declaration of Sentiments, which articulated the anti-slavery principles of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833. After, he moved to West Vincent, Pennsylvania, working together with his sister, who had married into the Lewis family. He moved to York in 1841, leaving his home in West Vincent to his brother and nephew to continue the Underground Railroad operations. There, in 1851, Fussell aided the escape of three participants in the Christiana Riot and remained a steadfast member of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society until the end of the Civil War.
The Pennocks
Born in 1816 into a notable Quaker family, Samuel Pennock was instilled with the values of the Quakers at a young age. He moved to Kennett Square Village in 1844 and, in 1853, married Deborah A. Yerkes, who shared his passion for social justice. He was instrumental in incorporating Kennett Square as a borough in 1855, where he and his brother built houses surrounding their foundry business for their employees.
Samuel and Deborah’s home became a gathering place for like-minded reformers because she was a friend of the renowned suffragist Susan B. Anthony. They hosted her both at their home and in meetings at the Longwood Progressive Meeting House focused on abolition and women’s rights, recognizing that these struggles for justice were interconnected.
The Merediths
Isaac and Thamazine Pennock Meredith were ardent abolitionists who provided a safe haven for freedom seekers from Delaware, Maryland and the South on their secluded farm in Newlin Township, Chester County.
They too, sheltered, fed, and clothed them before assisting them to move to the next station in Philadelphia or Central Pennsylvania. These anti-slavery activities led them to be disowned from the Kennett Meeting.
The Taylors
Born into Kennett Square’s wealthy Taylor family, Bayard Taylor was a renowned author, poet, artist, world traveler, and diplomat who ardently supported Abraham Lincoln and the Union cause. He served as a correspondent for The Tribune in Washington, D.C., during the war and one of his lectures on Russian history attended by President Lincoln in December 1863. In 1869, he composed “Ballad of Abraham Lincoln,” one of the earliest compositions in verse about Lincoln, crafted explicitly for children.
Bayard’s youngest brother, Colonel Charles Frederick Taylor organized the 1st Pennsylvania “Bucktail” Rifle Regiment during the Civil War, losing his life on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg at age 23. Their mother, Rebecca Way Taylor was instrumental in raising funds to erect a monument to the veterans and casualties of the Civil War in honor of her son. The Taylor family’s involvement in the Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting included Bayard’s lectures in 1855 to raise funds for construction.
The Pennypackers
Before Elijah Pennypacker was involved in the Underground Railroad in Chester County, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a member of the Pennsylvania Canal Corporation. He became friends with Thaddeus Stevens while in the Pennsylvania House and, in 1840, became active in the Underground Railroad. In 1841, he joined the Society of Friends.
His home, White Horse Farm, served as a safe house for freedom seekers moving north from the Chesapeake Bay, crossing the Susquehanna River at Harve de Grace, Maryland, and on to his home in Phoenixville. From there, Pennypacker sent the enslaved on to Norristown, Quakertown, Reading, or Philadelphia, where he worked with William Still. When Dr. Benjamin Fussell moved to northern Chester County, they worked together to coordinate the movements of freedom seekers out of their area and further on to freedom. Pennypacker also served as president of the Chester County Anti-Society and the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society.
The Vickers
Thomas Vickers and his son John, who opened a pottery near Downingtown in the 1790s, were well known members of the Uwchlan Anti-Slavery Society. Thomas was also one of the original founders of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society and the entire family was active members of the Uwchlan Friends Meeting. In 1821, Vickers bought five acres in Lionville, which became a heavily used Underground Railroad station, where freedom seekers were hidden in the kiln and in the piles of wood used to fire it.
At times, he sent the freedom seekers to the home of an African American couple who rented a home in the woods from him before they could be hidden in the wagons used to prevent breakage of pottery as they were being driven to other locations north and west. Most often, the freedom seekers were accompanied by a letter of introduction signed “thy friend pot.” The Vickers’ home at the pottery is still equipped with a door leading to a crawl space where other freedom seekers were hidden.