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Enslavement
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Year of Jubilee (1863) |
Thaddeus Stevens and the Underground Railroad
NPS Network to Freedom Nominations
Randolph
J. Harris, of Lancaster, has been doing yeoman's work in the field
of Underground Railroad research for quite some time. His efforts
have yielded valuable results in the discovery, recognition, and
ultimately the protection of several highly significant sites in
Lancaster County. Those sites include the cistern connected
with Thaddeus Stevens' property at 45-47 South Queen Street in Lancaster,
believed to have been used as an Underground Railroad refuge, recognition
of Zercher's Hotel as the only surviving
historical site associated with the Christiana Rebellion, and the
Concord-Shreiner Cemetery, final resting place of Thaddeus Stevens
(see the letter, below).
Mr.
Harris' letter detailing his work with the Concord-Shreiner Cemetery
is below. Although the cemetery
was already marked with a state roadside marker, Harris has been
successful in having the site recognized and included in the National
Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, the
only nationwide registry and network of sites, programs and research
centers about the Underground Railroad. Inclusion in this program
provides significant weight to research linking Stevens with the
Underground Railroad. |
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Greetings, George:
For your info, I have attached PDFs that make up the submission I made to the
National Park Service's Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program for Thaddeus
Stevens' grave and memorial in Lancaster. I completed this package for Concord-Shreiner
Cemetery Foundation in January 2006.
This may be the first time that the known information linking Stevens to Underground
RR activity has been compiled, published and submitted to an official body for
peer review and possible sanction. The NPS staff review and decision will be
made in April 2006.
My narrative includes three elements in support of Stevens' UGRR activism:
1) the 1883 account published in R.C. Smedley's book, 'The Underground Railroad
in Chester and Neighboring Counties,' referencing the 1842 harboring incident
when 26 freedom seekers were given shelter at Stevens' home/office in Lancaster
(note that the site in the Smedley account apparently is not the property now
proposed as an interpretive center/educational facility as part of the Downtown
Convention Center; research indicates Thaddeus Stevens set up his home and office
in 1856 at the properties at 45-47 S. Queen Street.)
2) The January 1847 letter from Stevens to Judge Jeremiah Brown, first published
in October, 1883 in the Lancaster Inquirer, then a few days later in the Lancaster
Herald & Examiner, and finally in The New York Times, November
3, 1883, acknowledging Stevens' support for the infiltration of a spy into the
ranks of slave catchers operating in Lancaster County.
3) The recent archeological dig at the rear of 45-47 South Queen Street, initiated
by Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County and conducted by Profs. James
Delle and Mary Ann Levine, which indicates that a cistern was used to harbor
freedom seekers and which was highlighted in Smithsonian Magazine (Feb.
2004). This site is expected to be preserved by Historic Preservation Trust whether
or not the proposed Convention Center is approved and built.
Randolph J. Harris
Neighborhood Preservation/
Community Development
233 North Barbara Street
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania 17552
Right:
An early advertisement for the law partnership of Stevens and Smyser,
in Gettysburg. Source is the Anti-Masonic Star and Republican Banner (Gettysburg), 27 September 1831.
April 2006
Dear Friends:
Good news. The National Park Service has accepted the Thaddeus Stevens grave/memorial
into the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program.
Hinted at for years, the direct role of Stevens as an Underground Railroad
operative now has been officially affirmed. The application/nomination compiles
the three known elements of his UGRR involvement and a national panel of NPS
staff has reviewed and accepted the evidence. Please see the attached application
for details on this.
The grave/cemetery will now be featured on the National Park Service UGRR Network
website and is now eligible for matching grants up to $25,000.
Please call or write if you have questions.
Take care,
Randolph J. Harris
Neighborhood Preservation/
Community Development
233 North Barbara Street
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania 17552
April 2011
Thaddeus Stevens Home and Office, Lancaster, PA designated authentic site by
National Park Service s Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Complete details and press release here
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