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Harrisburg on the eve
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Year of Jubilee (1863)

20th Century

Frederick Kelker and William W. Rutherford

Site of Homes, Front Street, Harrisburg, PA

Dauphin County's modern courthouse building, built in 1943, stands on the site of the old 9 and 11 South Front Street lots. These lots were the locations of the homes of Dr. William Wilson Rutherford and Frederick Kelker. Both families were involved in local anti-slavery and abolition causes. William W. Rutherford hid fugitive slaves on the grounds of his Front Street home, and it is believed that his next-door neighbor, Frederick Kelker, did the same.

Rutherford placed fugitives in the hands of local African American activists, who guided the freedom seekers to the Rutherford family farms in the Paxtang Valley. Kelker is believed to have entrusted fugitives to Dr. William "Father" Jones, who lived on the corner of Barbara Street and River Alley.

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All photographs and text on this page copyright © 2010 George F. Nagle and Afrolumens Project.

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