ABANDONED TRACKS
ABANDONED TRACKS
The Underground Railroad
in Washington County, Pennsylvania
W. THOMAS MAINWARING
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
Copyright 2018 by the University of Notre Dame
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Mainwaring, W. Thomas, 1952- author.
Title: Abandoned tracks : the Underground Railroad in Washington County, Pennsylvania / W. Thomas Mainwaring.
Description: Notre Dame, Indiana : University of Notre Dame Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018011944 (print) | LCCN 2018012417 (ebook) | ISBN 9780268103590 (pdf) | ISBN 9780268103606 (epub) | ISBN 9780268103576 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 0268103577 (hardcover : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Underground railroadPennsylvaniaWashington County. | Antislavery movementsPennsylvaniaWashington CountyHistory. | Fugitive slavesPennsylvaniaWashington CountyHistory. | AbolitionistsPennsylvaniaWashington CountyBiography. | Washington County (Pa.)History19th century.
Classification: LCC E450 (ebook) | LCC E450 .M25 2018 (print) | DDC 326/.80974882dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018011944
This paper meets the requirements of
ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people have provided advice, assistance, and encouragement during the long time that it has taken to write this book. Thanks first of all to Joan Ruzika, who believed in this project when it was just a germ of an idea when we were board members at the Washington County Historical Society. Her support has been crucial during the fruition of the book.
I owe a huge debt to Mark Swift, a colleague in the Department of Music at Washington & Jefferson College, who volunteered to produce the maps for Abandoned Tracks. Mark spent countless hours discussing the concepts for maps, producing sample copies, and then going through numerous iterations to achieve high-quality maps. Marks expertise in geographical information systems has been invaluable, and his patience has been extraordinary. I cant thank him enough.
Several other colleagues at Washington & Jefferson College played crucial roles in seeing this book through to publication. Robert Dodge, emeritus professor of history, offered encouraging words of advice from the inception of this project. He read numerous drafts of Abandoned Tracks and greatly improved its readability. Jennifer Harding in the Department of English also read the manuscript and raised penetrating questions. Her enthusiasm for the project was infectious and timely.
I owe a special thanks to Patrick Trimble, who spent many hours with me traipsing around the eastern part of the county in search of Underground Railroad sites. I knew I was in for an adventure any time he called or dropped by my office. His familiarity with the network of Underground Railroad agents in eastern Washington County saved me untold amounts of time. He also pointed me to a number of important documents in the Washington County Courthouse. Patricia Stavovy, who was then working in the Law Library at the courthouse, was unfailingly helpful in locating materials for me.
Jim Craig was an excellent companion in exploring Underground Railroad sites in the West Alexander area. He also alerted me to the existence of the Claysville Recorder, which offered valuable information about the Liberty Line that was otherwise unknown. He also helped me to nail down the locations of several people who had proven previously elusive.
The staff of the Washington County Historical Society was very helpful in locating materials and in assisting me in general. Thanks especially to Executive Director Clay Kilgore and Chuck Edgar, who were always willing to lend a hand. The Washington County Historical Society graciously allowed me to use the Doran Map of Washington Borough as it existed in 1855.
Anna Mae Moore did a splendid job of finding archival materials in the Washington & Jefferson library. I am happy to be able to tell her that this book will finally appear. Thanks also to Amy Welch for her assistance in locating and digitizing maps. Ronalee Ciocco, the colleges head librarian, helped track down some elusive references, and for that I am very thankful.
A number of former students also helped this project along. Natalie Rocchio at the Library of Congress spared me many trips to Washington, DC. Her willingness to track down and scan antislavery petitions from Washington County added substantially to my understanding of local abolitionism and opened avenues of understanding that I had not anticipated. Joe Smydo shared his work on the relationship between local colonizationists and abolitionists in several graduate seminar papers and in his excellent masters thesis. His perspective raised important questions and helped me think through this relationship. Jason Haley did some very good work on the involvement of Presbyterian churches in the Underground Railroad. His honors thesis, Washington County Presbyterians: Abolitionism in a Divided Denomination (2002), proved very helpful.
My students in the Underground Railroad course I taught during the January 2005 Intersession unearthed some valuable information about local sites. Thanks especially to Megan McGee and Michael Batalo.
Several of my friends provided very helpful advice and encouragement during the preparation of this book. John Mark Scott Jr., my longtime colleague at Washington & Jefferson, went on several expeditions to help find sites along the backcountry roads of the county. Tom Hatley provided perspective and cheer when we talked about this project. Tim Brown read several versions of this manuscript and provided levity when the occasion demanded. His skill with Photoshop is much in evidence here. My brother Scott Mainwaring was also unfailingly helpful and provided crucial support for this project.
Stephen Little and Eli Bortz at the University of Notre Dame Press did a great job of guiding Abandoned Tracks through to completion. Thanks especially to Eli, who picked up this project in midstream and ushered its way to publication. Matthew Dowd, managing editor of the press, skillfully guided the final steps of the process.
Washington & Jefferson College provided vital support in allowing me to spend several sabbaticals working on this project. I would like to thank the college for this time, which offered me the opportunity to research, reflect, and write. A Kenneth M. Mason, Sr., Summer Grant for Faculty Research from the college also allowed me to explore and document numerous sites throughout the county.
My final thanks go to my wife, Debbie, who has patiently endured my obsession with all manner of railroads for many years. For this and other reasons too numerous to mention, this book is dedicated to her.
