Documentation: S.S. Rutherford, "The Underground Railroad," in Publications of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, 1928, p. 5.; State Capitol Gazette (Harrisburg, PA), 18 June 1840; Advertisement (right) from the State Capitol Gazette (Harrisburg, PA), 02 March 1842.
S. S. Rutherford recorded an incident from October 1845 in which Fitch led a party of eleven Maryland slaveholders from Harrisburg to the William Rutherford farm, where ten fugitive slaves had taken shelter in his barn. The Maryland slaveholders were identified as Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Potts. According to Rutherford, the slaveholders were tipped off to the location of the fugitives by "a mulatto named James Millwood, a waiter in Cloverly's Hotel, corner of Second Street and Market Square, where Messrs. Buchanan and Potts stopped when they came to Harrisburg."
John W. Fitch began his livery business in September 1839 on Third Street, two doors down from Chase's hotel. In September 1840 he moved it to a more visible location in Buehler's Hotel on Market Square, and substantially expanded his services and equipment. The 1850 census of Harrisburg shows John W. Fitch as aged 36, born in New York, employed as a livery helper. He lived with Sarah D. Fitch, age 34, and Rachael Thompson, a 35 year-old African American domestic servant. (1850 Census, Harrisburg West Ward, p. 31)
Documentation: Debra Sandoe McCauslin, Reconstructing the Past: Puzzle of a Lost Community, 2005, Gettysburg, PA, page 51-52. The National Era (Washington DC), 25 February 1847.
Thomas Finnegan, who had helped kidnap manumitted slave Kitty Paine and her children from Adams County in 1845, was captured in Gettysburg in 1846. He was tried for kidnapping and sentenced to five years in prison at hard labor. Previously, Finnegan had been involved in attempted kidnappings of free Blacks in Harrisburg (see Chronology, February 1845).
Documentation: G. Craig Caba, Episodes of Gettysburg and the Underground Railroad, 1998, p. 58-59, 82.
Maryland born ironworks manager who lived near Quincy. He gained fame from his capture of John Brown conspirator and raider John Edwin Cook in 1859. He may also have worked with Dan Logan of nearby Mt. Alto in catching slaves.
Fogle, Jane
Documentation: W. J. McKnight, MD, A Pioneer Outline History of Northwestern Pennsylvania, 1905.
German-born Christopher Fogle operated a tannery in Brookville, where he and his wife Jane sheltered fugitive slaves. Fugitives were received from various places, including Isaac P. Carmalt, near Punxutawney. In addition to the tannery, they also hid slaves in various houses around town, and in the woods when slave catchers were in Brookville. From Brookville, Fogle would forward slaves to William R. Coon in Clarington, Barnett Township.