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Kidnappers and the Reverse Underground Railroad
Documents: Obituary of Rachel Parker Wesley, February 1918
The following death notice for Rachel Parker Wesley appeared in the Oxford Press, Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Text: Mrs. Rachel Wesley.
Rachel Parker Wesley, widow of George Wesley, aged 83 years, died at her home on New Street, Oxford, on February 18, of infirmities of age. She was a daughter of Edward and Rebecca Parker. The funeral takes place on Thursday, 21st. Service in Allen's Church at 2 o'clock. Interment at Calvary. Mrs. Wesley is survived by two daughters and a son, Lucy Jones, Elizabeth White and Joseph Wesley. (The Oxford Press, 21 February 1918.)
In the same issue and on a separate page from the death notice, The Oxford Press printed a summary of the kidnapping, imprisonment in Baltimore, and trial in the Maryland courts of Rachel Parker. The events in this news article are told in greater detail in the accompanying page "Kidnapping and Murder," linked below under "Further Reading."
Rachel Parker Wesley is buried in Mount Calvary African Methodist Episcopal Cemetery in Upper Oxford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. She lived in this neighborhood her entire life after being freed in Baltimore and returning to Pennsylvania. There is a Find-A-Grave page for her but no picture of a tombstone, at the link below under "Further Reading and Research."
Further Reading and Research
Find-A-Grave for Rachel Parker Wesley, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/273193615/rachel-wesley
The Attempted Capture of McCreary, 1853. Research by David G. Smith.
Thomas McCreary Letter to Afrolumens Project from Milt Diggins
Who's Who in Pennsylvania UGRR
Covering the history of African Americans in central Pennsylvania from the colonial era through the Civil War.
Support the Afrolumens Project. Buy the books:
The Year of Jubilee, Volume One: Men of God
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