Enslavementto
freedom
People involved with the story of Pennsylvania's Underground Railroad network, including activists, freedom seekers, station masters, conductors, financiers, lawyers, slave hunters, abolitionists, anti-slavery and pro-slavery adherents, politicians, heroes, villains, and more.
Study Areas
Who's Who in Pennsylvania's Underground Railroad
S Surnames
- Fitch, John W.
- Location: Harrisburg, Dauphin County ; Role: Aided Slave-catchers
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)
- Finnegan, Thomas
- Location: Adams County (area of operation) ; Role: professional slave
catcher; kidnapper of Kitty Paine and family, 1845
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.
- Fitzhugh, Claggett
- Location: Quincy, Franklin County ; Role: helped capture John Edwin Cook
Documentation: G. Craig Caba, Episodes of Gettysburg and the Underground Railroad, 1998, p. 58-59, 82.
- Fogle, Christopher
Fogle, Jane - Location: Brookville, Jefferson County ; Role: UGRR stationmaster
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.
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).
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.
- Fulton, James, Jr. 1813 - 1850
- Location: Ercildoun, Chester County ; Role: UGRR stationmaster
Documentation: R. C. Smedley, History of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the Neighboring Counties of Pennsylvania, 1883, reprinted 2005, pp 134-137.
- Fulton, James
Fulton, James Jackson - Location: Toby Township, Clarion County ; Role: UGRR conductor
Documentation: A. J. Davis, History of Clarion County, Pennsylvania, 1887, p. 122.
- Fussell, Bartholomew
Lydia (Morris) Fussell. - Location: Kennett Square, Chester County ; Also (after 1841) York County; Role: Abolitionist, UGRR stationmaster
Documentation: John Gibson, History of York County, 1886.
The families of James Fulton and Gideon Pierce operated UGRR stations in close proximity and with careful coordination of activities. Smedley notes that the two stations operated as one. Fugitives to Ercildoun often came by way of Jeremiah Moore's farm in Christiana. Some fugitives were sent to Ercildoun by Lindley Coates. From Ercildoun, fugitives were forwarded by wagon to Nathan Evans in Willistown, Chester County. Evans would, in turn, take fugitives to Philadelphia. (Smedley, p. 346)
Rev. John McAuley, a Seceder Presbyterian minister in Rimersburg, brought fugitives to the home of James Fulton, a trusted member of his congregation, who lived just north of town. Fulton had been born in County Derry, Ireland, and lived on a farm next to his son, Robert Fulton, a Pennsylvania-born shoemaker. James Fulton fed, sheltered and cared for the runaway slaves until an opportunity to transport them by wagon to the home of Benjamin Gardner, Sr., of Licking Township. James Fulton's role was documented by his son, Jackson, who helped him, and who spoke with many of the runaways. Jackson Fulton said his father aided fugitives from 1847 to 1855.
A Quaker physician, born in Chester County, Fussell received much of his education in Maryland. While studying at the Medical College of Baltimore, Fussell began a Sunday School in Bush River Neck, Maryland, where he taught enslaved African Americans to read the Bible. He began speaking out against slavery and soon after completing his education, returned to Chester County, Pennsylvania. He married Lydia Morris in 1826 and their Kennett Square home, "The Pines," began sheltering and aiding freedom seekers. In addition to food, shelter and guidance, the Fussells provided much needed medical care for the freedom seekers they aided. Lydia died in 1840, and in 1841 Bartholomew remarried to Rebecca Churchman and relocated to York County.
Gibson's History of York County cites "a man named Fissel, near town," as one along with William Goodridge, who aided freedom seekers in York Borough. Fussell operated a school in York, and after some years returned to Chester County. In 1851 he sheltered and guided William Parker, who had fled Christiana, and two other participants to safety.