Who's Who in Pennsylvania's Underground Railroad

Documentation: George Prowell, History of York County, Pennsylvania, p. 596.

Apple farmer Jonathan Jessop offered fugitive slaves work on his farm, located on the Baltimore Pike south of York.  When danger threatened he hid them in his barn. When they were ready to move on, he forwarded fugitive slaves along the pike to Amos Griest.

Documentation: Herbert C. Bell, History of Northumberland County, PA, 1891.

Educator, Quaker, community leader.  An old county history notes: "About 1840 he commenced taking an active part in the anti-slavery movement, and speakers who advocated those doctrines and were mobbed for so doing were protected by him. On several occasions his home furnished refuge for escaped slaves, and his house was recognized as a station on the Underground railroad."

Documentation: "High Lodge Officer Is Visiting Old Home Here," The Telegraph (Harrisburg, PA), 04 September 1919, page 20; 1860 Census of the United States, 09 June 1860, Harrisburg, 4th Ward, page 52.

Married name: Catherine M. Robinson-Manley. Also known as Kathryn Robinson-Manley and C.M. Robinson-Manly.

Born circa 1840 in Pennsylvania and moved to Harrisburg at a young age. Married David Moore Robinson c1855. David and Catherine Robinson and two children are found in the 1860 census of Harrisburg in the 4th Ward. Catherine became highly active in the Harrisburg African American community and nearly all later biographical articles include references to her involvement in Underground Railroad activites as a young woman in Harrisburg.

Documentation: The National Era, 26 July, 2 August, 11, 18 October 1855; Frederick Douglass Paper, 27 July, 3, 10 August, 28 September, 12, 19 October, 16 November 1855; Provincial Freeman, 22 August 1855.

In July 1855, Jane Johnson and her two young sons were being brought through Philadelphia by the U.S. Minister to Nicaragua on their way with him to his post in that country.  In a dramatic confrontation, officers of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, led by Passmore Williamson, secured her escape and hid her until she could be safely taken to New York.  Williamson was imprisoned for three months for refusing to cooperate with judge John K. Kane, who was widely reviled by the abolitionist press for giving in to pro-slavery interests.  After settling in Boston, Johnson is said to have sheltered fugitive slaves.

Documentation: "Run (Away) to Johnson House," Historical Society of Pennsylvania, https://hsp.org/blogs/archival-adventures-in-small-repositories/run-away-to-johnson-house, accessed 27 June 2024.

Quakers Samuel and Jennett Johnson began sheltering and aiding freedom seekers in their Germantown home about 1805. Abolitionist William Still made trips to the house to interview escapees for his records and local lore says that Harriet Tubman stopped here at least once. The Johnsons were associated with most of the leading abolitionists. Sons Rowland and Israel worked directly with William Still.

Documentation: S.S. Rutherford, "The Underground Railroad," in Publications of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, 1928, p. 7.

The corner of River and Barberry (modern day Barbara) Streets was the location of a small African American neighborhood that included the home of William M. and Mary Jones, two active conductors on the URR. Rudolph F. Kelker sent fugitives to a barn and stables that he owned at that corner, to be taken charge of by the Jones family.  The 1850 census shows William. M. Jones living on South Street in the Tanner's Alley neighborhood, at the head of a large household of twelve persons. His occupation is listed as "doctor."

Historian Samuel S. Rutherford described William Jones as a "large, well built man, of pure African descent" possessed of "genius, with a large share of cunning." He wrote "For many years Mr. Jones was one of the most efficient men connected with the 'Underground Railroad' in this locality. He had acquired a thorough knowledge of the routes leading northward, and was always prepared to furnish competent guides. His large covered wagon, drawn by two horses and driven by himself in the capacity of rag merchant, was frequently to be met on the roads leading towards Wilkes-Barre or Pottsville."

Documentation: Earle Robert Forrest, History of Washington County, Pennsylvania, 1926, p. 426.

An African American hired hand or neighbor of Matthew McKeever who took the lead and hid a large party of fugitives in the McKeever sheep loft.  Jordan cared for the runaways for four weeks before they could be sent to the next station.