History: Local: Chapters XVIII & XIX: Redemptioners - Slavery - The Underground Railroads & Military Academy Graduates: Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Susan Walters USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. บบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบ BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA บบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบบ 297 (cont.) CHAPTER XVIII REDEMPTIONERS - SLAVERY - THE UNDERGROUND RAILROADS. REDEMPTIONERS. [By Wm. J. Buck.] From the early settlement of Pennsylvania a considerable business was carried on, chiefly by ship-owners and captains of vessels importing from Europe persons who were desirous of immigrating to this country, and were too poor to pay for their passage or have a competency for an outfit in so long a journey. With this class, who generally came from England, Ireland and Germany, arrangements would be made, through agents, to contract and bring them over, furnish them with food during the voyage and perhaps some other necessaries, on condition that on their arrival in an American port they have the right to sell their time for a certain number of years, to repay the cost thus necessarily incurred, and be of some profit to those engaged in such ventures. With the growth and settlement of the country this business greatly increased, through the demand for laborers, and, perhaps, just before the Revolution attained its greatest height. However, on the return of peace it did not slacken much, even to the commencement of this century. Such a matter, of course, would also receive some attention from the government, and the special legislation thereon, upon which as yet but little has been written, will demand a brief consideration. In the Charter of Laws agreed upon in England, and confirmed the 25th of April, 1682, by Penn, we find this mention in the twenty-third article: "That there shall be a register for all servants, where their name, time, wages and days of payment shall be registered." In the laws prepared on the 5th of the following month the proprietary wisely remarks: "That all children within this Province of those of twelve years shall be taught some useful trade or skill, to the end that none may be idle, but the poor may work to live, and the rich, if they have become poor, may not want. That servants be not kept longer than their time, and such as are careful be both justly and kindly used in their service, and put in fitting equipage at the expiration thereof, according to custom." Penn, for the justice here displayed, certainly deserves credit. "The Great Law," passed at Chester, December 7th, contains this clause: "That no master or mistress or free man of this Province, or territories thereunto belonging, shall presume to sell or dispose of any servant or servants into any other province, that is or are bound to serve his or her time in the Province of Pennsylvania or territories thereof, under the penalty that every person so offending shall for every such servant so sold forfeit ten pounds, to be levied by way of distress and sale of their goods." Strange to say, the aforesaid excellent enactments, on William and Mary reaching the throne, were abrogated in 1693. In the beginning of 1683 "A bill to hinder the selling of servants into other Provinces, and to prevent runaways," was passed by the Council. On the 29th of August the Governor, William Penn, "put ye question whether a proclamation were not convenient to be put forth to impower Masters to chastise their servants, and to punish any that shall inveigle any servant to goe from his master. They unanimously agreed and ordered it accordingly." [Colonial Records, i. p. 79.] The Assembly passed an "Act for the better Regulation of Servants in this Province, and Territories" in 1700, which provided "That no servant shall be sold or disposed of to any person residing in 298 any other Province or Government, without the consent of the said Servant and two Justices of the Peace of the County wherein he lives or is sold, under the penalty of Ten Pounds, to be forfeited by the seller. That no Servant shall be assigned over to another person by any in this Province or Territories, but in the Presence of one Justice of the Peace of the county, under penalty of Ten Pounds And whoever shall apprehend or take up any runaway servant, and shall bring him or her to the Sheriff of the County, such person shall, for every such servant if taken up within ten miles of the Servant's abode, receive Ten Shillings, and if ten miles or upwards, Twenty Shillings reward of the said Sheriff, who is hereby required to pay the same, and forthwith to send notice to the Master or owner, of whom he shall receive Five Shillings, Prison fees, upon delivery of the said Servant, together with all disbursements and reasonable charges for and upon the same. Whosoever shall conceal any Servant of this Province or Territories, or entertain him or her twenty-four hours without his or her Master's or Owner's knowledge and consent, and shall not within the said time give an account to some Justice of the Peace of the County, every such person shall forfeit Twenty Shillings for every Day's concealment. That every Servant who shall faithfully serve four years or more shall, at the expiration of their servitude, have a discharge, and shall be duly clothed with two complete suits of apparel, whereof one shall be new, and shall also be furnished with one new axe, one grubbing-hoe and one weeding-hoe, at the charge of their Master or Mistress." This latter clause was abolished in 1771. The object of this undoubtedly was to encourage the removal of timber that the land might sooner come into cultivation. An act was passed May 10, 1729, "laying a duty on foreigners and Irish servants imported into this province." Masters of servants were regarded for the time being as holding property subject to, taxation. The rate in 1776 was fixed at one and a half pounds each which was increased in 1786 to ten pounds. The State passed an act March 12, 1778, making compensation to those masters whose servants or apprentices had enlisted in the army. Among those that were taxed in the county for holding servants in : 1776, we find the names John Bull, Esq., of Norriton, two servants; Robert Shannon, one; Henry Pawling, Jr., two; Jacob Miller, Cheltenham, three; Jacob Leach, two. In 1785 there were eighty servants taxed within the present limits of the county. The highest number was in Abington, 13 Providence, 10 Cheltenham, 7 Upper Merion, 7 Douglas, 5 Horsham, 5 Whitemarsh, 5 Moreland, 4 Montgomery, 4 Lower Merion, 3 None were returned as being in the remaining townships. That they were diminishing at this time, like Negro slaves, can be observed in comparing earlier lists. "The labor of the plantations," says the " Historical Review" (attributed to Franklin, 1759), "is performed chiefly by indented servants, brought from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany; because of the price it bears, call it be performed any other way. These servants are purchased of the captains who bring them; the purchaser, by a positive law, has a legal property in them, and, like other chattels, they are liable to be seized for debts." Servants from the Palatinate were disposed of in 1722 at ten pounds each for five years' servitude. Prior to 1727 most of the Germans who immigrated were persons of means. In the years 1728, 1729, 1737, 1741, 1750 and 1751 great numbers were brought hither. A shipper advertises in 1728, "Lately imported, and to be sold cheap, a parcel of likely men and women servants." On the other hand, it happened sometimes that those that had been well to do in the Fatherland, in their desire to immigrate, were taken advantage of in various ways by unprincipled men, their chests rifled or their property taken or put on board the wrong vessels, and in such cases, from their destitute condition on arriving in America, would be compelled to sell themselves as redemptioners to meet their expenses. It was also the practice for over half a century that those that had the means should be responsible, and pay the passage of their poorer companions, and thus reduce them to a common level of dependency or beggary. They brought but little property with them, says Dr. Rush, in his account of the "Manners of the German Inhabitants in Pennsylvania," written in 1789. A few pieces of silver coin, a chest with clothes, a Bible, a prayer or hymnbook, constituted the chief property of most of them. Many bound themselves, or one or more of their children, to masters after their arrival for four, five or seven years to pay for their passages across the ocean. The usual terms of sale depended somewhat on the age, strength, health and ability of the persons sold. Boys and girls had to serve from five to ten years, or until they attained the age of twenty-one. Many parents were necessitated, as they had been wont to do at home with their cattle, to sell their own children. To be released from the ship the children had in some cases to assume the passage-money with their parents, Children less than five years could not be sold. They were disposed of gratuitously to such persons as agreed to raise them, to be free on attaining the age or twenty-one. It was an humble position that redemptioners occupied. "Yet from this class," says Gordon, in his "History of Pennsylvania," "have sprung some of the most respectable and wealthy inhabitants of the State." Robert Sutcliff, an English Friend, in his "Travels in America," thus speaks of the redemptioners in the visit he paid, in the summer of 1804, to his relative, William Bakewell, who was at the time residing on a farm of three hundred acres in Lower Providence township, opposite Valley Forge,-- "I noticed that the two female servants employed in the family had, both of them, been lately hired from on board a vessel lying in the Delaware, and which had recently arrived from Amsterdam with several hundred Germans, men, women and children, of that description of people called in America redemptioners. They are the people in low circumstances, who, being desirous of settling in America, and not having money to pay their passage, agree with the American captains of the vessels to be taken on condition of hiring for the term of a year on their arrival in America, to masters who are willing to advance ten or twelve guineas to be deducted out of their wages; and it not infrequently happens that only on they agreed to serve two or three, or four years for meat and clothes only on condition of their passage being paid. Yet, as wages in the general are rather high in America, it will easily be supposed that an active cleaver person conversant is some business will make much better terms on landing that the old or those who are infirmed, or those who came over ignorant of any business. I noticed many families of great respectibility both in our society and amongst 299 others, who had themselves come over to this country as redemptioners, or were children of such. And it is remarkable that the German residents in this country have a character for greater industry and stability than those of any other nation." We have here the admission that even among Quakers some had come over as redemptioners to near the beginning of this century. Redemptioners frequently ran away from their masters, and advertisements appeared in the newspapers of this period of rewards being offered for their arrest and recovery. A sample is here given of three who were residents of the county. Mathias Holstein, of Upper Merion, gives notice, in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" of January 29, 1750-51, that an English servant man, named Christopher Major, about thirty years of age, tall and slender and pock-marked, run away on Saturday, the 20th instant. Whoever takes up and secures said servant, so as his master may have him again, shall have forty shillings reward and reasonable charges paid. He had a pass from his master to go to Philadelphia on the 19th instant, to return the 26th, which it is supposed be altered." Jacob Paul, of Abington township, offers, in the Evening Post of February 15th, 1776,- "Three dollars reward. -Ran away on the 28th of January, 1776, from the subscriber, an apprentice lad, bound, by the name of Robert Mans, of a slender make, about nineteen years of age, near five feet six inches high, and whitish hair. He had on, and took with him, one home-made light-colored country coatee lined with striped linsay, an upper jacket, a pair of buckskin breeches, two home-made shirts, two good pal of yarn hose, of a dark mixed color, one pair of strong oboes and a small-rimmed hat, made at Germantown. Whoever takes up the said apprentice and secures him in jail, so that his master gets him again, shall have the above reward and reasonable charges." William Stroud, keeper of the prison at Norristown, has this advertisement in the Pennsylvania Packet, under date of October 7, 1789- "Was committed to the goal of Montgomery County, a certain George Sharpe, who says he is a servant to Patrick Story, in Sussex County, State of New Jersey. His master is desired to take him away in three weeks front this date, or he will be sold, for his fees," The aforesaid advertisements, from the varied information furnished, are admirably calculated to give us an insight into the system of servitude as it formerly prevailed here, fully confirming the harshness of the act passed in 1700, and was still practically enforced, though almost a century had passed away since its adoption. Respecting Jacob Paul, we know from the assessor's list of said year that he was the owner of a farm of two hundred and eighty-eight acres, kept at least two grown Negro slaves, seven horses, seven cattle, and a riding-chair. It may therefore be possible from the system that prevailed, that the said lad of nineteen years of age was forced to live and be treated on a level with those slaves. As passes were required to go abroad, we see here how easy it was to arrest such on mere suspicion, and if no owner came, to sell them for charges. Through brutal treatment the round might be kept up, and thus end at least his best days in a degrading state of bondage. We find that though the system was diminishing, German redemptioners, are mentioned in our statutes in 1817 and 1818. A law was only passed February 8, 1819, "that no female shall be arrested or imprisoned for or by reason of any debt contracted after the passage of this act." With the final abolition for the imprisonment of debts the institution had necessarily to die out without any special enactment or repeal, so slow has ever been the advancement and regard for popular rights, even in this great commonwealth and enlightened age. In connection with this subject, interesting stories have been told that border on romance. For the following narrative we are indebted to a descendant, the family ranking now among the most respectable in Lower Salford. George Heckler was a native of Lower Alsace, on the Rhine, where he was born in 1736. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to learn the tailoring trade, and at eighteen became free from his master, when he was compelled to go on his "wanderscraft " for three years as a journeyman ere be could be permitted to set up for himself. This determined him to flee to America and he arrived in Philadelphia, September 30, 1754 in the ship "Neptune" from Rotterdam. Such was his poverty that he was unable to meet his expenses, and in consequence was sold by the captain to serve three years as a redemptioner. His purchaser was John Steiner, a German farmer, residing in Coventry Township, Chester Co., opposite the present borough of Pottstown. The sum paid was equivalent to forty-eight dollars of our currency. After the expiration of his service he obtained employment in lower Salford where be married Christiana, daughter of Peter Freed, a substantial yeoman. Such was his industry and frugality that in 1785 he purchased his father-in-law's farm of two hundred and forty-three acres for two thousand pounds. His surplus products, he generally conveyed to the Philadelphia market on horseback. He survived until August 28, 1816, at his death being eighty Years of age, leaving an estate valued between thirty I and forty thousand dollars. The late Joseph J. Lewis, of West Chester, in 1828, wrote an amusing account of the "soul-drivers," a name given to those men that drove redemptioners, through the country with a view of disposing of them to farmers. They generally purchased them, in lots of fifty or more, from captains of ships, to whom the redemptions were bound for three or more years of service in payment of their passage. For awhile the trade was brisk, but at last was relinquished by reason of the numbers that ran away from those dealers or drivers. These ignominious gangs disappeared about the year 1785. A story is told how one of these was tricked by one of his men. The fellow, by a little management, contrived to be the last of the flock that remained unsold, and traveled about with his master. One night they lodged at a tavern, and in the morning the young fellow, who was an Irishman, rose early, sold his master to the landlord, pocketed the money, 300 and hastened off. Previously, however to his going, he took the precaution to tell the purchaser that though tolerably clever in other respects, he was rather saucy and a little given to lying; that he had even been presumptuous enough at times to endeavor to pass for master, find that he might possibly represent himself as such to him. Though the system of servitude possessed its advantages, especially to a people residing in a new and unsettled country, it had its attending drawbacks. It was a relic that originated in the long past of Europe, and, like slavery, was continued an d enforced on the colonies. That it was also the means of bringing here numbers of vagrants, paupers and convicts there is no doubt. The evils of this system Dr. Franklin, in his paper, the "Pennsylvania Gazette," of May 9,1751, sarcastically attacked, where he says, that in return as a proper exchange, we should furnish rattlesnakes, to be distributed through the parks and haunts of the British courtiers and office-holders, especially for the ministers, nobility and members of Parliament. With servitude has now gone its kindred evil, the indentured apprentice system. The laws, as well as the sentiment that upheld these, show, from the power conferred, that in the hands of the cruel, arbitrary, oppressive and avaricious they must have been often abused, to the deterioration of the morals of both parties. SLAVERY. [By Wm. J. Buck.] The early history of slavery as it existed within the limits of Montgomery County has perhaps not heretofore been treated. It is a subject now so at variance with existing ideas that like servitude, it becomes only the more interesting from the diversity it presents in denoting the changes going on in our social and domestic life. There is no question, but as established in Pennsylvania, it was of a rather milder character than that of the other colonies. It was a forced institution, continued and upheld by the British government as long as they possessed the authority, which an eight years' war and independence only checked. The blood shed at Brandywine, at Germantown, and the suffering at Valley Forge was also for the benefit of the African, and for which he should also be grateful, for even before the return of peace Pennsylvania had made provisions for his emancipation. Judging from the legislation here on slavery the importation of Negroes must have commenced soon after the arrival of Penn. In the famous protest from the Germans at Germantown, the 18th of Second Month, 1688, to their fellow-members of the Society of Friends, they say,- "Here is liberty of conscience, which is right and reasonable, here, ought to be likewise liberty of the body, except of evil-doers, which is another case. But to bring men hither, or to rob or sell them against their will, we stand against. In Europe them are many oppressed for conscience sake; and here are those oppressed, which are of a black color. Ah! do consider well this thing, who do it, if you would be done in this manner? and if done according to Christianity. This makes an ill report in those countries of Europe that the Quakers do here handle men as they handle the cattle, and for that reason have no inclination to come hither. And who shall maintain this your cause, or plead for it? Truly we cannot do so, except you shall inform us better hereof, that Christians have liberty to practice these things. We who profess that it is not lawful to steal, must likewise avoid to purchase such things are stolen but rather stop this robbing and stealing, if possible. Have not the Negroes as much right to fight or their freedom as you may have to keep them slaves? We desire and require you hereby lovingly that you may, inform us herein that Christians have such a liberty to do, and satisfy likewise our good friends and acquaintances in our native country, to whom it is a terror or fearful thing that men should be treated so in Pennsylvania." From the importance of this document and the proceedings connected therewith, we regret from its length in not giving the whole. Suffice it to say that it was duly signed and transmitted to the Monthly Meeting, from thence assigned to the Quarterly Meeting at Philadelphia, and lastly to the Yearly Meeting held at Burlington, the 7th of Fifth Month, 1688, with this result on their minutes: A paper being here presented by some German Friends, concerning the lawfulness and unlawfulness of buying and keeping Negroes, It was adjudged not to be so proper for this Meeting to give a Positive Judgment in the Case, it having so General a Relation to many other Parts, and therefore at present they forbear it." We see here in this evasive reply the prevailing sentiment of the English element in its favor. The moral right to uphold and countenance the institution by Friends was the question, and to whom for this purpose it was alone directed. This effort at early abolition was made but little over five years after Penn's landing, and shows that slavery must have been already pretty well established to have thus claimed attention, as it existed among a body that at this time constituted a majority of the population. The Germans, however, to their credit, put their theory into practice, and forbore in any manner to countenance slavery, and this result alone saved us from possessing a large negro population like in all of the neighboring colonies. Reference has been made to early legislation in this subject, a matter that has hitherto been too much overlooked. We thus find, front the proceedings Of Council held July 11, 1693, that "Upon the request of some of the members, that an order made by the Court of Quarter sessions for the County of Philadelphia, the 4th Instant, proceeding upon a presentment of the Grand Jury against the tumultuous gatherings of the Negroes of the town of Philadelphia, on the first days of the weeke, ordering the Constables of Philadelphia or anie other person whatsoever, to have power to take up negroes, male or female, whom they should find gadding abroad on the first dayes of the week, without a tickett from their Master or Mistress, or not in their company, or to carry them to goals, there to remain that night, and that without meat or drink, and to cause them to be publicly whipt next morning with thirty-nine lashes, well laid on, on their bare backs, for which their said Master or Mistress should pay fifteen pence to the whipper att his delivery of ym to ye Master or Mistress, and that the said order should be Confirmed by the Lieut.-Governor [Markham] and Councill. "The Lieut.-Governor and Councill looking upon the said presentment to proceed upon good grounds, and the order of the court to be reasonable and for the benefit of the town of Philadelphia and that it will be a means to prevent further mischiefs that might ensue upon such disorders of negroes, doe ratify and confirm the same and all persons are required to putt the sd order in execution." 305 Slave-power of the South, the occasion was esteemed of more than usual public interest. Such a leader inspired an enthusiastic following, and nowhere on the long line of transit were worn and weary passengers received with greater solicitude, cared for, more tenderly and dispatched with greater promptness and prudence than at Norristown. The gentlemen composing this "railroad staff" were not of the mutual admiration school. They were agitators, antipathetic, many of them valuable, all of them independent thinkers. They represented the activities of life in all its callings, from the plowman to the philosopher. When the news of the Fugitive Slave Law reached the North these men came together at the peril of their lives and firmly resolved to resist it at all hazards. While defiant, they were not wanting in that prudence and caution necessary to their usefulness, and by day and by night their vigilance extended from the Plymouth Valley to the hills of Providence. The counsels of the cool and philosophic Allan Corson, of Plymouth, were watched by the promptness of Thomas Hopkins, William W. Taylor and Charles Corson, of Providence in forwarding passengers through to Bucks County. In Norristown, Dr. William Corson was among the first to report arrivals. In active practice, a consistent friend to the colored people, slave or free, and by reason of his intercourse in his daily visits to all localities in the town and many miles in all directions around it, if arrivals occurred he was sure to be apprised of it. With coadjutors such as Lawrence E. Corson, James Paxon, Jacob Bodey, Daniel Ross, John Williams and John Augusta, the business in hand was quickly and efficiently dispatched. If a collection of money was necessary to forward passengers, John Augusta and John Williams were always ready to go to the right ones to get it. Paxon was always ready to give asylum to passengers, and the giant Bodey could always be relied upon for transportation. There was not a member of this staff who had not his special office of usefulness, and among them the quiet, unobtrusive, but persistent George Wright was always found responsive to duty. An enthusiastic follower of his cherished friend Aaron, he never tired in kindly offices to relieve the suffering and hungry as they tarried in or fled through the town. There was a direct connection between Norristown and the anti-slavery office in Philadelphia, via night-trains on the Norristown Railroad. Rev. Samuel Aaron Dr. William Corson, Isaac and John Roberts and Mary R. Roberts were in charge of this line of transportation. Daniel Ross would house or conceal the passengers until a late hour, when they would be ticketed through to waiting friends at or near Ninth and Green Streets, thence, via the Philadelphia line, to Canada. Contributions were liberal in support of this line. INCIDENTS OF LIFE AND TRAVEL ON THE LINE THROUGH MONTGOMERY COUNTY. -In 1841, Thomas Read lived in a retired place along the Schuylkill, four miles west of Norristown. The fugitives he received were chiefly men, who, following directions given them, came in the night. Some were brought. He sent many to Miller McKim, at the anti-slavery office in Philadelphia, William Still, being generally the receiving agent. Others were sent in various directions. Some remained and worked for him when required. At one time four came, three of whom were large, intelligent young men; the other was an old man who was making his second effort at escape. His first attempt was successful, and he had enjoyed his freedom for some years, when he was betrayed by a colored man and reclaimed by his master. These four men were, therefore, very suspicious of persons of their own color in the North. They remained for some time and worked for Thomas Read; but one day a colored man appeared who said he was a fugitive, and showed numerous scars, but from his actions was suspected of being a spy. The four men threatened him with instant death if they discovered his story was not true. He left the next night, but so frightened were the real fugitives that they were anxious to leave the place. They were at once forwarded farther north. A mulatto came and remained during the winter. Toward spring he became frightened at rumors that slave-hunters were on his track, and he was anxious to make his way to Canada. He was taken by Thomas Read to Philadelphia. The day was very cold, and he wore his coachman's overcoat of a peculiar light color. When nearing the city he grew apprehensive that the color of his coat might identify him too easily, and he insisted upon removing it and riding in his shirt-sleeves which he did, bearing the cold without a murmur, believing that his ruse made the chances of detection less. He reached Philadelphia safely, and was forwarded to more northern agents. In 1848, Thomas Read moved to Norristown, and the fugitives received there were mostly women and children. After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law the determined members of the organization still persevered in their efforts to aid the fugitives to escape. Others faltered and knew not what to do. At an evening company where several of these faltering ones were in attendance, two young schoolgirls were present and listened to the conversation. The thought occurred to then, to test by actual experience the standing of those present. Leaving the room upon some pretext, they shortly after knocked at the kitchen door, and, closely disguised and muffled, said they were fugitives and asked for help. This brought the question home to the men present, "Would they give aid?" A long parley ensued, the girls being left in the kitchen. It was finally decided to take them to a neighboring house, and, as soon as a wagon could be procured, two of the men volunteered to drive them to Quakertown. By this time the girls were so full of laughter at the success of their plan that when 306 passing close to a light their emotions were discovered to be other than those of grief and fright and the disguise was detected. But the joke was so serious to some of the men that they could not laugh at it. The girls were severely reprimanded; yet all concerned were glad at heart that they had discovered how those present stood in regard to the Fugitive Slave Law. At a convention held in the old courthouse in Norristown shortly after the enactment of that law, a committee of prominent anti-slavery advocates was appointed to circulate petitions for signatures asking for a repeal of the law. Thomas Read's daughter Mary was appointed one of the committee. Being young at the time, she thought she had but to present the petition and names would be willingly put thereto. But she was astonished at the almost universal reception she met with. Doors were shut in her face as soon as she made known her desire. People insulted her, snubbed her and would rot talk with her on the subject. One minister, however, thought it his duty to talk with her, and pointed out the wrong she was doing: "Nay, she was committing a crime, for laws were made to be upheld and riot to be opposed." His morality took the law without question, and be wanted her to do the same. Needless to say she did not. While this describes the general public opinion, there were many benevolent individuals who had not courage to express their secret convictions, yet were willing to aid the Abolitionists by pecuniary contributions. John Augusta, an old colored resident of that place, and an important attache of the Underground Railroad, said that many citizens came to him and remarked: "John, I know you must be needing considerable money to forward passengers on your road. When you need contributions come to me, but do not let my name be mentioned as one contributing." Norristown first become a station of the Underground Railroad about 1839, the year of the first meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society at that place. The number of fugitives who passed through there, assisted by their friends, increased from year to year, as many as fifteen or twenty being occasionally concealed within the town at one time. A very strong and bitter animosity existed there against the Abolitionists, especially in the early days of the anti-slavery agitation; and for individuals to make any active efforts in behalf of fugitives was to incur general denunciation and social ostracism. Malignant threats were made, but never carried into effect. The furthest extent of a mob demonstration was the stoning of the Baptist meetinghouse and the breaking tip of anti-slavery meeting which was being held there. This was the only building in which these makings were held in the early part of the work in that town. In later times, when public sentiment was growing strong in favor of emancipation, every man even among public officials, were hearty sympathizers and silent helpers. The positions which they held, depending upon public suffrage or popular favor made it politic for them to enjoin secrecy when bestowing aid and to make their sentiments known to but few, even of the well-known and trusted Abolitionists. As public sentiment in Norristown was inimical to the anti-slavery cause until the exigencies of the times and the acknowledged justness of universal liberty throughout the country made it popular, the harboring of fugitives in that place was particularly hazardous. Yet among those who dared to do it, who was openly known to do it, and who built a secret apartment in his house for that especial purpose, which it was almost impossible to discover, was Dr. Jacob L. Paxson. Independent and fearless, he did his own thinking, kept his own council, took his own course, and concealed, fed, and forwarded hundreds that even the anti-slavery people knew nothing of. He kept a home and wagon, and took them himself to William Jackson, Quakertown; Jonathan McGill, Solebury; and to William H. Johnson, Buckingham, all in Bucks County. He entertained abolition speakers after the passage of the penal slave law, when they were refused admittance to the hotels. One evening when Garrison, Burleigh and several others were at his place, Samuel Jamison, who owned a large manufacturing establishment adjoining, came in and informed him of a conversation be had just overheard in a small assemblage of men concerning a plot which was being laid to burn his house if be did not dismiss his guests. "Tell them to burn it," said Paxson, "and scatter the ashes to the four winds; I'm a free man." A few days after the Christiana riot Parker, Pinkney and Johnson, an account of whom is given in the description of the tragedy and the narrative of Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall, came on foot in the night to Norristown, accompanied by another person whose name is not known. Dr. William Corson announced their arrival to John Augusta. The four men were concealed in a lot of shavings under a carpenter-shop, which stood three feet above ground on Church Street, near Airy. There they remained four days, and were fed with food passed to them upon an oven-peel across a four-foot alley from a frame house in which Samuel Lewis, a colored man, lived. During this time the United States marshal's detectives were watching every part of the town. On the fourth day a meeting was held by a few trusted friends in the office of Lawrence E. Corson, Esq., to devise means for their escape. Dr. Paxson proposed engaging five wagons for that evening, four to be sent in different directions as decoys to lead off the vigilant detectives. The plan was adopted, and the wagons and teams were engaged of Jacob Bodey, those sympathies were known to be in favor of fugitives. But he would accept no pay, saying he would do so much as his share. The first was sent up the turnpike road, and, shortly after the second was sent down that road; another was sent 307 across the bridge toward West Chester, and the fourth, out the State road toward Downingtown. The attention of the alert officers being now attracted in these directions, the men, after having shaved and otherwise changed their personal appearance, walked from the carpenter-shop to Chestnut Street and down Chestnut to the house of William Lewis, colored, where the fifth wagon, which was to go directly through the town and up the Mill Creek road, was waiting for them. Dr. Paxson was there also, and saw the men, with William Lewis, colored, as their driver, start safely for Quakertown. Lewis was a little tremulous with fear at the perilous undertaking, which, with the haste, somewhat confused him at the start. On the road he became bewildered, and went several miles out of the way, which gave Parker the impression that he was partly intoxicated, a condition in which Lewis never was known to be. From Quakertown they journeyed to Canada, traveling part of the way on foot and part by public conveyance. On the following day the United States marshal was informed that they had left Norristown and were out of his reach. Officers were at once dispatched to Quakertown, but the Underground Railroad there disappeared from their view and its passengers could be tracked no further. At the close of the war Judge Smyser, of Norristown, was returning on a train from Philadelphia, and seeing Dr. Paxson in the same car, called out to him: "Paxson, is that you? I was at an entertainment last night, and some of the party said I was as great a radical as you are. I replied: 'I thank God that I am!' But," he continued, "there was a time when, had you been convicted under the Fugitive Slave Law, I would have given you the extent of the penalty, for I looked upon you as one of the most dangerous men in the community on account of your utter disregard for that law." On Dr. Paxson's return home one afternoon in 1846 he saw on his back porch a very black, gray-haired woman, about sixty years of age; also a mulatto woman, about thirty, and a small, very fair child, with flaxen hair, of about six or seven summers. The old woman was conversing with Parker Pillsbury. Her cultivated thought and remarkable gift of language excited their interest and attention. On questioning her, they found that she, her daughter and granddaughter were all slaves. Paxson interrogated her relative to their escape. She stated that they had traveled through Maryland on foot, by night, and that during the day they crawled under corn-shucks or hid under leaves in the woods, their principal food being roots or corn for many days. He said to her, "Did you not know that you were running a great risk of being caught and taken back, tortured with the lash and sold upon the. auction-block, and separated from your child and grand child?" She answered, "Yes," and the tears rolled down her cheeks; "but I believed that God would help those who tried to help themselves, and with confidence in that Power, I started out and it has brought me here. And may God be praised!" "Now, tell me," said Paxson, "what induced you to make this effort?" Rising to her feet, and turning deliberately toward her child, with utterance choked by emotion, she said, "See you not, marked upon her features, my own pollution that the white man has stamped there! See you not upon this grandchild, with its flaxen hair and florid face, the pollution of a fiendish nature over her! It was to save that grandchild from the terrible pollution which slavery sways over all whom it dare call a slave; it was to save that fair and beautiful creature from a life of shame that I dared and have accomplished what I did; and there shall ever go forth from my innermost nature a feeling of gratitude that I have her thus spared." The following incidents are from notes furnished the author by the late William W. Taylor, who was a well-known agent of the line for many years in Upper Providence township Mr. Taylor was pronounced in his hatred of the "peculiar institution," and ever ready to give refuge, food and transportation to those who were dispatched to his care. He was the near neighbor of Charles Corson and Thomas Hopkins, who frequently acted in concert in frustrating the designs of slave-hunters in the county. Mr. Taylor was a fearless agitator, sometimes incurring the displeasure of neighbors and acquaintances in his uncompromising denunciation of those in authority for maintaining or assenting in any way to the continuance of slavery. He was an "Abolitionist" without qualification, an eye-witness in his boyhood days to the brutal recapture of a fugitive slave and his sale to a Southern trader at New Castle, Del. The scene made such all impression upon his mind that, to use his own words, he "resolved that upon reaching manhood he would keep a station for runaway slaves, and he did so until the proclamation of President Lincoln bankrupted the business." HENRY BOX BROWN.[See NOTE 18-1.] -Henry Brown, better known as "Henry Box Brown," was a slave in Richmond, VA. He conceived the plan of getting away from slavery by having himself boxed up and shipped as [NOTE 18-1.] Two similar cases are reported in Still's "Underground Railroad," those of William Box Peel Jones and Lear Green. Jones was boxed up in Baltimore City, and shipped by the Ericson line of steamers, in the month of April, 1859, reaching Philadelphia in seventeen hours after shipment, and was safely delivered to his friends, who cautiously awaited his arrival in the City of Brotherly Love. Lear Green was an interesting girl and the slave of James Noble, of Baltimore. William Adams had proposed marriage to her. She concluded to accept the offer only when she was free, believing the duties of wife and mother incompatible with a condition of servitude wherein she might be sold and separated from all ties of human affection. She finally concluded to escape. Her trusted friends placed her in a well-worn box such as was used in commerce between Baltimore and the Northern Cites. A quilt, a bottle of water and some hard bread were carefully stowed away with the girl, and she was shipped as freight on the Erison line. Her intended mother in-law, a free-colored women took passage on the same line. The box was carefully watched and upon arrival in Philadelphia was promptly forwarded to consingee. Lear Green was happy. She subsequently married the man of her choice and was a free woman. She settled in Elmira, N. Y., and died in the third year of her married life. [FINIS NOTE 18-1.] 308 merchandise to Philadelphia, and went to work accordingly to effect his object. With the help of some friends, whom he had made acquainted with his plans, he arranged with a firm in Philadelphia to receive him as merchandise, and then got reliable men in Richmond to help him there. A man made the box, and he got in it, taking with him a sack (sic) of water, some crackers, a cup, a gimlet and a sponge. The lid was nailed fast, and the box marked "This side up with care." A reliable person was secured to take the box, pay the freight, and start it on its way to Philadelphia. After all his arrangements had been made he received word from his Philadelphia friends not to attempt to send the goods, as there was too much risk; but, determined not to be baffled, he replied that the goods were shipped and would be in Philadelphia at a certain time. A trusty man was on hand at the time appointed but the train arrived without the goods. It was explained that an accident had occurred which would cause a delay of four hours. The excitement and anxiety increased, but the box finally arrived. It was taken charge of, and the proper parties notified of the arrival of their goods. This was twelve o'clock at night, and all assembled at the place appointed to receive him. By this time the excitement was great. Some were sure he would be dead, and much concerned as to what disposition they should make of the remains. When the box was carried in it was received almost with the silence of death. All seemed afraid to hear their own voices. It was put down, and one tapped it on the top with the question: "Is all right?" An answer came from out the box: "All right, sir." The lid was quickly pried off, and Henry Box Brown stood erect and sang a hymn he had learned for the occasion. Then there was rejoicing. Their anxiety was over and their pent-up spirits set free. Where the delay occurred the goods had to be reloaded. The box was turned with the marked side down, so that he stood on his head till the veins on his forehead and face were as thick as his finger. Two men sat on the box, and one tapped it and wondered what it contained. The gimlet was to bore holes to let in more air, if necessary, and the water was to drink. Instead of drinking it, he put it on the sponge and bathed his face and head. Scientific men, who saw the box, said this was the only thing that saved his life, and that bathing with the water restored carbon to the exhausted air. A few days after his arrival in Philadelphia there was an anti-slavery meeting held in the Baptist meetinghouse at Norristown, and Henry and his box and his entire outfit were exhibited there. From here he took the Underground Railroad to the land of freedom. GEORGE BENSON. -"George Benson, the subject of this narrative, was a man of remarkable ability. He was twenty-two years of age, six feet two inches in height, very muscular, quick and active. He was intelligent, and resolute to execute whatever he undertook. He was the property of a man in Western Virginia, who had sold his other slaves, and expected to remove to Richmond and keep George for a body-servant. After having made his arrangements be went to Baltimore to attend a ball, taking George with him. George had heard his master offered twelve hundred dollars for him, and, knowing his master's habits, was afraid he would soon have to be sold. He therefore resolved to escape, and started that night at twelve o'clock for Canada. By morning he had reached York County, Pa., and from there came by way of Columbia to Lancaster. While sitting at the window at Warner Mifflin's, Lancaster, he saw his master with two officers drive by. He notified the family, and they, feeling no longer safe to keep him, put him on his way to Downingtown. He left Zebulon Thomas' in Downingtown, and walked to my place in Montgomery County, a distance of twenty miles, in four and a half-hours. He was very much excited, and said he had resolved when he started to die rather than go back into slavery. After he had rested and had something to eat I went with him some distance and put him on his way to Richard Moore's, at Quakertown. George surpassed all the men I ever knew who had escaped from slavery." RACHEL. -"Rachel, or 'Rache,' as she was familiarly called, was the slave of a man near Baltimore. She came to West Chester, and there married, and was living comfortably. Her husband owned a house and Rache did washing and house cleaning, and as a woman of all work was very much sought after. She had been living there for several years. Many people knew her and she knew every place in town. Finally some one found out where she came from and betrayed her. One day, as she was sitting in her house, she saw old Constable Patterson approaching in company with a man whom she recognized as her old master. They took her captive and brought her before Judge Bell, in order that the master might prove his property. There Rache feigned sickness and asked to go into the back yard. Mrs. Bell invited her to go up stairs, but she replied, 'Missus, I must go out; I am so very sick.' They decided to let her go into the yard on condition that the constable should accompany her, to which she freely consented. A high board fence enclosed the yard, so that no one could enter from the outside. The walk down the yard to the alley was about one hundred feet. As soon as Rache got out of the house she made a run for the fence, with the constable close after her. With one bound she went over the fence, leaving the constable behind. The fence was too high for him to jump, and by the time he returned to the house and told what had happened and they had got around to the alley several moments elapsed, of which Rache made good use. Being acquainted with almost every alley and back yard in the town 309 and very swift on foot, she was soon several squares away. In her flight she passed through the shop of Samuel Auge, a hatter, and the boys called to know what the matter was. She answered, 'Do, for God's sake, hush! Don't say nothin'.' She kept on her flight up the alleys to the back yard of John Worthington, with whom she was acquainted. Mrs. Worthington saw her coming and called, 'Why, Rache, what is the matter?' '0, for the Lord's sake, don't tell anybody'! was the answer. And Rache ran up, stairs and hid herself in the attic. "By this time word had gotten out that the kidnappers were after her, and then there was none to give her pursuers any information. Her master went to Squire Meredith and got a search warrant, but failed to find her. He applied for another, but was refused and told to keep quiet or he would be arrested. That night a party of gentlemen met at Mr. Worthington's, and had a good time apparently until ten or eleven o'clock (several members of the Chester County bar being among them), when they broke up and went away by twos and threes. Rache dressed in men's clothing, left the house between two lawyers. They walked along the street to a point beyond the Friends' meetinghouse, where a carriage overtook them and Rache was taken into it. She was driven to John Vickar's, at Lionville, and thence to Dr. Fussell's. On the way to the latter place she inquired where they were going and was told to Bartholomew Fussell's. She said she knew a Dr. Fussell near Baltimore, where she came from, who was a great friend to the colored people, but she was not told that he was the same man, and, when she entered the house, the doctor noticed that she watched him very closely. Finally she arose, walked toward him, looked at him and said very excitedly, 'I do believe this is Dr. Fussell! I declare this is Dr. Fussell! I swear to God this is Dr. Fussell!' The doctor then told her he was the Dr. Fussell that had lived near Baltimore. She fell on her knees and clasped him around the legs, crying and shouting as though frantic with joy at the thought that she had reached a place of safety. "The next night the doctor, with Rache and three others, called on me (I then lived at Phoenixville) to go with them. I arose and mounted my horse to pilot them. We crossed the Schuylkill at Phoenixville. There was no bridge there at that time (forty-four years ago) and the night was very dark. I took him to Charles Corson's. A large part of the road was through woods, and so dark that I had to feel the way and lead the doctor's horse. We crossed the Perkiomen at Tyson's mill, and got to Corson's about twelve o'clock. There I questioned Rache as to how she got away from the old constable. On asking her what became of him she said, 'Lord, massa, de las I saw ob him he was jist fallen back on de fence.' "I left the doctor at Corson's and returned home about three o'clock in the morning. No one but my wife knew that I had been away. Charles Corson the next day geared to his market wagon and took her to William H. Johnson's, in Bucks County. She remained there. William H. Johnson wrote to a friend in West Chester to let her husband know, where she was. He executed a power of attorney to some one in West Chester to sell his property and forward the proceeds to him in Waterloo, Canada. "Much of this information I received from persons living in West Chester, they not knowing but that she was still living privately somewhere about the neighborhood. One man told me he did not think there was a man in West Chester who could jump the fence, which she jumped. She was about thirty-five years old, rather tall and rather active, and could run as fast as ordinary men." JOHN AND JANE FRENCH. -"John and Jane French, with their little boy two years old, were slaves in Maryland. Like many others they had heard of a place in the north where they might be free if they could get there, and they resolved to make the effort. They had been told there were people in Pennsylvania who would help them. They came to Oxford and then by the Underground Railroad through Downingtown, Lionville and Kimberton, from William Fussell are to my place. I saw at once that it was a very important case and one that required prompt action. We put them in a room, no one but my wife knowing they were in the house. I went to see Edwin H. Coates, told him what I had in charge, and asked him to accompany me that night on our journey, which he readily agreed to. I directed my hired man to have the horses so they might be used if needed, and when Edwin arrived after all had one to bed we started for George Lukens', Kulpsville. We arrived just at dawn and were very kindly received. We returned about noon, our absence having excited some remark. None suspected where we had been except a fugitive slave who was living with me at the time. As soon as we left George Lukens took his charge to William H. Johnson's, Bucks County. They arrived in the evening, when Jane told them she could go no further. They fixed up a room for her and made her as comfortable as possible. The next morning she had a fine baby boy, which she named William Taylor. To part with these people and receive their simple expressions of thanks is more precious than silver or gold." PERRY AND LUCY SIMONS. -"Perry and Lucy Simons were slaves in Virginia, where they remained until they were about fifty years old. When the last of their seven children had been sold to traders to go south they resolved to leave their old master and seek freedom. By the aid of friends, after many weeks of travel, they reached my place. I locked them in a room, charged them not to look out of the window and informed my wife that I had a charge. We took care of them through the day and that night took them across the Perkiomen, at Tyson's mill, and left them at daylight with directions for Richard 310 Moore's at Quakertown. This was just after the Fugitive Slave law was passed, making every northern man who assisted them a kidnapper, and we knew that we were watched. I told them as I had been true to them I hoped they would not betray me. They answered 'No, Massa; God bless you. We will never betray you.'" JOHN AND SUE BURNS. -"John and Sue Burns were slaves in Newcastle County, Delaware. They were a young couple, who had one boy about two years old, and they resolved that they would not raise children for the slave market. John took one of his master's horses, put his wife and child on the horse, and traveling himself on foot, and started for freedom. They took the horse as far as they thought safe and then turned him loose to return home so that he might arrive before morning, and they kept on their course to Thomas Garret's, Wilmington, and a distance of fourteen miles, getting there before daylight. Thence by way of Kennet Square, Downingtown, Kimberton, and Phoenixville, they came to our place in Montgomery County. They remained for a short time in the neighborhood, and then became very uneasy for fear of being captured and taken back into slavery. They were put on the road for Canada as the only place of safety. Like all other slaves they had been told that there was a place under the North Star where they could be free, but how far it was they had but a faint idea. I never saw one, however, that thought it too far or too much of a hardship to go there. These were a very interesting couple and a very bright little boy." ELIZA. -"Elias and her son were slaves to a man named Gibbs living near Havre de Grace, Maryland. They ran off, came by way of Oxford through Chester county to F. F. Pennypacker's and on to my place. There she wished to stay and in a short time we found we were in trouble, but we concluded to meet it. I went to Norristown, called on Thomas and Amy Bruff, stated the situation and offered to pay them to take care of her. I told them that I would and a home for her as soon as she was able to be moved, and instructed them to call on Dr. William Corson if needed and tell him I would pay all expenses. The Dr. was called on, but, as I expected, he would take nothing for his services. Her child was deformed, We took her to our place and had her there for several months. Finally the child died and was buried at the Friends' meetinghouse in Providence. In the meantime her son lived with Jacob L. Paxson. After the child died she and her son started for Canada. So it would appear to those who stood aloof that the road of those engaged in the Underground Railroad was not always strewn with roses; but there was a consolation that outsiders did not understand." WILLIAM AND PERRY LEWIS. -"William and Perry Lewis, brothers, and Henson Clemens were slaves in West Virginia, all very stout young men and very determined in asserting their right to themselves. They made their way through Maryland into York County, Pennsylvania and by way of Columbia and Lancaster to James Fulton's, in Chester County. There they stayed a short time until kidnappers made their appearance in the neighborhood. Then they came to E. F. Pennypacker's and my place. They were all good farm hands, found ready employment, and stayed about the neighborhood for several years. Perry Lewis lived with me three years. He was a very good farm hand and efficient in assisting me in helping his own people on their road to liberty. Finally he got married and moved to Norristown where he died, as did also his brother William. Their comrade Henson, after remaining for about two years, became uneasy, fearing he might be captured and taken back into slavery, and concluded to go to Canada. We gave him instructions and put him on the road. After a tiresome journey he arrived in safety. After he got there he got a friend to write to me giving an account of his journey and the reception he had met on his arrival; how much he was pleased with the place, and expressing many thanks to me and his friends in Montgomery county for the acts of kindness he had received at their hands." JERRY. -"Jerry was a slave of a man named Ball, who lived in Mill Creek Hundred, Newcastle Co., Del. His master had given him his freedom by telling him he might go and earn a living, that he was to be a free man, but without taking a legal course to secure it. Jerry had married, and lived in the same township within five miles of his master, in a log cabin, or hut, on a common near Red Clay Creek, and within three miles of the Pennsylvania line. His master's home was not more than five miles from the latter state, Jerry was living peaceably and quietly in the neighborhood, and supported himself by working for farmers when he could, employment being scarce and wages low. Twenty-five cents per day was the price for a common day's work and forty and fifty cents for harvesting. When not thus engaged he lived by fishing and trapping. At that time, sixty years ago, thousands of acres of land lay waste in that region, with here and there a log cabin, or hut, occupied by a poor man, or a slave not claimed by his master. Such tenants paid from seven to fifteen dollars rent for their cabins and as much land as they saw proper to make use of. Such was the case with Jerry. Finally his old master died and trouble began. "Ball's heirs laid claim to Jerry as part of their father's estate, but Jerry insisted that his master had set him free and that he would not serve them. Finally one of his master's sons, in company with six or eight others, went to Jerry's cabin to capture him. He had received word of their coming, and prepared to defend himself as well as be could by fortifying his cabin. They surrounded the house and broke in 311 the door. As one attempted to enter Jerry struck at him with an ax, missed the man, struck the door, and broke it to pieces; then took his gun and shot, but missed his man. The load took effect on a man named Robinson, who was sitting on his horse forty or fifty yards off, and destroyed one of his eyes. (I often saw him carrying his mark for trying to capture poor Jerry.) He then fought his way out and ran for the woods. They followed and, after a race of a mile, overpowered him and took him captive to Newcastle. He was put in jail and sold to a slave trader to be taken South. This occurred within one mile of where I was living and took such a hold on me, although I was then only ten or twelve years old, that when I arrived at manhood I set up a station on the Underground Railroad and kept it open until slavery was abolished by the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln, trying to obey the injunction that 'Whatsoever would that others should do to you do ye even so unto them.'" FRED DOUGLAS. -"Fred Douglas, now the Hon. Frederick Douglas, ex-Marshal of the District of Columbia, was a passenger on the Underground Railroad from slavery to his present position. He was a slave in Talbot Co., Md., and I think his master's name was Aull. He passed through Philadelphia. Robert Purvis, E. M. Davis, and J. Miller McKim, of Philadelphia; Horace Greeley and Gerritt Smith, of New York, and Charles Sumner and others, of Boston, arranged to send him to London, and while there his freedom was bought by penny contributions." THE DORSEY BROTHERS. -The following incident is from the pen of Robert Purvis, one of the most active agitators in the anti-slavery cause and occurring in Bucks County had a peculiar interest to their friends in Montgomery with whom they were cooperating. "Among the hundreds of cases, which came under my notice, none excited my interest more deeply than that of four brothers, who came from Frederick County, Maryland, and arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of 1836. They were finely developed and handsome young men, reputed to be the children of their master, and after his death, finding themselves slaves when they had been promised their freedom, they took 'French Leave' and arrived safely in Philadelphia, under the assumed Christian names of Basil, Thomas, Charles and William, and retaining the surname of Dorsey. I took three of the brothers to my farm in Bucks County-Thomas preferring to live in the city. I succeeded in securing places with some of* the neighboring farmers for Charles and William, Basil remaining in my employ. The latter was a married man, having a wife and two children whom he left in Maryland. She was a free woman and by a previous arrangement with her brother in-law likewise free, they were brought to Philadelphia, where I met them and took them to my house. This man proved afterwards to be a false and treacherous villain. He opened a correspondence with the son of their old master, who bought these men at the settlement of his father's estate and bad become their owner. By a well-arranged plan, with the assistance of a notorious slave-catcher, they were enabled to surprise and capture Thomas, who was hurried before, one of the judges of the court and sent back to slavery. He was carried to Baltimore and imprisoned with the view of shipping him thence to the New Orleans market. By the timely efforts of his friends in Philadelphia money was raised, and the sum of one thousand dollars paid for his freedom. He afterwards became the popular caterer of Philadelphia, and died a few years ago, leaving a handsome competence to his family. Immediately following the capture of Thomas, by the direction of the, brother-in-law, they went to Bristol and secured the services of a constable by the name of Brown, who repaired with the claimant and his friends to Doylestown and obtained warrants from Judge Fox for the arrest of the three, brothers. Basil, while ploughing at some distance from the house, was overpowered after a severe struggle by the slave-holder and his friends, placed in a carriage and taken to Bristol, three miles distant, where he was thrown into a cell used for criminals. I had just returned from the city and was in the act of eating my supper, when a neighbor's son came in great excitement to tell me that Basil bad been carried off. I sprang from the table and hastening in the direction where I knew the man had been working, learned from the farmers assembled there the particulars of this outrage with the added information that be had been taken to Bristol. Burning with indignation, hatless as I was, I hurried thither, where I found the captors and the captive. "An excited crowd of people was gathered about the market house, whom 1 addressed, and succeeded; 11 enlisting their sympathies in behalf of the poor victim. After a parley with the slaveholder, it was agreed that we should meet there at seven o'clock in the morning and start thence for the purpose of appearing before Judge Fox, at Doylestown. Availing myself of the kind offer of a friend, I was driven rapidly home for the purpose of securing the safety of Basil's brothers. I was rejoiced to find them already there. They had heard of Basil's capture and were pursued by a part of those men led by Brown, who had taken him. These men had halted in a field near my residence, evidently deliberating how to proceed. By my advice, Charles, in whose hands I placed a double-barreled gun heavily charged, walked out in front of the house and defied them. The slave-catchers, thinking doubtless discretion the better part of valor, instantly departed. Under the cover of the darkness I was enabled to convey the two men to my Brother Joseph's farm, about two miles distant, and that night he drove forty miles and left them in New Jersey at the house of a friend. There they remained safely until an opportunity 312 offered to send them to Canada. The next morning about six o'clock I was on my way to Bristol. Before reaching there I met a woman who informed me that at five o'clock a wagon passed her house and she heard Basil cry out, 'Go tell Mr. Purvis they are taking me off.' The object of the movement was to deceive me in regard to time and enable them to appear before Judge Fox, and by ex-parte testimony have the case closed and the victim delivered into their custody. Upon receiving this information I hastened home and quickly harnessing a fleet trotting horse pursued them. I left instructions that Basil's wife and children should follow in another carriage. By good fortune I came upon the fugitive kidnappers about four miles from Doylestown, where they had stopped for breakfast. I immediately drove to the residence of William H. Johnson, the noted abolitionist, who instantly took hold of the matter, and went out to spread the news far and wide among the anti-slavery people. I arrived in Doylestown fully an hour before Basil was brought by his captors who were of course amazingly surprised to see me. I at once secured the services of the ablest lawyer in the town, Mr. Ross, the father of the late Judge Ross, who urged the postponement of the case upon Basil's oath of having free papers left in the hands of a friend living in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Doubtless the judge was deeply impressed by the appearance in the court-room of the delicate and beautiful wife and the young children clinging to the husband and father, who, looking the picture of despair sat with the evidence in his torn and soiled garments of the terrible conflict through which he had passed. The claimant obtained legal services in the person of a Mr. Griffith, a young lawyer. Notwithstanding the urgency of their council to have the case immediately decided, the judge postponed it for two weeks. "This was all I expected to obtain. My duty lay clearly before me, and I resolved that no effort should be spared to secure Basil's freedom. With this view, I strove to arouse the colored people to rescue him in the event of his being remanded to his captors. The plan adopted was to assemble in squads about the three leading roads of the town and use means adequate for the purpose of liberating him. Most fortunately, however, by an unexpected turn of events, a resort to these desperate measures was rendered unnecessary. Desiring to make use of every available means to secure the liberty of this worthy mail, I called upon that eminent lawyer and philanthropist, David Paul Brown, and asked him if he would not appear in behalf of the defense. He promptly responded to my request, saying, 'I am always ready to defend the liberty of any human being.' I then tendered him a fee of fifty dollars, which he at once refused. "I shall not now," he said, nor have I ever accepted fee or reward, other than the approval of my conscience, and I respectfully decline receiving you[r] money, I shall be there;" and turning to his barber he asked: 'Will you get me up so that I can go in the stage coach which leaves at four o'clock in the morning?' "The day of trial came and the slave-holder was there, bringing with him additional proof in the persons of his neighbors to swear as to the identity of the man. Armed with the bill of sale, the victory seemed an easy one. The claimant at one time was willing to take five hundred dollars for his slave, which we agreed to give, yielding to the earnest entreaty of Basil, although it was in violation of our principles, as we have always denied the right of property in man. He advanced his price to eight hundred dollars at Doylestown, and when that was agreed to declined taking less than one thousand dollars. Basil then said, 'No more offers if the decision goes against me. I will cut my throat in the court-house; I will not go back to slavery.' I applauded his resolution; horrible as it might be, it seemed better than his return to a living death. There for the first time I unfolded our plans for his liberation. The case was called promptly at the hour agreed upon, and Mr. Griffith spreading out his bill of sale and pointing to his witnesses the friends of the claimant who had come for the purpose of identifying this man as his property, opened his case with an air of the utmost confidence in the result. Mr. Brown in his turn quickly rose and the magnetism of his presence was felt by the crowded courtroom, nine-tenths of who were doubtless in sympathy with the poor slave. He commenced by saying, 'I desire to test this case by raising every objection, and may it please your honor these gentlemen, who hail from Liberty, Frederic County, Md., are here according to law to secure their "pound of flesh," and it is my duty to see that they shall not get "one drop of blood." As a preliminary question I demand authority to show that Maryland is a slave state.' "Mr. Griffith, with a self-satisfied air, remarked: 'Why, Mr. Brown, everybody knows Maryland is a slave State.' "'Sir, everybody is nobody,' was the quick retort of his opponent. "The judge entertained the objection, and Mr. Griffith went out and soon returned with a book containing a compilation of the laws of Maryland. The book was not considered authority, and poor Mr. Griffith, confused and disconcerted, requested Mr. Brown to have the case postponed until afternoon. "'Do you make that request,' inquired his adversary, 'on the ground of ignorance of the law?' "Mr. Griffith in an appealing tone said: 'Mr. Brown, I am a young man and this is my first case; I pray you do not press your objections; give me some time, for should I fail in this case, it would be ruinous to my future prospects.' "Laying his hand on the young lawyer's shoulder, Mr. Brown replied, 'Then, my dear sir, you will 313 313 have the consolation of having done a good deed, though you did not intend it." The judge was prompt in dismissing the ease, saying that he would not furnish another warrant, but the might secure his rearrest by obtaining one front a magistrate Profiting by this suggestion, Griffith and his clients hastily left the court-room. I was equally prompt; having previously ordered my horse and buggy to be brought in front of the courthouse, I took hold of Basil and hurried him towards the door. In the excitement which prevailed, a colored man, who was outside, seeing me hustling Basil before me, and thinking lie had been remanded to slavery and I was his master, raised a heavy stick and was about to strike me, when a friendly hand interposed, and saved me from the blow. We were no sooner seated in the vehicle than the slave-catchers, armed with a magistrate's warrant, came rushing upon us. As they were about to seize the horse, a stroke of the whip on the young and excited animal, caused him to rear and dash ahead. A round of hearty applause from the sympathizing crowd served as an additional impetus to urge us onward. After running the horse about two miles, I came upon a party of colored men who were to assist in rescuing the slave. Resting a short time, I pursued my journey to Philadelphia, a distance of twenty-six miles, and drove directly to my mother's house, where Basil was safely lodged. I afterwards accompanied him to New York, and placed him in the hands of Joshua Leavitt, the editor of The Emancipator, who sent him to Connecticut to find employment on his father's farm. He remained there some time and then removed with his family to Northampton, where he worked for Mr. Benson, a brother-in-law of William Lloyd Garrison. Mr. Dorsey died a few years ago, a highly esteemed and respectable citizen, leaving a widow and a number of children." CHAPTER XIX. GRADUATES OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY AND NAVAL ACADEMIES. The following is the record of the graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N. Y., who were appointed from the congressional district of which Montgomery County is a part: FRANCIS LEE, born in Pennsylvania. - Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from September 2, 1818, to July 1, 1822, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to Second Lieutenant, Seventh Infantry, July 1, 1822. Served on frontier duty at Fort Jessup, La., 1823-26; on quartermaster duty (first lieutenant, Seventh Infantry, September 24, 1824) at Fort Jessup, La., 1826-28, Fort Leavenworth, Kan., 1828-30 and Fort Jessup, assistant-quartermaster, to May 31, 1826, 1831-34; on frontier duty at Fort Gibson, Ind. Ter., 1834-36; Camp Desire (captain Seventh Infantry, May 31, 1834), near Fort Towson, Ind. Ter., 1836; Camp Nacogdoches, Tex., 1836, and Fort Gibson, Ind. Ter., 1836-38; on recruiting service, 1838-40; in the Florida War, 1840-42; in garrison at Fort Pike, La., 1842-45; in military occupation of Texas, 1845-46; in the war with Mexico, 1846-47, being engaged in the defense of Fort Brown, May 3-9, 1846 (major, Fourth Infantry, February 16, 1847); on recruiting service, 1847; in the war with Mexico, 1847-48, being engaged in the capture of San Antonio, August 20, 1847; battle of Cherubusco, August 20, 1847; battle of Molino del Rey (brevet lieutenant-colonel, September 8, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco, Mexico), September 8, 1847, where he was wounded; and assault and capture of the City of Mexico, September 13-14, 1847 (brevet colonel, September 8, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Molino del Rey Mexico) on frontier duty at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 1849; Fort Howard, Wis., 1849-51; Fort Snelling, Minn., 1851-53, 1853-54, and Fort Ridgely, Minn., 1854 (lieutenant-colonel, Sixth Infantry, March 9, 1851); in garrison at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1854-55; on frontier duty on Sioux Expedition, 1855-56; Fort Pierre, Dak., 1856, and Fort Randall, Dak., 1856-57 (colonel, Second Infantry, October 18, 1855); in command of the Department of the West, May 24 to October 2, 1858 (headquarters at St. Louis, Mo.), and on sick leave of absence, 1858-59. Died January 19, 1859, at St. Louis, Mo., aged 55. JOSEPH H. PAWLING, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from July 1, 1925, to July 1, 1829, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to brevet second lieutenant, First Infantry, July 1, 1829. Served on frontier duty at Fort Crawford, Wis., 1829-30; resigned November 30, 1830. Civil History: Counselor at-law, Doylestown, Pa., 1842-43; clerk in the War Department, Washington, D. C., 1843-47. Died July 9, 1847, at Doylestown, Pa., aged 39. JOHN H. HILL, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from July 1, 1825, to July 1, 1839, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to second lieutenant, Second Dragoons, July 1, 1833; served on recruiting-service, 1839; in the Florida War, 1834-40; on recruiting service, 1840: in the Florida War, 1840-41; on frontier duty at Fort Washita, Ind. Ter., 1842-45 (first lieutenant, Second Dragoons, October 8, 1841); in military occupation of Texas, 1845-46; in the war with Mexico, 1846-47, being engaged in the siege of Vera Cruz, March 9-29, and skirmish of Puente del Medio, March 24, 1847. Died July 29, 1847, at Puebla, Mexico, aged 28. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK, born Pennsylvania. -Military History: cadet at the United States Military 314 PICTURE OF GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK APPEARS HERE. Academy from July 1, 1840, to July 1, 1844, where he was graduated and promoted in the army to brevet second lieutenant, 6th infantry. July 1, 1844, served, on frontier duty at Fort Towson, Ind. Ter., 1844-45, and at Fort Washita, Ind. Ter., 1845-47; on recruiting service, 1847; in the War with Mexico (second lieutenant, 6th infantry, June 17, 1846),1847-48, being engaged in the defense of Convoy at the National Bridge, August 12, 1847, -Skirmish at Plan del Rio, August 15, 1847; capture of San Antonio, August 12, 1847; battle of Cherubusco, August 20, 1847, (brevet first lieutenant, August 20, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles of Contreras and Cherubusco, Mexico); battle of Molino del Rey, September 8, 1847, and assault and capture of the City of Mexico, September 13-14, 1847; in garrison at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1848; as quartermaster 6th infantry, June 30, 1848 to October 1, 1849, and adjutant, October 1, 1849 to November 7, 1855, at regimental headquarters at Fort Crawford, Iowa, 1848-49; St. Louis, Mo., 1849-51, and Jefferson Barracks, Mo., 1851-52, 1852-55 (first lieutenant 6th infantry, January 27, 1853, to June 5, 1860); as assistant adjutant-general of the department of the west, headquarters at St. Louis, Mo., June 19 to November 27, 1855 (captain staff, assistant quartermaster, November 7, 1855); on quartermaster duty at Fort Myers, Fla., 1856-57; during hostilities against the Seminole Indians; Fort Leavenworth, Kan., with troops quelling Kansas disturbances, August 1, to December 31, 1857, and at Depot, January 1, to March 31, 1858; at headquarters of Utah reinforcements, May 15, to July 15, 1858; on march with 6th infantry from Fort Bridger, Utah, to California, August 13, to November 15, 1858; and chief quartermaster of southern district of California at Los Angeles, May 5, 1859 to August 3, 1861. Served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-66; in the defenses of Washington, D. C., September 1861 to March 1862; (brigadier-general United States volunteers, September 23, 1861). In the Virginia Peninsula campaign (Army of the Potomac), March August, 1862, being engaged in the siege of Yorktown, April 5,-May 4,1862; battle of Williamsburg, May 5,1862; battle of the Chickahominy, June 27, 1862; action of Golding's Farm, June 28, 1862; battle of Savage Station, June 29, 1862; battle of White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862, and retreat to Harrison's Landing, July 1-4, 1862; on the movement to Centreville, Va., August-September, 1862; in the Maryland campaign; (Army of the Potomac) September-November, 1862, being engaged in the battle of Crampton's Pass, South Mountain, September 14, 1862; battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862; reconnoisance from Harper's Ferry to Charlestown, Va., October 10-11, 1862; march to Falmouth, Va., October-November, 1862 (indoor-general United States volunteers, November 29, 1862, to July 26, 1866); in the Rappahannock campaign (Army of the Potomac), December, 1862. June 1863 being engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, and battle of Chancellorsville, May 2-4, 1863; in the Pennsylvania campaign, June-July, 1863; in command of 2d corps of the Army of the Potomac, being engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, where he was severely wounded in the repulse of Longstreet's attack upon our left centre, which he at the time commanded; on sick leave of absence, disabled by wound, July 4 December 27, 1863; (major, staff-quartermaster, United States army, November 30, 1863), in command of, and recruiting 2d army corps, January March, 1864; in the Richmond campaign, commanding 2d corps of Army of the Potomac, being engaged in the battle of the Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864; battles of Spottsylvania, May 9-20, 1864; battle of North Anna, May 23-24,1864; battle of Tolopotomy, May 29-81, 1864; battle of Cold Harbor, June 3,1864, and operations in its vicinity, June 3-12, 1864; march to James River, June 12-15, 1864; battle before Petersburg, June 16-18, 1864; on sick leave of absence, on account of breaking out of Gettysburg wound, June 19-27, 1864; in operations about Petersburg, in command of 2d corps, Army of the Potomac, being engaged in the battles of Deep Bottom (in command), July 27-29, and August 15-20, 1864, (brigadier-general United States army, August 12, 1864); battle of Reams' Station (in command), August 25, 1864, battle of Boydton Plank-Road (in command), October 27, 1864; siege of Petersburg, June 15-November 26, 1864; at Washington, D. C., organizing First Army Corps of veterans, November 27, 1864 to February 27, 1875; in command of Department of West Virginia and temporarily of the Middle Military Division and Army of the Shenandoah, February 27 to July 18, 1865, (brevet major-general United States army, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services at battle of Spottsylvania, Va.); of the Middle Department July 18, 1865, to August 10, 1866; of Department of the Missouri (major-general United States army, July 26,1866), August 20, 1866, to _____, being engaged on expedition against the Indians of the plains, March, 1867, to _____; on board for retiring disabled officers at Philadelphia, Pa., November 27, 1865, to August 30, 1866, and on board to make recommendations in regard to ordnance, January 30-June 4, 1866; in command of the Department of the Missouri, August 20,1866, to September 12, 1867; of the Fifth Military District November 29, 1867, to March 16, 1868; of the Division of the Atlantic, March 31, 1868, to March 5, 1869; of the Department of Dakota May 17, 1869, to December 3, 1872; of the Division of the Atlantic, headquarters New York City, December 16, 1872, to ____; and of the Department of the East, December 16, 1872 to October 29, 1873, and November 8, 1877, to ____; and as member of the court of inquiry in the case of General Dyer, November 9, 1868, to May 15, 1869, and of board to examine officers unfit for the proper 315 discharge of their duties, etc., October 17, 1870, to June 3, 1871. ADAM L. SLEMMER, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United State, Military Academy from September 1, 1846, to July 1, 1850, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to brevet second lieutenant of artillery, July 1 1850; served in Florida hostilities against the Seminole Indians, 1850-51 (second lieutenant First Artillery, February 22, 1851); on frontier duty at San Diego, Cal., 1851-52; San Louis Rey, Cal., 1852; San Diego, Cal., 1853-54; and Fort Yuma, Cal., 1854 (first lieutenant First Artillery, April 30, 1854); in garrison at Fort Moultrie, S. C., 1855); at the Military Academy 1855-59, as assistant professor of geography, history and ethics September 13, 1869[sic] to September 6, 1856, and assistant professor of mathematics September 9, 1856 to August 31, 1859; in garrison at Fort Moultrie, S. C., 1859-40, and Barrancas Barracks, Fla., 1856-61; served during the Rebellion of the seceding states, 1861-66; in command of Fort Barrancas and barracks till January 10, 1861, when he transferred his forces to Fort Pickens, in defense of which he remained till May 9, 1861, being in command till April 14, 1861; in garrison at Fort Hamilton, N, Y., May 18 to July 3, 1861 (major Sixteenth Infantry May 14, 1861); in organizing and recruiting his regiment at Chicago, Ill., July 3 to August 20, 1861; as acting inspector-general of the Department of the Ohio, August 20 to November 5, 1861, being engaged on an expedition from Parkesburg to Roane C. H., Va., September, 1861; on sick leave of absence December 12, 1861, to May 12, 1862; in Major General Buell's operations in Mississippi, North Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky, May-November 1862, being engaged in the siege of Corinth, May 13-30, 1862, movement to I June-September, 1862, and advance Louisville, Ky., into Kentucky by Bowling Green to relieve Nashville, September-November, 1862; in the Tennessee campaign (Army of the Cumberland), November 7 to December, 1862, (brigadier-general United States Volunteers, November 29, 1862), being engaged in the battle of Stone River, December 31, 1862, where he was severely wounded (brevet lieutenant-colonel December 31, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service at the battle of Mulfreeboro' Tenn) on sick leave of absence, disabled by wound, March 10 to July 3, 1863; as president of the board of examiners of sick and wounded officers at Columbus and Cincinnati Ohio July 3 1863 to September 14, 1865 (lieutenant-colonel Fourth Infantry Feburary 8, 1864); in garrison at Fort Schuyler N Y September 30to November 24, 1865, and Madison Barracks brevet Colonel March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service during the Rebellion (brevet brigadier general United States Army March 13, 1865 for gallant and meritorious service during the Rebellion Sackett's Harbor, N. Y. November 28,1865 to October 1, 1866 (mustered out of volunteer service August 24, 1865); on board for the examination of candidates for promotion in the army, October 1, 1866 to October 1867; on frontier duty at Fort Laramie, Dak., November 17, 1867 to 6ctober 7, 1868; (died October 7, 1868, at Fort Laramie, Dak. aged forty. HENRY W. FREEDLEY, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from July 1, 1852, to July 1, 1855, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to brevet lieutenant of infantry July 1, 1855; served in garrison at Fortress Monroe, Va., 1855, and on frontier duty at Fort Fillmore, N. M., 1856 (second lieutenant Third Infantry September 30, 1855); Tucson, Arizona., 18,56-57; Fort Fillmore, N. M., 1856-57; Los Lunas, N. M, 1858-59; Fort Defiance, N. M., 1859; Los Lunas, N. M., 1859-60; march to Texas, 1860; Fort Clark, Tex., 1860-61, and on quartermaster duty at San Antonio, Tex., 1861, where he was captured and paroled (captain Third Infantry May 14, 1861); served during the Rebellion of the seceding states, 1862-66: as assistant to the commissary-general of prisoners at Washington, D. C., June 14, 1862, to, April 11, 1863; in the Rappahannock campaign (Army of the Potomac) April to June, 1863, being engaged in the battle of Chancellorsville May 2-4, 1863; in the Pennsylvania campaign, in command of the Third Infantry (Army of the Potomac), June to July, 1863; being engaged in the battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, where he was wounded; on sick leave of absence, disabled by wound, July 4,1863 to November 23, 1864 (brevet lieutenant-colonel July 2,1863, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Gettysburg, Pa.); in command of draft depot at Carlisle, Pa., November 23, 1864 to May 30, 1865; as mustering officer at Providence, R. I., May 30, 1965 to February 1, 1866; on quartermaster and commissary duty at Jefferson Barracks, Mo., February 1 to -March 28, 1866; on recruiting service March 28, 1866 to February 21, 1868 (major Thirty-ninth Infantry July 28, 1866); on duty at headquarters Department of California, June to September 25, 1868 (major Fourteenth Infantry December 31, 1867); as deputy governor of "Soldier's Home," near Washington, D. C., September 11, 1869, to February 21, 1870 (retired from active service, as colonel, September 25, 1868 (changed to major March 3, 1875, for disibility from wounds received at battle). CHARLES H BRIGHTLY, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from September 1, 1857, to June 24, 1861, when he was graduated, and promoted in the army to brevet second lieutenant Fourth Infantry June 24, 1861; second Lieutenant Fourth Infantry June 24, 1861 first lieutenant Fourth Infantry June 24, 1861; served during the Rebellion of the Seceding States, 1861-64 in drilling volunteers at Washington, D. C., June to July, 1861 as a mustering officer at Trenton, N. J. August 30, 1861 to April 21, 1862; as aid-de-camp to Brigadier-General Whipple in the defenses 316 of Washington, D. C., May 6 to October 10, 1862 (major of staff, additional aid-de-camp, June 17, 1862 to February 7,1863), and on the Rappahannock River, October to November, 1862; on leave of absence November 28, 1862 to March 17, 1863 (captain Fourth Infantry September 16, 1862); in command of company at Falmouth, Va., March 17 to April 20, 1863; on sick leave of absence April 20 to August 21, 1863 (brevet major May 3,1863, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of Chancellorsville, Va.; as instructor of heavy artillery drill at Fort Richmond, N. Y., September 17, 1863 to January 19, 1864; in command of regiment at Fort Wood, N. Y., January 19 to April 23, 1864; in the Richmond campaign, ,commanding Fourth Infantry (Army of the Potomac), April to May, 1864, being engaged in the battle of the Wilderness May 6, 1864 (brevet lieutenant-colonel May 6, 1864, for gallant and meritorious services at the battle of the Wilderness, Va.), when he was mortally wounded; died on sick leave of absence, disabled by wound, May 7 to June 9,1864; died June 9,1864, at Philadelphia, Pa., of wounds received at the battle of the Wilderness, Va., aged twenty-five. WILLIAM H. CHASE, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from July 1, 1861 to June 23, 1865, when be was graduated and promoted in the army to second lieutenant First Artillery June 23, 1865; served in garrison at Fort Totten, D. C.[sic], October 1 to 17, 1865; Fort Wadsworth, N. Y., October 18, 1865 May 7, 1866; at Fort Trumbull, Conn., May 7 to June 22 (first lieutenant First Artillery February 1st), 1866, being detached to the Canadian frontier to prevent Fench raids, June 2, 1866; with Engineer Battalion at Willett's Point, N. Y., June 27, 1866 transferred June 2, 1866, to rank as first lieutenant of Corps Of Engineers from February 1, 1866 to ___, being battalion quartermaster from November 6, 1866 to ___; on engineer recruiting service from November 9 to December 14, 1866. JAMES FORNANCE, born in Pennsylvania. -Military History: Cadet at the United States Military Academy from September 1, 1867 to June 12, 1871, when he was graduated and promoted in the army to second lieutenant Thirteenth Infantry, June 12,1871; served on frontier duty at Camp Douglas, Utah, September 30,1871 to December, 1872; Camp Stambaugh, Wyoming, April 27 to November 11, 1872; first lieutenant Thirteenth Infantry June 29, 1872; Fort Fred. Steele, Wyoming, December 16, 1872 to February15, 1874; Sioux expedition to March, 1874, and Camp Robinson, Nebraska, to October 11, 1874; in garrison at New Orleans, La., October 23, 1874 to June 1, 1875; Baton Rouge, La., June 2, 1875 to February 29, 1876; Bayou Sara, La., March 1 to November 11, 1876; leave of absence from April 9 to October 8 1876; New Orleans, La., November 13, 1 1876 to May 25, 1877; Baton Rouge, La., May 26 to July 28, 1877; Louisville, Ky., Wilkesbarre and Scranton, Pa., suppressing railroad disturbances, July 28 to October 31, 1877; Baton Rouge, La., October 31, 1877. GEORGE R. BURNETT, cadet at the United States Military Academy from 1876 to 1880; second lieutenant Ninth Cavalry U.S.A. Record of the graduates of the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md., who were from the Congressional district to which Montgomery County belonged: Midshipmen - FREDRICK V. McNAIR, born in Pennsylvania. Appointed from Pennsylvania October 27, 1859; Naval Academy, 1859-61; steam frigate "Minnesota," East India squadron, 1857-59; steam sloop "Iroquois," West Gulf squadron, 1861-62; bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and Chalmette batteries; engagement at Grand Gulf; passage both ways of Vicksburg batteries and destruction of rebel ram "Arkansas"; commissioned as lieutenant April 18, 1861; steam sloop "Juniata,"1862-3; steam sloop "Seminole," Western Gulf blockading squadron, 1863-64; steam sloop "Juniata," South Atlantic blockading squadron, 1864-45; at both attacks on Fort Fisher; commissioned as lieutenant commander April 20,1864; steam sloop "Juniata," Brazil squadron, 1865-66; steamer "Brooklyn," flag-ship South Atlantic squadron, 1866-67; Naval Academy, 1868; frigate "Franklin," flag-ship European squadron, 1868-69; commissioned commander January 29, 1872. FREDERICK J. NAILF, born in Pennsylvania. Appointed October 27,1859; Naval Academy, 1859-6I; attached to frigate "St. Lawrence," Atlantic coast, 1861; sinking of privateer "Petrel," 1861; steam sloop "Oneida," Western Gulf blockading squadron, 1862; attack on and passage of Forts Jackson and St. Philip and Chalmette batteries; capture of New Orleans; bombardment and passage of Vicksburg batteries twice; promoted to ensign, 1862; Mississippi squadron, 1863-65; signal-officer of "Black Hawk," 1863-4; commanded flag-ships "Black Hawk" and "Tempest" 1864-65; Red River expedition, 1864; co-operation of the Mississippi squadron, on the Cumberland and Tennessee, with the army under General Thomas, in the defeat of the rebel General Hood; commissioned as lieutenant February 22, 1864; steamer "Lenapee," Atlantic squadron, 1866-7; commissioned as lieutenant-commander July 25, 1866; steamer "Penobscot," North Atlantic squadron, 1868-69; signal duty, 1669-70, at Washington, D. C.; retired, 1871, from disability, caused by sickness and exposure on duty. T F. MOSER, 1864 to 1870. J. L. HUNSICKER, 1867 to 1873. W. G. HANNUM, 1872 to 1878. THOMAS H. MATHEWS, 1876 to 1882. Cadet Engineers.- CHARLES C. LUBE, 1874-78. Drowned at Cape May, 1878. EDWARD 0. C. ACKER, 1874-78. In service. 317 WILLIAM H. GARTLEY, 1877-81. Resigned. CHARLES W. DYSON, 1879-83. In service. GEORGE F. ZINNEL, 1879-83. Resigned.