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Archiver > PAFRANKL > 2004-10 > 1098747726


From: Shelley Murphy <>
Subject: Re: [PAFRANKL] Blacks/Mulatto's in Franklin county
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:43:25 -0400
References: <D1DF776C-253A-11D9-9C5E-000A95940806@adelphia.net> <417D4A49.000001.03816@TOSHIBA>
In-Reply-To: <417D4A49.000001.03816@TOSHIBA>


Good information Joyce, thanks for sending it out to us. I have some
oral history in my family: called it the PA story, a plantation owner,
handed down for several generations. last name Davis, scotch-irish,
SINGLE man, took a female slave in as his mistress, she bore him 3
kids, the owner was poisoned by the neighbors, they were not going to
allow a slave to be head of the household, on his death bed, he told
his mistress to take the children and flee North...Also, the plantation
owner owned Numerous slaves, and the plantation land had something to
do with City Hall property, and city hall burning down, not sure if it
is an older city hall that burned, or the location of where a current
one is located. The land went back to the state when the plantation
owner Davis died.

My mother and her siblings have heard this story all of their
life..there even was discussion from older family members saying that
they were going to court to get the land back, with the follow up that
they would never give back the land to any colored folks, regardless of
who owned it.

The assumption is that William Davis, the one found in the 1850 census
and 1843 tax record is the grandson of the plantation owner, or one of
the three kids...not sure yet...I have more to do in Franklin County,
need to get a map etc, I just found William this weekend, first
evidence that my Davis's were in PA. I live in VA, so I might not be
far and can make a trip to get into the land records..William Davis is
my great great grandfather
Thanks for all your help, Shelley


On Oct 25, 2004, at 2:47 PM, Joyce Cooper wrote:

> Hi Shelley and researchers,
> I have a book which I bought recently from ebay.com. It is called "PA,
> Franklin County, Excerpts from Historical Collections by Sherman Day.
> In it, it gives some information about the Underground Railroad and
> where
> some Negros lived. I will summarize it for you.
>
> Mercersburg (590 Alt., 1, 634 pop.) was settled in 1729 or 1730 was
> named
> for General Hugh Mercer, soldier and physician in the Revolution.
> The narrow passes in surrounding North, South, and Cove Mountains,
> together
> with Mercersburg's proximity to the Mason-Dixon line, made it an ideal
> theater in the 1840's and 1850's for abolitionist activity. "Centering
> here
> and extending through the tiny settlements from Rouzerville to Dickey's
> Mountain, a difficult area of 100 square miles, were the tangled
> "lines" of
> the Underground Railroad. Here too, the agents of the slaveholders
> worked
> achieving their aims by ruse or violence. On one occasion, when
> fugitive
> slaves chose to fight, an officer was killed and two others wounded.
> Fugitives were concealed and fed by day, then guided after dark to
> stations
> farther north. Pursuers complained that the ground had "swallowed up"
> their
> quarry, and one declared that there must be an "underground road
> somewhere,"
> an expression that caught the popular fancy."
> Many of the fugitives were headed for Canada, others established small
> colonies in the Mercersburg area. Twenty-five families of Negroes
> lived in a
> settlement called Africa.
>
> I hope some clues may be found in this information. I did not see the
> Davis
> name mentioned in the book.
>
> Joyce in CA
> http://www.geocities.com/jarmscoop
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
>
> From: Shelley Murphy
> Date: 10/23/04 14:32:39
> To:
> Subject: [PAFRANKL] Blacks/Mulatto's in Franklin county
>
> hi has anyone came across information on the blacks or mulatto's living
> in franklin county before 1850. I have family (DAVIS) that was in the
> 1850 census, but trying to find out more about the area. Actually have
> a William Davis born 1817.
> Thanks Shelley
>
> .
>

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