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Archiver > QUAKER-ROOTS > 2010-09 > 1283549345


From: Elizabeth Zaring <>
Subject: Re: [Q-R] UGRR hiding places
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 17:29:05 -0400
References: <961145318.1735194.1283443279231.JavaMail.root@vznit170060>, ,<web-15063932@cgpb4.cgp.netins.net>,<A7FA21D5AF8A44D4AE920966BC5D384A@MarkPC>,<BAY113-W12DCCB25A941F0E3EC6E31DD8D0@phx.gbl>,<A080A4BF2BB74C8F9959DA586ABF08AC@MarkPC>
In-Reply-To: <A080A4BF2BB74C8F9959DA586ABF08AC@MarkPC>


Mark,

I stated what was the truth. I learned on the Internet that my gggg grandfather built a house in 1832 to accommodate slaves escaping on the UGRR. This was not a story that was passed down through my family. This information started my research on this history of my families involvement. I then traveled to the historical society library at Logan County Ohio and found much information on this matter. Until I read this on the Internet, I had no idea of my Pickrell families' involvement.

Did I answer your question?

Beth



From:
To:
Subject: Re: [Q-R] UGRR hiding places
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 17:21:52 -0400





Elizabeth, are you saying that, because you found this on the Internet, that it must be true?




From: Elizabeth Zaring
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 5:10 PM
To: ;
Subject: RE: [Q-R] UGRR hiding places

I learned on the Internet that my gggg grandfather built a house in 1832 in Logan County Ohio, to accommodate escaping slaves on the UGRR. Here is a cut and paste from the Ohio Historical Society..

"Henry Pickrell was a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Logan County, Ohio.
Henry Pickrell was born in 1775 in Grayson County, Virginia. He was raised as a member of the Society of Friends. On October 31, 1798, he married Achsah Paxson. The young couple soon moved to Ohio, where they eventually settled in Logan County, helping found Pickrelltown. Henry Pickrell earned his living as a farmer.
As Quakers, the Pickrells opposed slavery. They actively assisted fugitive slaves in attaining their freedom on the Underground Railroad. The Pickrell home, which was located on County Road 28, just north of Pickrelltown, contained four hiding places for fugitive slaves. Three of these hiding places were behind the home's walls, and the final one was in the basement. The Pickrells would place the runaway slaves inside wooden boxes large enough to hide two people and place them in a wagon, transporting them to the next stop on the Underground Railroad. Many of the fugitives supposedly chose to settle in Pickrelltown, finding relative safety among the Quakers.
Henry Pickrell represents the growing tensions over slavery between Northerners and Southerners during the early nineteenth century. While many Northern states had provisions outlawing slavery, runaway slaves did not necessarily gain their freedom upon arriving in a free state. Federal law permitted slaveowners to reclaim their runaway slaves. Some slaves managed to escape their owners on their own, while others sometimes received assistance from sympathetic Northerners, such as Pickrell.

References and Suggested Reading

Siebert, Wibur H. The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom. New York: Russell & Russell, 1898. "
I recently read Siebert's book and was interested to read of three Pickrells' listed as participating in the UGRR in Logan County Ohio; Henry Pickrell and his son Mahlon who was a conductor. But also listed was William Pickrell. I am descended from Henrys' son William and have been unable to determine if this is my William.

Beth Zaring


> From:
> To:
> Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 15:06:15 -0400
> Subject: Re: [Q-R] UGRR hiding places
>
> Other reasons can explain secret hiding spaces. The most obvious is to
> protect against theft. My wife owns a ca. 1765 desk with a hidden cubby
> hole for that purpose. Old trunks often had such spaces. So, it doesn't
> require much of a mental leap to grasp why our ancestors might have built
> similar hiding spaces into their homes.
>
> Don't let sentiment carry you to places that the evidence doesn't warrant.
>
> Mark
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Daniel W Treadway" <>
> Sent: Friday, September 03, 2010 2:49 PM
> To: <>; <>
> Subject: Re: [Q-R] UGRR hiding places
>
> > On Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:01:19 -0500 (CDT)
> > wrote:
> >>
> >> While never saying "never," I am skeptical of all stories about
> >> tunnels,
> >> special rooms and secret hiding places.
> >>
> >
> >
> > As a child I remember visiting relatives in Ohio who lived in a house
> > where one room had matching built-in cupboards. On close inspection you
> > could see that one was deeper than the other. In the shallower one, the
> > back could be removed to reveal a ladder that led into a low attic between
> > the ceiling and roof of the front porch.
> >
> > If I recall correctly, at the Levi Coffin house, there is a knee wall in
> > one of the upstairs bedrooms with one panel removable. This also leads to
> > a low attic space. The removable panel was normally hidden by the
> > headboard of a large bed.
> >
> > This article, which names several of my shirttail cousins, has the ring of
> > authenticity in my ear, and has a couple of mentions of fugitives hiding
> > in cellars:
> >
> > http://www.wvculture.org/history/journal_wvh/wvh20-2.html
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dan Treadway
> > P. O. Box 72 Gilbert IA 50105
> >
> > http://showcase.netins.net/web/treadway/
>
>
> -------------------------------
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