Six Penny Creek and the Underground Railroad

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The Underground Railroad, in its early stages, was comprised of Quakers and their friends and acquaintances or of members of other religious groups who would shelter and assist self-emancipated individuals on their journeys North[1]. The Underground Railroad grew in strength with the passage of the Federal Fugitive Slave Acts[1][2]. At the edge of a boarder state, Southeastern Pennsylvania was identified as a location early on where self-emancipated individuals could seek freedom[3]. The Six Penny Creek community grew near the home of Quaker Elizabeth Scarlett (1787-1839)[4]and her son Joseph (1821-1882)[5][6]. They owned Scarlett Mill[7]. Self-emancipated individuals from the South would come across the border into Pennsylvania and travel to Berks County, PA[8]. The Scarlett family housed self-emancipated individuals[9] in "Quaker Valley," Robeson Township, PA near Birdsboro,[10] Berks County, PA. Joseph Scarlett was active in aiding self-emancipated individuals beyond providing shelter at the family home. According to a newspaper article following his death, he was "an ardent friend of fugitive slaves, and did not hesitate at personal danger in assisting them"[11]. He was once in Pennington (now Atglen), PA, when he noticed an individual chained to a bar rail in a public house and learned that the man was to be taken away by slave hunters[12]. Overnight, the bar rail was sawed through and the man was gone, along with the handcuffs[13]. A pair of damaged handcuffs appeared in the Scarlett home after the event and hung on the wall[14]. Joseph Scarlett was also involved in the Christiana Tragedy in 1851[2] in Lancaster, PA,[15] which can be seen as an important precursor to the Civil War[16]. During the incident, Joseph Scarlett refused to help the "Gap Gang" arrest a group of self-emancipated individuals and prevented the death of a wounded man after the action of the event had concluded[17]. Joseph Scarlett was charged with treason and levying war against the United States government and spent ninety-seven days in Lancaster County Prison following the event[18]. He was one of three White men from the event to spend time in prison[19]. In 1870 Joseph Scarlett held a celebration for the anniversary of the emancipation proclamation on his property[20]. Joseph Scarlett was married[21] and was engaged in the green grocery business before his death[22].

Notes /

References

  • Claussen, Edmund. 1968. The Underground Railroad. The Mercury, December 4, 1968.[3]
  • The Daily Evening Express. 1875. A Scrap of History, August 21, 1875.[4]
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 January 2021), memorial page for Elizabeth Pownall Scarlet (25 Mar 1787–26 Jun 1839), Find a Grave Memorial no. 167131942, citing Robeson Monthly Meeting Cemetery, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by N.D. Scheidt (contributor 47099775).[5]
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 January 2021), memorial page for Joseph P. Scarlett (15 Mar 1821–8 Jul 1882), Find a Grave Memorial no. 87337897, citing West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA ; Maintained by Mary Harrell-Sesniak (contributor 46488639).[6]
  • Homan, Wayne E. 1958. The Underground Railroad. Historical Review of Berks County, Berks History Center.[7]
  • The Lancaster Examiner. 1870. Celebration, September 28, 1870.[8]
  • LaRoche, Cheryl Janifer. 2017. Free Black Communities and the Underground Railroad: The Geography of Resistance. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
  • National Park Service, Hopewell Furnace. 2015. African-Americans at Hopewell Furnace. National Park Service: U.S. Department of the Interior.[9]
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1882. The Slaves' Friend, July 19, 1882.[10]
  • Reading Times. 1882. An Exciting Episode Recalled by Death, July 25, 1882.[11]
  • The Saturday Express, 1851. Visit to the Christiana Prisoners, November 15, 1851.[12]
  • The Times - Philadelphia. 1882. The Riot at Christiana, January 30, 1882.[13]
  1. ↑ Homan 1958
  2. ↑ LaRoche 2017, 118
  3. ↑ Homan 1958
  4. ↑ Find a Grave
  5. ↑ Find a Grave
  6. ↑ LaRoche 2017, 96
  7. ↑ LaRoche 2017, 96
  8. ↑ LaRoche 2017, 96
  9. ↑ National Park Service 2015
  10. ↑ Claussen 1968
  11. ↑ Reading Times, 25 July 1882
  12. ↑ Homan 1958
  13. ↑ Homan 1958
  14. ↑ Homan 1958
  15. ↑ The Times, 30 January 1882
  16. ↑ The Daily Evening Express, 21 August 1875
  17. ↑ Homan 1958
  18. ↑ Homan 1958
  19. ↑ The Saturday Express, 15 November 1851
  20. ↑ The Lancaster Examiner, 28 September 1870
  21. ↑ Find a Grave
  22. ↑ The Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 July 1882
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