Ohio History Journal

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HISTORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

HISTORY OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

IN MECHANICSBURG

 

BY RALPH M. WATTS

 

"Champion of those who groan beneath

Oppression's iron hand:

In view of penury, hate and death,

I see thee fearless stand,

Still bearing up thy lofty brow,

In the steadfast strength of truth,

In manhood sealing well the vow

And promise of thy youth.

Go on, for thou hast chosen well;

On in the strength of God;

Long as one human heart shall swell

Beneath the tyrant's rod,

Speak in a suffering nation's ear,

As thou hast ever spoken,

Until the dead in sin shall hear,

The fetter's link be broken!"

Tribute to William Lloyd Garrison

--John Greenleaf Whittier.

One who has sojourned in the quiet little village of

Mechanicsburg can hardly realize that at one time in the

past it was the scene of stirring events that at times

took on the semblance of a real tragedy--a drama that

began as early as 1851 and did not reach its climax until

1857--a climax of such importance that it did as much

to create abolition spirit in Ohio as any other event, not

even excepting the Dred Scott Decision. During the

greater part of this period the friends of slavery dubbed

Mechanicsburg a "black abolition hole." In and around

Mechanicsburg there was a little group of men who

Vol. XLIII-14         (209)