Henry Brown’s Marker Reminds Us Of Slavery’s Evils

 

Henry Brown’s Marker Reminds Us Of Slavery’s Evils

This marker was dedicated Saturday on the unmarked grave of Underground Railroad conductor Henry Brown, whose final resting place in the Wilkes-Barre City Cemetery had lay unmarked for over a century.

Fred Adams | For Times Leader

It was the nature of the Underground Railroad to be unknown, for the conductors to operate deep in the shadows. Spiriting slaves from the South to freedom in the North required clandestine meetings, basement havens, secret rooms, hidden compartments in vehicles and, more frequently, travelling by foot on scarcely-used paths.

So it is understandable that many have lived in Wyoming Valley for decades without knowing the Railroad operated here, as it did in many other parts of the state. Pennsylvania was, remember, the first free state north of the Mason-Dixon line.

(A good starting point to see how extensive the Railroad operations were in Penn’s Woods — and what sites you can see for yourself — can be found at visitpa.Com, “Destination Freedom: Traveling the Underground Railroad.”)

Alas, the Keystone State did not provide safe harbor, despite being the state that passed the first gradual abolition law in 1780. The federal Fugitive Slave Law of 1793 enforced the return of anyone bound to labor in one state and fleeing to another.

So the operations were hush-hush. But the key word is “were.” It is past time to make more of the Underground Railroad in our area known, and a Saturday ceremony in Wilkes-Barre Cemetery went a long way in doing that.