[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1110-E1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 PRAISING THE PASSAGE OF H.R. 1635, THE NATIONAL UNDERGROUND RAILROAD 
                     NETWORK TO FREEDOM ACT OF 1998

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JULIA CARSON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 1998

  Ms. CARSON. Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday, June 9, 1998, my colleagues and 
I passed H.R. 1635, the National Underground Railroad Network to 
Freedom Act of 1998, by an overwhelming vote--415 yeas to 2 nays. This 
legislation will establish within the United States

[[Page E1111]]

National Park Service the National Underground Railroad Network to 
Freedom program to facilitate partnerships among Federal, state and 
local governments and the private sector to identify and commemorate 
the Underground Railroad. Commemorating the Underground Railroad 
Network is well-deserved and will help every American understand what 
the Underground Railroad was and how it helped thousands of slaves to 
secure their freedom and their place in history. Through the program, 
structures, routes and sites which were significant to the Underground 
Railroad will be identified. The National Park Service will create a 
logo to identify these sites and distribute interpretive information 
for visitors to understand the use of the Railroad.
  The Underground Railroad stretched for thousands of miles from 
Kentucky and Virginia across Ohio and Indiana. The Underground Railroad 
movement was responsible for helping approximately 70,000 slaves escape 
and journey safely to freedom. Attempts made through the Underground 
Railroad were made at tremendous risk for those fleeing slavery and 
anyone who helped along the way.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud that the people of Indiana were an important 
part of the national effort to help slaves attain their freedom. 
Indiana contained several routes and stopping points of the Underground 
Railroad. The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
Indianapolis, founded in 1836 by William Paul Quinn and Augustus 
Turner, became active in the antislavery movement, often harboring 
fugitive slaves en route to Canada. Their promotion of the abolitionist 
movement and their activities in the Underground Railroad were not well 
received by some members of the local community. Promoters of slavery 
are believed to be the culprit behind the fire that destroyed this 
church in 1862.
  The town of Westfield, directly north of Indianapolis, was known as 
the ``North-Central Station of the Underground Railroad.'' This town 
was the last hope for slave hunters to recapture a slave. Once a 
fugitive slave traveled this far north, he or she was considered safe.
  The home of Levi and Catherine Coffin in Fountain City was referred 
to as ``The Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad.'' Three 
main lines of the Underground Railroad from Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 
Indiana, Madison and Jeffersonville, converged at Fountain City and the 
Coffin's home. They helped more than 2,000 runaway slaves escape to 
freedom, using their home as a principal depot. A Kentucky slave owner 
was the originator of the name ``Underground Railroad'' when he 
referred to the Coffin's home and said, ``they must have an underground 
railroad running hereabouts, and Levi Coffin must be the President of 
it.'' Simeon and Rachel Halliday, characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin are 
based on the Coffins. Its heroine, Eliza Harris, also stayed with the 
Coffins as a fugitive for several days.
  Eleutherian College classroom and chapel building, located on State 
Route 250--just east of Lancaster, Indiana, constructed between 1854 
and 1856, was the first college in Indiana to admit students without 
regard to race or gender. Three of the college's trustees, Samuel 
Tibbetts, Lyman Hoyt, and James Nelson, were among the most active 
participants in the Underground Railroad in and around Lancaster. 
Lancaster was a known stop for fugitive slaves traveling from Madison, 
Indiana to Indianapolis. Eleutherian College embodied its founders 
antislavery sentiments, and the school's location, atop the highest 
hill in the area, was a physical and symbolic statement of the 
community's beliefs.
  Near West Franklin in Posey County, runaway slaves were helped across 
the Ohio River. Lake, Porter, and LaPorte counties all had places where 
slaves could be hidden until they could be smuggled on boats and 
carried farther north on the Underground Railroad network.
  Evansville was another place where the slaves crossed the Ohio River. 
The Indiana city was the home of many freed slaves, who provided places 
for the runaways to hide. Another crossing of the Ohio River was 
between Owensboro in Kentucky, and Rockport in Indiana. Rockport has a 
regular crossing at the mouth of the Indiana Creek.
  I would like to praise the individuals on the following list of names 
of Underground Railroad Operators from Indiana, divided by county: 
Bartholomew--John Hall, Willis Newsom, Parker, Willis Parks, John 
Thomas, Wears; Bond--James Douglass, Anthony Hill, Robert McFarland, 
John A. McLain, James Rosbrough, James Wafer; Boone--Samuel Johns; 
Carroll--Robert Montgomery; Cass--J.E. Crain, Dr. Ruel Faber, Jim Hill, 
Barton R. Keep, William M. Kreider, W.T.S. Manly, Joseph Patterson, 
Jeptha Powell, Josiah O. Powell, Lemuel Powell, Lyourgus Powell, 
William Powell, Thomas T. Tomlinson, Turner, Capt. Vigus, Batley White; 
Dearborn--John Collier, Ralph Collier, John Hansell, Thomas Smith; 
Decatur--Cady, Capen, Luther Donnell, A.W. Knapp, Taylor; Delaware--
Swain; Elkhart--Dr. Matchett; Gibson--Rev. McCormack; Grant--Charles 
Baldwin, Nathan Coggeshall, Aaron Hill, David Jay, John Ratliff, John 
Shugart; Hendricks--Harlan Harvey, Dr. T.B. Harvey, Dr. William F. 
Harvey, Elisha Hobbs; Henry--Isaac Adamson, John Bales, Jonathan Bond, 
Charles Burley, William Charuness, Jr., Roger Edgerton, Seth Hinshaw, 
Dr. Iddings, Jesse Jessup, Tidaman Jessup, Enoch Macy, Jonathan Macy, 
Lilburne Macy, Phebe Macy, William Macy, Alpheus Saint, W.D. Schooley, 
Mrs. Jane Small, Caleb Wickersham; Howard--Daniel Jones; Jackson--
Richard Cox, WIllis Parks; Jefferson--James Baxter, John Carr, Robert 
Eliott, Louis Hickland, Judge Stephens, Rev. Robert Stephenson, Isaac 
Waggner, Jacob Wagner; Jay--Baird, Brown family, Thomas Gray, Haines 
Family, Hopkins family, Jonah Ira, Enos Lewis, Mendenahll family, 
Joshus Puxon, Williams family, Wright family; Jennings--Bland, Aaron 
Deney, Thomas Deney, Jacob Hale, Felix Hicklen, James Hicklen, Dr. John 
Hicklen, Louis Hicklen, Thomas Hicklen, Marshall, Eli Stanley, James 
Stott, Samuel Stott; Kosciuko--Gordon, Thomas Harpers, Chauncsy 
Hurlburts; LaPorte--Dr. George M. Dakin, Harper, Rev., W.B. Williams; 
Montgomery--Samuel Clarke, Fisher Doherty, Elmers, Emmons, John Speed; 
Morgan--Williams; Nobel--Waterhouse, Stutely Whitford; Parke--Alfred 
Hadley, W.P. Stanley; Putnam--Parker S. Browder, ``Singing'' Joe 
Hillis; Randolph--Alexanders, Amos Bond, John H. Bond, John Clayton, 
Willis Crane, Bury Diggs, Jr., Daniel Jones, John A. Moorman, Soloman 
Rinard, Samuel Smith, Lemuel Wiggins, A. Worth, Soloman Wright, Zimri; 
Ripley--James Bland, Dr. A.P. Cady, Dautherd, Francis Holton, Henry 
Hughes, Walter Hulse, Henry King, Duncan McDowell, Washington L. 
McDowell, F.M. Merrell, Willett Neil, George Passmore, Joseph Passmore, 
Ervin Queer, Hiram Smith, John S. Van Cleave, Jared Van Cleave, Henry 
Waddle, James Waggoner; Rush--Tristan Cogeshall, John H. Frazee, 
Johathan I. Gray, Henry Henley, Milton Hill, Sidiman Jessop, Henry 
Macy, Robert Patterson, Zachareal Small, Abraham Small, Elisha B. 
White; Steuben--Lewis Barnard, Capt. Butler Barry, Henry Butler, M.B. 
Butler, S. Seymour, S.W. Clark, Allen Fox, Denison Fox, J.A. Fox, Judge 
Gale, Hendry, Samuel Jackson, Augustus Kimball, S. McGowan, Nelson 
Newton, Rev. E.R. Spear, Waterhouse; Tippecanoe--Lewis Falley, Moses 
Hockett, Benjamin Hollingsworth, John Hollingsworth, John Robinson; 
Union--William Beard, Dr. Casterline, J.P. Elliott, Edwin Gardner, Joel 
Hayworth, William Huddleson, John Maxwell, Gabriel Smith; Vermilion--
William Beard; Wabash--Avery Brace, William Hayward, Maurice Placo; 
Washington--James L. Thompson; William Penn Trueblood; Wayne--William 
John Charnnese Charles, Daniel Clark, John Coe, Levi Coffin, Gogshalls, 
George DeBaptiste, Thomas Edgerton, Thomas Frazier, Reuben Goems, 
Jonath Haddleson, Harris, James Hayworth, Daniel Hill, William Hough, 
Daniel Huff, Zimri Huff, Dr. Johnson, Lewis, Malsbys, Mareys, Maxwell 
family, Samuel Moore, Samuel Nixon, Overman, Daniel Puckett, Able 
Roberts, Dr. Benjamin Stanton, Ira Stanley, Luke Thomas, Lewis 
Thornburg, Jonathan Unthank, Dr. Henry Way, John Whippo, David Wilcuts, 
John F. Williams, Martha Wooton; White--James Lawrie; Miscellaneous--
Honorable Isaac Brandt, Maxwell, Dr. A.J. Smith, and Talberts.
  The Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program will provide an 
educational program dedicated to preserving, displaying and 
distributing the history of the Underground Railroad, and therefore 
allowing Americans of all walks of life to understand the important 
contribution to the history of the Underground Railroad. The 
Underground Railroad is a story of great courage and determination and 
the struggle for freedom in this country. It teaches us the important 
lessons about liberty, understanding, cooperation and reconciliation.

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