Indian Run is a populated place in Wilmington Township of

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, and its largest city is Hermitage. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. Merce ...

, named for the stream Indian Run. Indian Run had a reputation as a "safe haven" for African Americans, whether they were free or escaping slavery. White Chapel Church was established by abolitionists who broke away from a church in

New Wilmington New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

. In the 1840s, a settlement was created for freedmen called Pandenarium. John Young and others were prominent

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

conductors.

Early days

John Young Sr. settled in Mercer County in 1804, bringing his wife Elizabeth Elder Young and children William, Jane, Mary, Hannah, Isabel, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, and David from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. With him was one of the few slaves to live in Mercer County, Margaret Johnston, known as Peggy (1763–1854). She had two children, Sallie and Robert Johnson, that were born in Mercer County. In his will of 1825, Young asked that Peg be supported by the farm, which he left to his sons John and David. In accordance with the

An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery, passed by the Fifth Pennsylvania General Assembly on 1 March 1780, prescribed an end for slavery in Pennsylvania. It was the first act abolishing slavery in the course of human history to be adopted by a ...

(1780), her children would be free at age 28.

White Chapel Church and Cemetery

In 1907, the White Chapel Church was built on Mercer–New Castle Road. The land was purchased from Eugene Blake for one dollar. The church was founded in 1842 when some of the members of the Neshannock Presbyterian Church in

broke away from the church over disagreements about slavery. Indian Run was particularly known for its ardent

abolitionists Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

. John Young led the group and had the first church built across from the White Chapel Cemetery on a plot of his land or land supplied by James Minich. The church was dedicated as a place to speak out against slavery. It was named for Joseph White who delivered runaways from New Castle, where he lived, to John Young at Indian Run.

Underground Railroad

It was also a station for the

in the mid-1800s. John and his son David Young were conductors at Indian Run, and they would sometimes transport runaway slaves between their houses to avoid slave catchers, having been warned by his neighbors that slave catchers were in the area and where they were headed. He worked in concert with his niece Elizabeth Stewart Kilgore, whose residence, also an Underground Railroad station, was six miles away. Neighbors of the Youngs, James and his son John Minick were also conductors. Neighboring stops in

Brookfield, Ohio Brookfield Township is one of the twenty-four townships of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The 2000 census found 10,020 people in the township, 9,921 of whom lived in the unincorporated portions of the township. Geography Located in the So ...

and Jamestown and

Mercer, Pennsylvania Mercer is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,982 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Mahoning Vall ...

were part of the well-traveled route through Western Pennsylvania to Canada. Fugitives were also taken from Indian Run to Sheakleyville and then to

Ashtabula, Ohio Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the United States micropolitan area, Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, nort ...

, where they were taken by boat to Canada. People searching for runaway slaves, like slave catchers and slaveholders, monitored the route between New Castle and Ashtabula. John Young transported people across the lake to Canada a number of times. Hundreds of former slaves traveled through these stations to attain their freedom. They spent their nights traveling, often under stage coaches or in piles of hay in wagons, and hid during the daytime. For instance, some people were hidden in secret compartments in a house's crawl space. Stops were generally spaced the distance for a horse to travel at night. The Underground Railroad activities became more dangerous with the passage of the

Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one of the most co ...

Pandenarium

Pandenarium, believed to mean a fertile and plowed plateau, was a settlement established just for freed African American men, women, and children. It was established by Dr. Charles Everett, a plantation owner and physician from Virginia. He was a slaveholder who also believed that slavery was sinful. He began freeing his slaves in 1837, and they stayed on his plantation where they were paid for their work. Everett died in 1848 and he provided for a new future for his freed slaves in his will. He left them each $1,000 (), which was used to buy the freedom of spouses and other family members who were scattered away from Everett's plantation: Nancy Bell bought her husband Dan. His nephew, Dr. Charles D. Everett, bought 50 acres in Indian Run for the settlement, from which people were given two-acre plots of land. Construction began about 1849 for what was to be a community with a stagecoach stop, stores, and a church. By 1854, there were 24 two-story houses with gardens, wells and graded roads. Clothing, farming implements, and furniture were provided as well. A Baptist church was constructed for the community. Sixty-three former slaves arrived with their families—including George Washington Lewis and John and Rosie Allen—on November 12, 1854. They traveled by train from Keswick, east of

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Cha ...

and near the plantation at

Shadwell Shadwell is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets , east of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff (to the east). This riverside location has meant ...

. At New Brighton, they traveled on packet boats along the

Pennsylvania Canal The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assemb ...

. Abolitionists met them at New Castle and transported them to Indian Run. George Washington Lewis, his wife Caroline, and daughter Emma lived at Pendenarium. Rather than living in the houses built by abolitionists, residents built shacks along the Indian Run Creek. They moved into the houses after a flood of

Shenango River The Shenango River is a principal tributary of the Beaver River, approximately 100 mi (160 km) long, In 1855, Pandenarium was recognized by Pennsylvania State Legislature with Act number 324. The act was established to "authorize and empower the Court of Common Pleas of Mercer county to legitimate certain persons who were emancipated by the last will and testament of Dr. C.D. Everett, late of Albemarle county, Virginia." It listed the names of the people who were manumitted by Everett's will and others who were explicitly identified to prevent them from being kidnapped back into slavery. The settlement grew to 100 acres. 127th US Colored Troops banner

During the 19th century, there were newspaper stories that focused on how life was difficult in the community. People died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

, and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. The residents were not accustomed to the winters. The creek Indian Run, or Shenango River, caused damage when it overflowed. They suffered financial losses from people who took advantage of them. Unfriendly neighbors wrongfully accused residents and went on rides in the night to scare them. Archaeologist Angela Jaillet-Wentling found, though, that although they had some difficulties, the community members flourished from 1854 into the 1930s. Many people moved to nearby towns. George Washington Lewis (c1836 – 1916) served in the 127th United States Colored Infantry Regiment during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. There were residents there until the 1930s, when six members of the Robinson family were on the federal census.

Archaeological study

An archaeological study at Pandenarium was conducted beginning in 2009 by Angela Jaillet-Wentling, who was from the area. The site for the excavation included the Allen family residence that housed a number of generations. The initial town layout was made according to a mindset for a northern rural village by local abolitionists. It evolved over time to more closely resemble quarters for enslaved laborers on Mulberry Row at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

and the town of Hadley in

. Archaeology helps explain how people lived their daily lives, based upon what has been left behind. Houses were initially settled along a single interior road of the community, but African Americans established residences near main roads and near a stream. John Allen's blacksmith shop remained alongside the stream, even after seasonal flooding of the early years in Pandenarium, which had resulted in new houses being set at a higher elevation and a little further back from the stream. Bob and Lizzie Allen raised their biracial children, the third generation of residents, near both Pandenarium and residences of European Americans. The archaeological remains from around 1874 to 1896 showed an interest in education, toys that they played with, how they wore their hair based upon found hair ornaments, and the types of clothes that they wore. Toy tea sets used by the Allens' children were like those of their neighbors, but tended to be colorful and decorative, like those found at Mulberry Row. Evidence also showed that families lived at Pendenarium for multiple generations and that the community changed over time to best suit their changing lives. Census data told of their education levels, ethnicity, and ages. It also identified who owned their own land.

Historical marker

A historical marker was dedicated in November 2019 at the Helen Black Miller Memorial Chapel in Mercer of the Mercer County Historical Society. It was erected on the west side of

U.S. Route 19 U.S. Route 19 (US 19) is a north–south U.S. Highway in the Eastern United States. Despite encroaching Interstate Highways, the route has remained a long-haul road, connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Lake Erie. The highway's southern ...

near the Iron Bridge Inn. Nearby, there was a community called Liberia that was established for people who escaped slavery.

Notes

References

External links

Map of Indian Run / Pandernarium
{{Authority control Mercer County, Pennsylvania Underground Railroad American freedmen