At the Battle of Athens (long "a") Site in Missouri, archologists have
uncovered and underground chamber near the Des Moines River that was used by
the UGRR. I believe there is documentary evidence supporting it. There was a
confrontation between Missouri slaveholders the 1st Ohio prior to the battle
in the Quaker town across the river in Iowa. This is the only instance that
I can think of with primary sources.

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert L. Schuyler [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 9:58 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Underground RR


I have always wondered if all the stories about secret chambers, hidden
rooms, underground tunnels and passageways have any
support in the PRIMARY documentary record. It would seem to me that simply
hiding people in a back room, basement or
attic is more logical. Using an ice house, smoke house, church basement
etc. (i.e. features already in existence with other
functions) also makes more sense rather than building special units just to
serve the Underground RR. What do the primary
accounts say? Also what about movement outside?  Were there wagons or boats
(or do people claim such existed) with
secrete "people compartments"?

My students are telling me that James Delle in his current on-going
excavations at the Thaddeus Stevens House in Lancaster,
PA has uncovered a cistern-tunnel feature that MIGHT have served and been
built (actually added to) for the Underground
RR. If Delle is on this list he might want to give us a brief summary. His
find sounds very interesting.

                                                                 Bob
Schuyler

At 09:10 AM 6/25/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>The "tunnel to the river" is a common claim for reported Underground
>
>Railroad stops. Many 18th and 19th houses located on or near rivers had
>
>tunnels leading to the water for the purposes of loading and off-loading
>
>supplies from barges on the river. Since many people are unaware that this
>
>was not uncommon, they assume that it is related to the Underground
Railroad
>
>(probably because they assume some part of the Underground Railroad must be
>
>underground!).
>
>Evidence of Underground Railroad activities would be very difficult to
>
>distinguish archaeologically as most stops were very brief, only being long
>
>enough to permit a short rest before moving on. It is much more likely that
>
>documentary evidence such as court records or newspaper articles would
>
>provide that information. One may also gather the oral history concerning
>
>the site and check it against the archaeology of documentary history, just
>
>as you have done. If the oral history states that there was a tunnel (or
>
>basement, or hidden room) and the archaeological evidence supports this,
>
>then the oral tradition is given some support. The fact that the oral
>
>history at the site that you are discussing was not supported by the
>
>archeological evidence indicates to me that you were able to "debunk" that
>
>site.
>
>The US Park Service has a system for demonstrating that a property is
>
>related to the Underground Railroad for listing in the "National
Underground
>
>Railroad Network to Freedom." You can see their website at
>
>http://209.10.16.21/TEMPLATE/FrontEnd/program.cfm
>
><http://209.10.16.21/TEMPLATE/FrontEnd/program.cfm>
>
>Michael Striker
>
>ASC Group, Inc.
>
>1624 Burlington Pike, Suite D
>
>Florence, Kentucky 41042
>
>(859) 746-1967
>
>(859) 393-2177 (mobile)
>
>[log in to unmask]
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Kris
>Oswald
>Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 2:47 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: artifact ID
>
>
>this leads me to a question....how can somebody claim a house was a stop
for
>the underground railroad based on oral tradition alone?
>. .the reason i ask is that i did a emergency recovery effort for a house
>that was going to be demolished ..based on the stories by the local
>historical society this house had many runaway slaves stop on the way to
>canada.......upon excavation..not one artifact or the structure itself
>(hidden rooms/staircases)could be associated to that type of event ..claims
>of a tunnel leading to the basement from the river were disproven..water
>table was and is too high..although many artifacts from the time period
were
>recovered and some associated directly to the former residents...the
>theroies of the stop..started melting away......without the physical
>evidence i find it difficult to concur with the historical society..i dont
>want to busrt anybodys bubble...but i guess im looking for that smoking gun
>to prove them right..the second question is...am i being too critical of
the
>stop therory and the lack of evidence?..thanks for any reply
>
>   Kris Oswald
>
>
>
>Hi.  I'm late getting to this interesting discussion (in the field) so I
>apologize. Too bad we didn't find any harness chains in the basement
>fireplace-heated quarters room at the Chester Ashley mansion in Little
Rock,
>AR, in 1984.  Everyone had referred to the slave quarters but it was
unclear
>that the quarters were actually in the basement until we reread the
accounts
>in hindsight.
>       Re "chained up slaves", there's a Colonial Revival house in eastern
>Arkansas that some claim has slave chains in the basement, aside from the
>fact that the house has no basement and was built about 1910.  The owner
>says they are continually harassed by travelers driving down the "old
>military road" who want to stop in and see the chains.
>       And one project we are doing that at least is antebellum is at
>Lakeport in southeastern Arkansas.  There, the collapsed smokehouse is
>locally referred to as the "slave jail", though Vlach's 1993 Back of the
Big
>House makes it clear that sometimes indeed smokehouses did double duty as
>confinement locations.  More vivid to think of it as a jail than a
>smokehouse, but it's probably more important to think of every durn
ordinary
>antebellum plantation smokehouse as a potential jail and therefore an
>"ordinary" and ubiquitous reminder of slavery.
>
>At 06:12 PM 6/18/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>To all,
>
>The consensus on the chain artifact ID question is that it is part of a tug
>or
>heel chain which has probably been shortened. The tug or heel chain
attached
>to a trace of leather straps by way of the plate on the end, which attached
>to
>the horse or mule and via hooks on the opposite end to a singletree - all
>for
>pulling a wagon, cart or other such load.
>
>The story behind this artifact is that it has been hanging on a hook in the
>basement of an antebellum mansion in Carthage, Tennessee for quite some
>time.
>Legend has it that the object was used to chain recalcitrant slaves in the
>basement. The architecture tells another story. The 6 room basement has 3
>exterior entrances and fireplaces in all but one of the rooms suggesting
>that
>people lived in the basement. In fact, according to oral tradition one of
>the
>rooms was used as a winter kitchen (the fireplace is rather large). I had
>the
>pleasure to meet a woman in Nashville who has a picture of her great-great
>grandmother who lived in that basement as a slave according to her family
>tradition. It appears that the reality of slaves living and working in this
>house transformed to them being shackled in the basement, possibly by the
>mere
>existence of this chain.
>
>The twentieth century edition of the story is also interesting. The legend
>of
>slaves being chained in the basement of the house is well in the town of
>Carthage, TN. Carthage is home to Al Gore. On his presidential campaign
Gore
>used the house as a stop on a media tour of his hometown. According to the
>current owners Gore took all the news anchors to the basement to see the
>"shackles". I relate this, not as an indictment of Al Gore for weak
>historical
>knowledge, but to illustrate how an artifact can potentially change
history.
>And it's a darned interesting story. My thanks to all who contributed
>answers.
>I knew ya'll would come through.
>
>
>Michael
>
>Michael Strutt
>Director of Cultural Resources
>Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
>
>
>Leslie C. "Skip" Stewart-Abernathy
>Arkansas Archeological Survey
>phone 479 968-0381, fax 479 964-0872

Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
33rd & Spruce Streets
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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