Richard Henderson

Crawford County, PA

Marker Text: Born a slave in Maryland in 1801, he escaped as a boy and about 1824 came to Meadville. A barber, he was long active in the Underground Railroad. His Arch Street house, since torn down, is estimated to have harbored some 500 runaway slaves prior to the Civil War.

Location: At the corner of Liberty and Arch Streets, next to Bethel AME Church, Meadville, PA.  Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1980.

  When the Richard Henderson marker above was approved in 1980, it represented only the third time a African American Pennsylvanian had been honored by a state historical marker.

Bethel A.M.E. Church is on the left of the marker and faces Liberty Street, Arch Street is on the right. Click any photo to enlarge.

  According to Meadville tradition, Richard Henderson was the first permanent black resident of Meadville. Richard had escaped from slavery at the age of 15 with his two brothers and a sister. The brothers survived, but the sister died after catching pneumonia during the journey. One of the Henderson brothers continued north to Canada. The other two, Richard and Robert, established a barbershop in town.

  Richard Henderson's residence was located near this marker according to a 1875 Meadville map his home would have been across the street from the church about three houses east of the church on Arch Street. His home operated as a station along the Underground Railroad and is estimated to have aided some 500 runaway slaves.

Arch Street is on the right and according to 1875 map, Henderson’s home would have been located approximately where the yellow house is across from the church in the photo.

  While his brother Robert eventually left to establish his own barbershop in nearby Brookville, Richard remained in Meadville. There, he was a leader in the local Underground Railroad network from the 1830s to the 1860s. Abolitionist John Brown lived north of Meadville until 1835 and did came to Meadville often. He helped to establish other stations for the Underground Railroad in the surrounding area. Though I did not find any specific evidence of a connection and it is very likely that John Brown and Richard Henderson knew each other in regard to Underground Railroad operations and may have learned from each other.

  Richard Henderson was a prominent member of the African American community, where he helped to form Meadville's Bethel A.M.E. Church in 1849 (where this marker is located) and served as an early trustee. Richard Henderson married twice. His second wife, Mary, was born in Erie, PA in 1821. Together they raised two sons, Edward and Lincoln. Edward Henderson recalled that he saw his parents provided shelter and a hiding place in their home for as many as twenty fugitives at a time. Richard Henderson died in 1880 at the age of 79 and is buried in Meadville.

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John Brown's Tannery (Part 2)

Crawford County, PA

Marker Text:  John Brown of Ossawatomie and Harper's Ferry worked here as a tanner, 1825-35. The nearby house was then his home. His first wife and son are buried near.

Location:  On John Brown Road, a short distance south of PA Route 77, New Richmond, PA. (There is another marker same title on Route 77, just west of this road.) Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1946.

Photo taken looking toward Route 77 with the path to the museum on the right.

  This is the second marker of two historical markers related to John Brown. (see Part 1) This marker is the older of the two and located on a secondary road across from the old tannery foundation. The newer one (1969) was probably erected to point people to this location, since you would not see this marker, unless you happened to drive this road or knew the tannery was here.

John Brown's Tannery (Part 1)

Crawford County, PA

Marker Text:  On the side road, a short distance south, are the remains of the tannery and home built by the noted abolitionist of Harper's Ferry fame. Here, he lived and worked from 1825 to 1835, employing as many as 15 men in producing leather.

Location: Twelve miles northeast of Meadville, PA following PA Route 77, just west of intersection with John Brown Road at New Richmond. Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1969.

“Now, if it is deemed necessary that I should forfeit my life... and mingle my blood... with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked, cruel, and unjust enactments, I say, let it be done.” John Brown, 1859, before being sentenced to hang.

Photo taken looking southeast on Route 77 going toward Meadville, PA

  John Brown is most notably remembered as one of the nation’s greatest abolitionist’s, for his failed raid on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in 1859 and his hanging in Charlestown, WV.  As all historical figures, they also had lives apart from what they are most notably remembered and shaped what was to come in the future.

  John Brown was a businessman, entrepreneur, community leader, civic minded, interested in the welfare of his neighbors and a respectable citizen during much of his life.

  If you read a short biography of John Brown's life, they may not mention or offer only a brief explanation that Brown ever lived in Crawford County, Pennsylvania in a small community called New Richmond (which he helped to start) northeast of Meadville, PA. They might also fail to mention that John Brown lived here south of where this marker is located longer than he lived anywhere else as an adult (1825-1835).