History Spotlight
The Underground Railroad in Newtown by Doug Humes Photos courtesy of Newtown Square Historical Society
While the Pennsylvania Railroad did not start until 1894, Newtown had a very active railroad prior to the Civil War: the Underground Railroad. When slaves escaped servitude in the South, they followed the “drinking gourd” – the Big Dipper, traveling at night and hiding out during the day in homes and barns. They were led by local “conductors” who knew the safe houses, as well as unsympathetic neighbors to be avoided. Newtown was largely settled by Quakers who were very active in the abolition movement, and, therefore, sympathetic to the idea of a railroad transporting escaped slaves to the next stop. David Garrett Pratt was from an old Quaker family, and as
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General store in Newtown Square, managed by David Pratt
the proprietor of the general store and post office next to the Farmers Inn, he was in a position to know all the local news. If search parties stopped to quench their thirst, Pratt would engage them in conversation, listen sympathetically, and draw them out as to their plans. He would then know when it was safe to spirit his contraband cargo — hidden under supplies in his wagon — off to the next stop. Perhaps it was to the Lewis Tannery in Marple, or to one of Samuel Sellers’ safe houses in
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Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors
February 2022
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