The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1907-05-02
A SLAVE-DAY STORY.
A Chapter Hitherto Unpublished in
the History of Plymouth.

but now successful business man of
South Bend, has been spending a few
days III Plymouth among the scenes
of his boyhood.
His name recalls a slave story, in
teresting and eventful, that is a part
of the earlier but unwfitten history
of Plymouth. 1t is unwritten because
at the time of its occurrence and or
many years following 1t was not pru-
dent to make it known, and in time
all the participants in this and other
coincident undertakings that preced-
ed the civil war passed to that
bourne whence no traveller returns"
taking their secrets with them.
Walters father, tie late Henry B.
Pershing was for many years one of
the principal citizens of the then
little Gown of Plymouth. His drug
store was on the spot now occupied
by the First National bank. Mr..
Pershing was rank" Republican
and prior to the Republican party,
an Abolitionist. His store was the
ren-czvous for Republicans who
were then largely in the minority,
and they had no leader until the late
|. Mattingly came here. 1t was along
in 1s56-5s and the slavery question
had unsettled the country. The
Douglas-Lincoln campaign in Illinois
had become of national prominence,
resulting in making each the candi-
date OF his party for the presidency.
Colfax was rising in popularity. as "a
political force, which resulted, a few
years later, in that memorable joint
debate between Colfax and Turpie,
covering the old Ninth district-the
greatest joint campaign the Thjr-
teenth district has ever known-and
which. in all probability, placed Col
fax in the speakers chair of the
House of Representatives, and made
Turpie a senator of the United
States.
The new Republican party came
into being in 1s54-55 The Kansas
Nebraska bill had been passed, which
measure started slavery disputes
anew and created much unrest and
anxiety in the vast territory affected
by its provisions. The Dred Scott
decision had aroused much. sectional
feeling; the Missouri compromise
had been declared by the supreme
court unconstitutional; the fugitive
slave law was in force, making it a
criminal act to aid or abet runaway
slave, and also making it compulsory
in the free states, for a citizen to
hold a runaway slave and return him
to his owner
1t was under the operation of these
strongly guarded laws that the
underground railroad scheme was
carried on-a part of the history of
northern Indiana that never will be
written. A chain of secret service
was maintained, in defiance of the
fugitive slave law. whereby runaway
slaves were transported to the north
ern border line and thence to liberty.
Mr.. Pershing was credited with be-
ing a leader in this railroading work,
and in the case in hand he is pre-
sumed to have been the agent
In the old "Rice and Smith" build
ing, burned couple of years ago.
there was a front room. with little
side room, connected by door. A
father who worked on this railroad
gave his boy Is cents and told him
to go up in that room and colored
man would cut his hair. The negro
came out from the little off room
where he had been lying on the floor
stiff, limping and used up from long
travel, and performed the hair cut. 1T
was new thing for the boy, whose
hair had always been cut by his faith
er, and at school he told Of it. Ii
soon became noised about that "a
nigger'' was "in town." The excite
ment in the then little town was in
tensifed by the news, coming almost
simultaneously, that slave-catchers
from Kentucky had traced runaway
slave to Laporte and were coming
this way The news had reached the
drug store. A farm wagon drove into
the alley at the rear of the Smith
building. Down the front stairway
came a form carrying big dry
goods box that enveloped him to the
legs. 1t moved around to the wagor
and the driver loaded the box into
the wagon and drove north. The run
away slave had escaped. but never I
soul in Plymouth, aside from probabl'
two or three, knew how. AT the lit
tie burg of Lakevile the charge wa:
given over to young man wht
seemed to understand his busines:
and the negro was secreted. IN. I
school house half mile north of tn,
village, thence he was taken to Niles
Mich, and there found his liberty.
So far as is known, but one per
son in that drama of the slave-da,
time is living. He is now .nearl,
eighty and resides in Marshall coun
ty, but there is one other person 1iv
ing in Plymouth who remember
we'll the incident of the slave-catch
ers coming from Laporte to Ply
mouth, and he is Representatiy'
Daniel Mcdonald.
In Justice Court.
The case of the State of Indiana
on relation of Liberty Cross, "
r~,x,t u,;,ac urac heard before TuS