Upper Darby Underground Railroad tour

On Saturday June 18, 2022, the Recreation Dept of Upper Darby Township held a tour of prominent Underground Railroad sites in the township to honor Juneteenth.  Even though I have lived in Upper Darby for 37 years and was aware that the township had a history in the Underground Railroad, I was not aware of how vital this area was in the network of Underground Railroad operatives in the Delaware Valley.

The Underground Railroad included secret networks of people who assisted
escaped enslaved people seeking freedom. In Upper Darby township, members of the Garrett, Sellers, Pennock, and Rhoads families were particularly involved in this movement. Many of the people involved in this movement were Quakers.

At one stop on the tour I attended, Robert E. Seeley, a descendent of Thomas Garrett,  spoke about the extensive network that the large Garrett family had with other families in Delaware County, Chester County, and Wilmington, Delaware. In 1822, Thomas Garrett moved from Upper Darby to Wilmington, Delaware (where slavery was legal). Harriett Tubman often stopped at his home in Wilmington with freedom seekers. Thomas Garrett would then send the freedom seekers to his brothers in Upper Darby where the freedom seekers would be assisted to get to Canada as they were still not safe even in a state where slavery was illegal due to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1793. Together they helped over 2,700 people find freedom.  In 1848, Thomas Garrett was prosecuted in Delaware under the Fugitive Slave Law; he was fined $5,000, lost his business and his home. This only caused him to increase his efforts to help freedom seekers. In 1858 for example, Thomas Garrett assisted Ann Maria Jackson and her seven children, aged 2-16, to relocate to his brother Edward's house in Upper Darby.

Another member of the Underground Railroad movement from Upper Darby, Abraham Pennock became the first president of the West Chester Turnpike which gave him knowledge of approaching fugitive hunters from the south ; besides providing these hunters with false leads, he would also inform the families hiding the freedom seekers of their presence in the area so that extra precautions could be taken.  

Thomas Garrett and Abraham Pennock are just two examples of the many people and families from Upper Darby who took great risk to assist freedom seekers on their own risky, dangerous journey north.

This event was very worthwhile and I encourage all to learn more about the Underground Railroad which was very extensive in Chester and Delaware Counties.  

To take Upper Darby Township's Underground Railroad Walking Tour, go to https://www.upperdarby.org/UndergroundRailroadWalkingTour. Submitted by Rosanna Ceresini

Minute on Systemic Racism approved at Monthly Meeting 01/10/2021

Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. ​ [1 John 4:20-21, New International Version]

Love your neighbor as yourself. ​ [Mark 12:31, New International Version]

We are called to respond to the continued atrocities against, and attempts to continue to devalue and subjugate, people of color which goes against our faith and experience of God and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

We are called to understand the way other people experience navigating the world as seriously as our own experience. The important thing in this regard isn’t about finding immediate unity as a meeting, it’s about doing the work and then discovering unity.

Toward this end, we agree to begin on a project of Middletown Meeting members educating ourselves toward the goals described above, possibly as early as spring of 2021. Some ideas for group education include reading articles, watching YouTube videos, having a speaker, and attending online events e.g., via Zoom. The committee will put forward a program toward this end to be approved by the Business Meeting.

As we go through this work, we will seek to become educated as a meeting by discussing, examining, defining, and processing terms and acknowledging any feelings, such as discomfort or anger, individuals might have around certain terminology and concepts. By sharing with one another, actively listening to the experiences of others, and having honest dialog, our goal will be to grow through any possible conflict or disequilibrium. We will seek to speak and hear the truth in love.

Joanna Savery remembered

Joanna Savery was remembered in our ministry at or November 8 Meeting for Worship. Many of us recall the ability of Joanna to stand and settle a Worship’s ministry with her spiritual poetry. The poem below was brought forward by Carol, her daughter, into our Zoom worship this past Sunday.

A PRAYER FOR ALL WHO WOULD SERVE

Lord, keep us humble, in Thy holy power.
Remind us that we need Thee every hour.
If we would serve at Thy behest
Then we must not forget Thee, lest

Our work should wither e’re it comes to flower.
To keep thy spirit central is our mission
Wherever we may serve; not let tradition
Nor hope of worldly fame,
Nor any fear of loss or blame

Divert us from Thy way to false ambition.
Man’s immunity to man is rife.
The world is wracked with pain and loss of life
Lord, show us how our faith in Thee
Can turn our hearts so we can see

What Thou wouldst have us do to ease such strife.
The path of faith in Thee seems hard to follow.
Yet wherever Thou art missing, life is hollow.
But our commitment to Thy will
Can still with love the dream fulfill!

Lord, guide us lest in selfish fear we wallow.
At times it helps to follow ways made clear
By footsteps bravely trod in yesteryear.
But now our steps must flame anew
And let Thy Light flood shining through!

‘Twould blaze a trail of love to span the sphere.
Lord, grant us courage, patience, strength to cope
And vision to enlarge our wisdom’s scope.
We pray that Thou shalt walk beside us,
Clasp our hand in Thine and guide us.
We’re not alone! Thou art our life and hope.

By Joanna Ballou Savery

WIll Evans Tribute to a dear friend and co-worker

Poem shared in Meeting for Worship 20170924