Bitter Words: Civil War Feelings Split Families

      We talk about how divided our society and political discourse are today. Avoid discussing politics at family gatherings, we say; don't want to trigger an outburst from Aunt Edna or Cousin Eddie. This pales compared to the deep divisions during the Civil War: North vs South, Slave vs Free, States rights vs one Union. Virginia had seceded from the Union in 1861, yet western Virginia (present day West Virginia) residents mostly favored staying in the Union. Emotions often ran hot in border areas, including the Ohio Valley. Disagreements led to the breakdown of relationships between family members, friends, and neighbors. 

     Such was the case with the Hendersons of Henderson Hall in Wood County WV. George W. Henderson, builder of Henderson Hall Plantation, was a slave owner but an ardent Union supporter. He was a delegate at the First Wheeling Statehood Convention and active in forming the state of West Virginia.

Henderson Hall, Williamstown WV, founded 1836 by George W. Henderson and Elizabeth Tomlinson Henderson

     Letters from daughter Mary Henderson Beeson to her sister Margaret Henderson (Bartlett) reveal stress within the family. Mary was married to Benjamin Beeson, a prominent Parkersburg resident and Confederate sympathizer. He was jailed in the early part of the war for his vocal secessionist views. George W. Henderson’s son, George Jr. was a passionate Union man, having served briefly in the Union Army at Camp Chase in Columbus before being discharged due to illness in the fall of 1862. Junior had railed against Mary and her husband for their successionist views, as the letters show. This letter from Mary to Margaret was written in August 1861:

"Dear Sister:

...We are all well but Ben he has been suffering with toothache. How are you all, why don't you write, you need not be offended at me because (brother) George so foolishly got angry. I hope you will not resent his imaginary insults, but he got so angry; no one meant to insult him.

We spoke in all kindness, but he so far forgot himself as to wish we were all dead. He wishes all secessionists dead and their children. I told him he includes me and my children and he said, well if we were such fools as to be secessionist...; but I forgive him, he knew not what he said.

I cannot resent such things though I can never forget them. I maintain the same feeling for you that I always did. We bear no enmity though there have been hard words & insinuations.

Ever yours, (Mary) P. Beeson"

     A second letter from Mary to Margaret a few weeks later concluded with these poignant words: "I have forgiven (my brother’s) cruel words but I do not want to see him. Time may wear off the edge of bitterness, but it is very hard for a sister to be told such bitter words by a brother whom she has nursed and tendered and dearly loved from his infancy, but I suppose loyalty now must supersede anything."

     Troop activity in Marietta-Parkersburg was intense. Union General McClellan recognized the importance of securing the Ohio River and B&O rail corridor running through West Virginia. Parkersburg was a key staging point because it was the terminus of the Northwestern Virginia Railroad connecting to the Baltimore and Ohio line at Grafton WV. That offered access to all of northern and western Virginia. Newly formed Ohio units crossed the Ohio River at various points. Many passed Henderson Hall Plantation on River Road. Family records indicate that troops bivouacked on the property and may have conducted drills there. 

     George Jr. was home for Christmas in December, 1862. He decorated the third-floor ballroom at Henderson Hall, writing to his father in Wheeling on December 18 that the family enjoyed a party and dancing in the ballroom. Three weeks later on January 5, George W. Henderson Jr. was dead – a victim of the typhoid fever that had stalked him for months. Due to extreme winter weather, no preacher was available; his father was forced to read the burial service for his own son. His death was a crushing blow. The family no longer used the ballroom that George Jr. had decorated. It’s doubtful that his passing healed the pain of his “bitter words” the year before. This was the story of a single family. Millions of others endured similar suffering during the Civil War.

Wood County Pioneer: Alexander Henderson, Jr.

 A duel was fought in Belpre, Ohio on October 8, 1805. That caught my attention. I had never heard of this or any other duel in the Ohio Country. It seemed out of character with practices of that time, though the famous duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had taken place just a year earlier. The duel combatants were Alexander Henderson, Jr. and Stephen Wilson, both of Wood County, Virginia (now WV). Here is a newspaper account from the Virginia Argyle on December 4, 1805, likely reprinted from the Ohio Gazette:

We understand that a Duel was fought on the 8th (of October, 1805) in the settlement of Belpre, Ohio, by Stephen R. Wilson and Alexander Henderson both of Wood County, Virginia. The distance agreed upon was fifteen steps, and to wheel and fire; when the word was given, they both advanced, the one in a deliberate walk, the other at full speed, till when within an arm’s length of each other, when they both fired and fell side by side. Mr. Wilson received a ball in his knee which shattered it to pieces. Mr Henderson a ball in his thigh near the upper joint, which it was feared would deprive him of his life; but we understand that they both are in a fair way of recovery. - Ohio Gaz

I discovered this curious and underreported event while reading The Hendersons: One Family’s Legacy by Pamela Brust. This book chronicles the fascinating story of the Henderson family of Wood County, West Virginia. Alexander Henderson, Jr. was an early area pioneer with numerous Marietta connections. I was captivated by his life of pioneering successes sadly intermingled with tragic low points. Alexander Jr. was known by his nickname (shared with his father), "Sandy." He was described as "fair, blue-eyed, handsome with a most cheerful and genial disposition."

Alexander achieved a number of pioneering "firsts" in his Wood-Washington County community:

• One of the first settlers in what is now Wirt County WV, then a remote wilderness
• Fought in the first (and probably last) recorded duel in Ohio
• One of the first area settlers who successfully overcame a permanent disability
• Was a Captain in the first Wood County militia
• One of the first magistrates in Wood County
• One of the first, with his brother, to alert President Thomas Jefferson of Aaron Burr’s allegedly treasonous plot
• A charter member of the first Washington/Wood County Agricultural and Manufacturing Society board
• Worked as cashier at the first chartered bank in Ohio - the Bank of Marietta
• Was one of the first members and vestrymen at St. Lukes Episcopal Church in Marietta

Also, he had or learned many skills: farmer, hunter, land broker and developer, civic leader, socialite, banker, judge.

But there were devastating low points with life-changing impacts.

• The duel which inflicted permanent physical injury, making him “a cripple for life.”
• The deaths of two of their children as young adults in the bilious fever epidemic of 1823.
• Bankruptcy in 1826, requiring all of his assets to be sold to meet debts, from which he never recovered.

The Henderson family American patriarch, Alexander Henderson, Sr., was a wealthy businessman and politician from Dumfries, Virginia. He was a close friend and associate of George Washington - on whose advice Henderson Sr. purchased land in western Virginia. Washington also owned land in the area, including the “Washington Bottom” area of Wood County. Three of the Henderson sons, John G., Alexander Jr., and James settled on Henderson land located in today’s Wood, Wirt, and Pleasants Counties. John G. was the first arrival, in 1797; Alexander Jr. followed in April, 1799. They brought slaves from Dumfries to help them clear land and raise cabins.

Life was rough and dangerous on the Western Virginia frontier. The early days of their habitation were challenging. John Glassford Henderson, Alexander Jr.'s brother, mentioned numerous setbacks and financial losses in his journal - horses lost, damage from windstorms, livestock killed by bears, illness and injury of their slaves. There was the constant threat of disease: malaria, smallpox, and similar epidemics were commonplace.

With the help of his brother and their slaves, Alexander Jr. carved out a homestead known as "Beech Park" near Burning Springs along the Little Kanawha River. He returned to Dumfries and married Jane Hutchinson Lithgow, known in the family as "Hutchie," on May 21, 1801. The wedding was performed by Mason L. Weems, author of the "Life of Washington" and creator of the well known George Washington cherry tree tale. He was also pastor of the Pohick Church where Alexander Henderson Sr. attended and was a vestryman along with Virginia luminaries George Washington, George Mason, and others. Sandy and Hutchie returned to their wilderness home at Burning Springs on August 28, 1801. 

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Beech Park: Copy by author of image from The Hendersons, One Family’s Legacy, by Pamela Brust

They settled in. Before moving west, Hutchie had sought a neighbor's help to learn the pioneer skills of spinning and weaving. Author James Callahan includes a quaint description of her adaptation to frontier living: “It was a new experience for her. She had been reared in luxury and was a petted beauty, unused to any kind of hardship. She took up the duties of life (in the wilderness) with good cheer and resourcefulness, and in her cabin in the wilderness, five miles distant from a neighbor, learned to spin and weave......” She became quite skilled in making coverlets, quilts, and other adornments which later became family heirlooms. 

She gave birth to their first child, George Washington Henderson, in 1801. He grew up to be quite successful and established Henderson Hall plantation. Two other children, John Alexander (1803-1823) and Mary Page (1805-1823) followed but died as young adults from a malaria epidemic which swept the area in 1823. 

Alexander, Jr. and his brother John G. were active in civic activities and social life of the area. Early accounts mention their involvement in land brokerage. Alexander was appointed as a captain in the militia. He is listed as one of several Justices in Wood County, Virginia in an 1811 document. They were acquaintances of Harman Blennerhassett, prominent socialite, owner of the island Blennerhassett Mansion, and associate of Aaron Burr in the “Burr Conspiracy.”

Alexander’s life took an unexpected and tragic turn in 1805 when he fought a duel with Stephen Wilson. The two had been at odds for some time. Observers noted that Wilson was the primary instigator of ill will. Alexander called Wilson a “paltroon and coward” in response to an accusation from Wilson. Wilson then challenged Alexander to a duel to be fought on a bluff overlooking the river in Belpre, Ohio. That location in Ohio was probably selected since dueling was prohibited in Virginia.

It’s likely that Henderson’s family and friends tried to dissuade him from dueling. He had three young children and was otherwise well established in the Wood County community. Why risk his life answering a spurious accusation from a scoundrel like Wilson? His granddaughter-in-law, Anna Rosalie Henderson, years later voiced eloquent dismay at his choice to duel: “From the wound inflicted by this duel...., a hearty young man 27 years of age was made a cripple for life.......What unspeakable folly of theirs, handicapped for such a trifle? What a trial it must have been to his wife, what ceaseless regret to himself.”

The report of the duel suggests that they were almost face to face when shots rang out. I thought that duelers stayed some distance apart. Both were seriously wounded but survived. Alexander was thought near death at one point but gradually recovered. Sadly, he was left with permanent disability, unable to walk without a crutch. He could ride a horse but only with a side saddle; some of those saddles remain at Henderson Hall.

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This article appeared directly under the newspaper report of the Henderson duel. It recounts a threatened duel from 1753 in Massachusetts. The would-be duelers were arrested and pleaded guilty. Their sentence was “to be carried with a rope about their necks to the gallows in a carat and to sit on the gallows with the rope about their necks for the space of an hour and afterwards to be committed to jail...for twelve months...” Apparently the judge - and the editor of this newspaper decades later - were serious about making a public statement to discourage duels.

Disability did not slow Alexander Henderson Jr. down. He resumed his business, family, and social activities. Shortly after his recovery, he was in the national spotlight with his brother John G., testifying at the trial of Aaron Burr. Harman Blennerhassett, a friend of Alexander and his brother, had tried to recruit the Alexanders in late 1806 to the Aaron Burr project. The Hendersons were shocked at Blennerhassett’s description and apparent endorsement of Burr’s treasonous-sounding plan. They contacted their father Alexander Henderson Sr., who in turn alerted President Jefferson. Jefferson dispatched John Graham, Governor of the Orleans Territory and a person known to Alexander Sr., to the Ohio Valley to learn of Burr’s plans. Graham talked to the Alexander brothers and Blennerhassett himself. He then left to alert Ohio governor Edward Tiffin, urging action to thwart the planned actions of Burr and his agents.

A few years later, Alexander Jr. and his family moved to Marietta to take advantage of educational opportunities there for the children. He lived at 126 Second Street in a brick house. While in Marietta, he worked at the Bank of Marietta from 1815-22 and was treasurer of Marietta schools. In 1819 served on the first board of “Agriculture and Manufacturing Society of Washington County, Ohio and Wood County, Virginia.” It was set up to encourage and support farming activity in the area. He was also a faithful member and vestryman of the St. Luke’s Episcopal church in Marietta.

Alexander and his brother John G. developed a substantial farm at Cow Creek in 1806 near Willow Island in Pleasants County Virginia. The family referred to it as the Cow Creek farm. Lewis Summers kept a journal of his visit to the area in 1808. He mentions the Henderson farm: “this farm contains 2,000 acres, about 200 in corn, expect to make 2,000 barrels. They work 30 hands. Stock of hogs, cattle, and horses fine.” Henderson built a home there in 1814 which still stands today, used as an office by Solvay Technology Solutions.

Cow Creek Farm home built about 1814, at Willow Island, now in use as an office

Alexander Jr.’s family lived there when tragedy struck in 1823. Their son John Alexander and daughter Mary Page died within days of each other of “bilious fever” (believed to be forms of Malaria and Yellow Fever) in December of 1823. There was a substantial epidemic at the time. Read more about it by clicking here. Their oldest son George Washington (GW) Henderson was studying law in eastern Virginia at the time and escaped the illness.

Loss of children from illness was common in those days. It must have been devastating. GW and his wife Elizabeth Tomlinson Henderson would lose seven children to illness decades later. Elizabeth wore a brooch  with locks of her deceased children’s hair and often experienced bouts of depression. Her journals mention her faith as a major support. Such must have been the experience of Alexander Jr. and his wife Jane.

Their woes were compounded as financial setbacks occurred in the 1820’s. He had purchased land near Cow Creek from relatives thinking he could pay for them over time. But he could not. There were also land ownership disputes with other parties. His son GW returned to the area from law school to recover from the financial problems. Such efforts failed. All of his property and possessions had to be sold in September of 1826 to settle debts. Apparently there were bitter accusations from his some of his siblings. 

Alexander sadly recorded his thoughts in a notebook: “I am 49 years of age, and we are about to stripped of all that we have....The prospect is gloomy indeed. I have struggled hard, have endured great privations...I came to Wood County 27 years ago last April when it was nearly a wilderness and assisted not a little to open farms for my brothers and sisters benefit. Far from meaning to act dishonestly toward my brothers and sisters I have, as I live, done the best in my power to advance their interest. More might be said on this subject but I forbear.” 

It was an embarrassing, disappointing outcome for such a talented and capable leader. Thereafter he lived with or near his son George Washington Henderson. Despite the setback, Alexander and John’s pioneering efforts assured that the Henderson family would continue to be an economic, social, and political force in the area for many years to come.

Sources:

Brust, Pamela Douglas, The Hendersons, One Family’s Legacy, Bloomington IN, AuthorHouse, 2019

Callahan, James Morton, History of West Virginia, Old and New, Volume 3. Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1923

Cunningham, Connie, “Echoes from Henderson Hall: The History of One Pioneer Family Settling in the Ohio Valley,” a master’s degree thesis, Marietta College, 2005

Henderson Hall website, history section, https://hendersonhallwv.com/

House, John A, “Pioneers in Wood County, WV”, a paper document published in 1936, viewed at http://wvancestry.com/ReferenceMaterial/Files/Pioneers_of_Wood_County_West_Virginia_Vol_1.pdf

Newspapers.com, searches for reports of the 1805 duel

Wikitree.com, Alexander Henderson (Sr.) (1737-1815)

WikiTree.com, Alexander Henderson Jr. (1778-1838)

Williams, H. Z., History of Washington County Ohio, Cleveland, H. Z. Williams and Bro, 1881

David Putnam, Jr., Conductor on the UGRR. All Aboard!

"The alarm was given through Harmar that a mob had assembled at (David, Jr.) Putnam's house and had threatened to destroy it ; that a large number of men were there from Wood County (then Virgina) and more ware coming..." So the Marietta Intelligencer of February 11, 1847 reported when David Putnam, Jr., a "conductor" on the Underground Railroad, harbored two escaping slaves, one named Steven belonging to George Henderson. 

The account went on to report that the pro-slavery mob from Virginia was "vexed to learn that the negroes were dressed up in cloaks, marched unnoticed through the crowd, furnished with horses, and started post haste for Queen Victoria's dominions (Canada)." Clever. This episode sparked a lawsuit against Putnam by Virginia plantation owner George Henderson. More on that later.

David Putnam, Jr. becomes an abolitionist

David Putnam, Jr. was one of seven children of the distinguished David Putnam. David Sr. was a Yale-educated local civic leader and instructor at Muskingum Academy - the first institute of higher learning in the Northwest Territory.

Photo from Henry Burke blog Article "In Memory of Abolitionist David Putnam, Jr, 1808-1892, at http://henryburke1010.tripod.com/id52.html

David, Jr. inherited the Putnam family's disdain for slavery. His father was opposed to slavery. Nancy Putnam Hollister, Marietta civic leader and a descendant of David's brother Douglas, observed that  "All of the (Putnam) family members were really abolitionists." David had seen slaves in neighboring Virginia "sold down the river" into the deep south, often separated from their families. He became a zealous abolitionist.

In 1835 William Weld, distinguished anti-slavery lecturer visited Marietta. He wanted to speak at Marietta College. That was considered unsafe because of the risk of violence from pro-slavery interests. He lectured instead at the local library. Weld was an eloquent, persuasive speaker. A local anti-slavery society was formed in 1835. David Putnam, Jr. was active in the movement which also attracted other area leaders.

Emotions ran high on both sides of the slavery issue. In the two decades leading up to the Civil War, many slaves escaped to freedom by crossing the Ohio River. Slaves called it the River Jordan. They were harbored by sympathetic people on the Ohio side where slavery was illegal. The fugitive slaves were placed into a network of secret routes and safe houses on a route to Canada on what became known as the Underground Railroad (UGRR).

Underground Railroad route map. Image from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Railroad_in_Indiana. Map compiled from The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom by Wilbur H. Siebert. 

CLICK  ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE FOR EASIER VIEWING.

Putnam operated a mercantile business in Harmar and was involved in local civic organizations. But his most notable passion was helping fugitive slaves escape. He formed a network with area anti-slavery sympathizers. Those included Col. John Stone in Belpre, Judge Ephraim Cutler in Constitution, and many others.

Fearless fighter

David Putnam, Jr. was fearless in his anti-slavery efforts. He sheltered runaway slaves in his own home, often at risk to him and his family. His home was built in 1831 -  part frame and part brick, located on Maple Street. It was torn down in 1953 for a highway improvement. Reports suggest that a smoke house located at the rear of his home had a false ceiling which was used to hide slaves. Another account refers to a secret tunnel in the cellar. Putnam boasted that he kept slaves in the parlor, though that seems unlikely.

David Putnam, Jr. home. Photo from Henry Burke blog Article "In Memory of Abolitionist David Putnam, Jr, 1808-1892, at http://henryburke1010.tripod.com/id52.html

Putnam was quite willing to fight for the cause, literally. Late local historian Henry Burke described Putnam as "being willing to settle disputes either by diplomacy or with his bare knuckles." He often confronted slave bounty hunters. A contemporary of his, General Israel Putnam, described him as "in his prime a huge man towering several inches above six feet in height, with a voice and heart as big as his frame. 

Slave owners in western Virginia reviled him. Historian Wilbur H. Siebert stated in The Mysteries of Ohio’s Underground Railroads: “... he (Putnam) was hated across the Ohio (River) and was attacked by roughs when he stepped from a steamboat on to the Parkersburg (VA, now WV) wharf. Being a man of braun and courage, he fought them vigorously till he fell back into the river.” A steamboat deckhand kept him from drowning. Another version dates this story in 1839 and says Putnam was confronted by a man with a revolver at the Wood County Courthouse. A mob formed, throwing stones and shouting insults. Putnam was forced into the river where he was rescued.

Home and family were in the middle of sometimes dangerous action

Putnam's children knew about their father's efforts but were often unaware when fugitives were present. One rainy day, Putnam's young daughter Hannah was playing inside the house with a friend. They opened a closet to find a slave crouched inside. Apparently unfazed, Hannah closed the door and continued playing in another room. On another occasion, a visitor to the house named Miss Stone saw a slave who had run upstairs from the basement when a search party burst into the Putnam home. She beckoned him to the bedroom closet, then laid down in the bed, pretending to be sick. Pursuers withdrew when they saw her.

Hannah was born several years earlier in the home following a frightening slave incident. A pro-slavery mob threatened to storm the Putnam home to free a slave(s) sheltered there. Putnam's wife, Hannah, was about to give birth to a daughter. Dr. Joseph Cotton arrived at the home late in the evening to deliver the baby. He realized that Mrs. Putnam's life could be at risk if the mob was not restrained. He called for help. 

Some prominent citizens from Marietta came to the home, including Dr. John McCoy. McCoy was a tall man, who wore a large cape and wide-brimmed hat. At 1:00 am, a tall man with the same cape and wide-brimmed hat pulled down over his face walked nonchalantly down the front walk and disappeared into the night. No one noticed that it was the fugitive slave. The next morning, Mrs. Putnam, greatly relieved that a crisis was averted, gave birth to Hannah.

Risky work, often at night, with coded messages required full commitment

Coded messages and auditory signals were used to arrange transfers of the slaves across the river to safehouses in Ohio. Aunt Jenny, a slave in Parkersburg who helped others escape, used a horn. David Putnam, Jr. and others used a hoot owl call. Putnam's daughter Martha recalled hearing her father make the hoot owl call "hundreds of times." 

David Putnam received a handwritten message from John Stone in Belpre about an UGRR transfer in August, 1843. It is shown below as recited in Wilbert H. Siebert's book, The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom. Note the deliberately vague wording. Spelling and punctuation is as written:

                                                                 Belpre Friday Morning

David Putnam

    Business is arranged for Saturday night be on the lookout

and if practicable let a cariage come and meet the Carawan.

J. S.

Helping escaping slaves required almost 24/7 involvement, an additional sacrifice to the helper's personal life. Movements most often took place at night. General Rufus Dawes recalls visiting his grandfather Judge Ephraim Cutler's home (and UGRR station) at Constitution, about halfway between Marietta and Belpre. He was eight years old at the time. "Somehow in the night, I was wakened up, and a wagon came down over the hill to the river. Then a call was given, a hoot owl call, and this was answered by similar one from the other side; then a boat went out and brought over the crowd. My mother got out of bed and kneeled down and prayed for them, and had me kneel with her."

A document of David Putnam, Jr. shows his UGRR activity in late August, 1843, copied below from Siebert's book mentioned above. 

Aug                  13/43   Sunday Morn.           2      o'clock         arrived

                                     Sunday Eve.             8 1/2      "            departed for B.    

                            16     Wednesday Morn.    2            "            arrived    

                            20     Sunday eve.              10          "            arrived from B.

                                         "     eve.                10          "            left for Mr. H

                           22      Tuesday  "                11          "            left for W.

A.L. & S.J.         28      Monday morn.         1           "             arrived left 2 o'clock.

Siebert notes that this log "is plainly a schedule of arriving and departing 'trains' on the Underground Railroad." It also indicates by the arrival and departure times how long the "passengers" were sheltered before moving on. Some left the same day. In one case, the party stayed more than 4 days before departing. The log suggests the amount of effort, personal sacrifice, and risk faced by Putnam and others working on the UGRR.

David Putnam, Jr. also faced legal action for his actions in harboring slaves, some of whom belonged to George Henderson, a local plantation and slaveowner. His plantation, called "The Briars," was on land where Henderson Hall is located today. Henderson brought two actions against Putnam in U.S. District Court in Columbus on June 25, 1849, one for the loss of the slaves allegedly harbored by Putnam and another for damages. The total amount sought totaled $15,500. In today's dollars, that amount could approach $500,000. Putnam was defended by Salmon Chase, nationally known abolitionist lawyer and future governor of Ohio. The cases dragged on with little action and were eventually dismissed, the loss case in 1852 and the damages case in 1853 - mainly because the applicable laws had changed in the interim.

Putnam and countless others helping on the Underground Railroad were true heroes, often unrecognized for their efforts because of the UGRR's secretive nature. Their efforts were vindicated when slaves were emancipated by President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Even in later years, Putnam's daughter Martha said her father became "exceedingly excited and worked up" when talking about his slavery activities. He died in 1892 and is buried in Harmar Cemetery near his former home.

Sources:

Andrews, Martin R., Editor, History of Marietta and Washington County Ohio and Representative   Citizens, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1902, pages 121-22, 131-33.

Burke, Henry, Mason Dixon Line, the Underground Railroad Along the Ohio River, self published, p 56-59

Burke, Henry, “In Memory of Abolitionist David Putnam, Jr, 1808-1892,” at website of Henry Burke at

http://henryburke1010.tripod.com/id52.html, viewed November, 2015

Calarco, Tom and Vogel, Cynthia, Places of the Underground Railroad, a Geographical Guide, Tom   Calarco et al, publishers, 2011, pages 52-54

Marietta Intelligencer article, Feb 11, 1847, Marietta College Library Special Collections, as quoted in a Parkersburg News article by Geraldine Muscari – date unknown.

Muscari, Geraldine, “Runaway Slave Crouched in Closet”, Parkersburg News article, date unknown

Shawver, Sam, “Businessman/Abolitionist died 122 years ago this week,” Marietta Times, January 10, 2014

Siebert, Wilbur H., The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom, The MacMillan Company, New York, 1899, pages 54-58.

Summers, William B., “Insuperable Barriors, A Case Study of the Henderson v. Putnam Fugitive Slave Case,” as published in The Tallow Light, Winter 1995.