{"id":12281,"date":"2026-01-14T15:18:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/?page_id=12281"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:25:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:25:34","slug":"the-underground-railroad-on-somerset-pike-pa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/?page_id=12281","title":{"rendered":"The Underground Railroad on Somerset Pike, PA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by
\nLarry Pearce
\n11\/25\/25<\/p>\n

What follows is a short clip from an article in Mennonite Family History<\/a>, <\/i>July 2025,\u00a0<\/i>by William \u201cBill\u201d Thomas of nearby Johnstown, PA. In writing about his David Christner family, first of Elklick Township and then Conemaugh Township and then Jenner Township where I live, all in Somerset County, PA. Descendant David married Susanna Dietz around 1830. Their children in the 1840 census are listed as \u201cfree colored,\u201d or mulatto as we would say.The records are confusing, but Bill Thomas does his best to sort things out. He mentions local familiar surname connections such as Alwine and Miller.<\/p>\n

Susanna\u2019s parents were likely from Lancaster County, PA, and is listed in the 1800 census as a \u201cfree person of color.\u201d The town of Lancaster had 63 slaves in 1782, most born in America and worked as domestic servants. Most residents of Lancaster, including my wife\u2019s Miller family<\/a> were Lutherans of German descent. Slaves were introduced there and instructed in Christianity. My own Hill family<\/a> ancestors farmed in nearby Adams County just below Gettysburg, along the Mason-Dixon line, and may have had slaves at that time, but they were emancipated with the state legislative act of 1780. A daughter married into the prominent James Wilson, Sr.\u00a0 <\/span>(1704-1776)<\/a>\u00a0family and he, in his plantation will<\/a>, passed his slaves through his \u201cbeloved wife Jean,\u201d a \u201cNegro man Will and Negro woman Rose,\u201d to son James, Jr.\u00a0 <\/span>[see \u201cSynopsis of Wilson Articles\u201d].<\/a> This is all to say folks in the Pennsylvania counties like Adams, Lancaster, and Bedford, part of which became Somerset, may have had indentured servants or slaves before the 18th century. Certainly, the sympathies of many went to the Black and people of color who did the hard labor in the South before the Emancipation Proclamation Act of 1863.<\/a> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Susanna Dietz\u2019s father Samuel\u2019s last record in Lancaster County of 1802 has the family as German Reformed. The next record is for Sarah, his \u201cfree colored person,\u201d west in my township of Jenner, Somerset County, 1830. Her background is German Lutheran. \u00a0Ironically, my wife, who comes from the same tradition, and I, from the Presbyterian-Methodist tradition have moved to the United Church of Christ<\/a>, a Reformed congregation in Somerset. We happily and worshipfully all speak English now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Forwardstown along the old Pike, Somerset Co, PA, Beers Atlas, 1876, just south of Thomas Mills. Our Pearce farm now includes the Adam Rice acreage.<\/p><\/div>\n

The son of Samuel was also Samuel and the family\u2019s holdings are taxed on 200 acres, which laid on the east side of the Bens Creek near Thomas Mills. Susan and I also live on the east side of that Bens Creek. Several other local names should be listed here. Thomas says, \u201cWilliam C. Griffith of Jenner Township often rendered assistance to runaways.\u201d He was of Quaker heritage and lived several miles from Samuel\u2019s farm. But free Blacks also assisted these persons seeking their own freedom.”<\/p>\n

Thomas writes, \u201cSomerset Pike<\/a> was a major transportation route [now PA 985] between Somerset and Johnstown. The Pennsylvania Canal<\/a> passed through Johnstown and ran between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.\u201d It is believed that Griffith\u2019s home was a \u201cstation\u201d on the Underground Railroad. The 1860 census lists 12 Blacks out of 1,762 people residing in Jenner Township. I would be surprised if there were that many today and surely no farmers that I know of.<\/p>\n

In 1854, Samuel\u2019s daughter, on behalf of his 10 children, filed for sale of the family farm, which brought in about $44,000 in today\u2019s money. By the way, daughter Susanna married a Christner, an ancestor of\u00a0 <\/span>Bill Thomas, the inspiration for this piece, and they lived in Forwardstown<\/a>\u00a0where my wife and I live.\u00a0<\/span>The bloodlines of these folks is confusing and Bill does his best to unravel them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hon. Alexander H. Coffroth (1828-1906) D-PA 16th District.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

One interesting quote that he offers is from Somerset Democratic Congressman Alexander Coffroth<\/a> as to the election of 1864:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe embarrassment and humiliation a mixed-race voter encountered at the polls was sometimes not confined just to the man who approached the polls. For example, John Walter, and election judge at the Jenner Township polling place in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, reported that George Cristner was \u201cmixed\u201d;\u00a0 <\/span>his mother is a mulatto; his reputed father was a white man\u201d and was thus denied the right to vote . . . on account of color. While Walter confidently asserted Cristner\u2019s genealogy and, incidentally, his mother\u2019s sexual history, a voter at the same precinct, John Johnson, was not so sure. Johnson began by describing Cristner as \u201ca\u00a0 <\/span>negro\u201d but then backed up and said, \u201cI don\u2019t call George C. Cristner a negro, but a mulatto. I don\u2019t know his father. I have seen his mother. His mother is the widon Cristner; she is pretty dark-complected; she has negro blood in her veins; she is a dark mulatto. Mrs. Cristner is a sister of George and Samuel Deitz, who are black – Samuel not so black, but George quite black.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson, under oath, qualified his testimony by saying that \u201chearsay, rumor, and innuendo\u201d would implicate many more men attempting to vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill Thomas ends his article by citing some of the racial and genealogical injustices found or omitted from many important records. I\u2019ll end this piece by saying that all of Thomas\u2019 research came as quite a surprise. I can now add one more historical moment to my understanding of Somerset County\u2019s history. We hope Bill will continue his work, and I look forward to talking with him. By the way, I\u2019m in the process of converting a research project in the form of a newsletter I did many years to this website, \u201cThe Forwardstown Forecaster.\u201d Look for the title in the right hand column.<\/p>\n

Reference<\/p>\n

Thomas, William \u201cBill,\u201d \u201cA Christner Family of Somerset County, Pennsylvania: Facing Prejudiceand Challenging Sterotypes.\u201d Mennonite Family History, <\/i>July 2025.<\/p>\n

Last revised 1\/14\/26\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Larry Pearce 11\/25\/25 What follows is a short clip from an article in Mennonite Family History, July 2025,\u00a0by William \u201cBill\u201d Thomas of nearby Johnstown, PA. In writing about his David Christner family, first of Elklick Township and then Conemaugh … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":11451,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12281","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12281"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12315,"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12281\/revisions\/12315"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/e-gen.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}