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thecenturionjournal · 3 years

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William Wright, Abolitionist

WILLIAM WRIGHT See p. 691. MEMORIAL. William Wright, a distinguished abolitionist of Adams county, Pennsylvania, was born on the 21st of December, 1788. Various circumstances conspired to make this unassuming Quaker an earnest Abolitionist and champion of the oppressed in every land and of every nationality and color. His uncle, Benjamin Wright, and cousin, Samuel B. Wright, were active members of the old Pennsylvania Abolition Society, and at the time of the emancipation of the slaves in this state were often engaged in lawsuits with slave-holders to compel them to release their bondmen, according to the requirements of the law. William Wright grew up under the influence of the teachings of these relatives. Joined to this, his location caused him to take an extraordinary interest in Underground Rail Road affairs. He lived near the foot of the southern slope of the South Mountain, a spur of the Alleghenies which extends, under various names, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. This mountain was followed in its course by hundreds of fugitives until they got into Pennsylvania, and were directed to William Wright's house. In November, 1817, William Wright married Phebe Wierman, (born on the 8th of February, 1790,) daughter of a neighboring farmer, and sister of Hannah W. Gibbons, wife of Daniel Gibbons, a notice of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Phebe Wright was the assistant of her husband in every good work, and their married life of forty-eight years was a long period of united and efficient labor in the cause of humanity. She still (1871) survives him. William and Phebe Wright began their Underground Rail Road labors about the year 1819. Hamilton Moore, who ran away from Baltimore county, Maryland, was the first slave aided by them. His master came for him, but William Wright and Joel Wierman, Phebe Wright's brother, who lived in the neighborhood, rescued him and sent him to Canada. In the autumn of 1828, as Phebe Wright, surrounded by her little children, came out upon her back porch in the performance of some household duty, she saw standing before her in the shade of the early November morning, a colored man without hat, shoes, or coat. He asked if Mr. Wright lived there, and upon receiving an affirmative reply, said that he wanted work. The good woman, comprehending the situation at a glance, told him to come into the house, get warm, and wait till her husband came home. He was shivering with cold and fright. When William Wright came home the fugitive told his story. He came from Hagerstown, Maryland, having been taught the blacksmith's trade there. In this business it was his duty to keep an account of all the work done by him, which record he showed to his master at the end of the week. Knowing no written character but the figure 5 he kept this account by means of a curious system of hieroglyphics in which straight marks meant horse shoes put on, circles, cart-wheels fixed, etc. One day in happening to see his master's book he noticed that wherever five and one were added the figure 6 was used. Having practiced this till he could make it he ever after used it in his accounts. As his master was looking over these one day, he noticed the new figure and compelled the slave to tell how he had learned it. He flew into a rage, and said, "I'll teach you how to be learning new figures," and picking up a horse-shoe threw it at him, but fortunately for the audacious chattel, missed his aim. Notwithstanding his ardent desire for liberty, the slave considered it his duty to remain in bondage until he was twenty-one years old in order to repay by his labor the trouble and expense which his master had had in rearing him. On the evening of his twenty-first anniversary he turned his face toward the North star, and started for a land of freedom. Arriving at Reisterstown, a village on the Westminster turnpike about twenty-five miles from Baltimore and thirty-five miles from Mr. Wright's house, he was arrested and placed in the bar-room of the country tavern in care of the landlady to wait until his captors, having finished some work in which they were engaged, could take him back to his master. The landlady, being engaged in getting supper, set him to watch the cakes that were baking. As she was passing back and forth he ostentatiously removed his hat, coat, and shoes, and placed them in the bar-room. Having done this, he said to her, "I will step out a moment." This he did, she sending a boy to watch him. When the boy came out he appeared to be very sick and called hastily for water. The boy ran in to get it. Now was his golden opportunity. Jumping the fence he ran to a clump of trees which occupied low ground behind the house and concealing himself in it for a moment, ran and continued to run, he knew not whither, until he found himself at the toll gate near Petersburg, in Adams county. Before this he had kept in the fields and forests, but now found himself compelled to come out upon the road. The toll-gate keeper, seeing at once that he was a fugitive, said to him, "I guess you don't know the road." "I guess I can find it myself," was the reply. "Let me show you," said the man. "You may if you please," replied the fugitive. Taking him out behind his dwelling, he pointed across the fields to a new brick farm-house, and said, "Go there and inquire for Mr. Wright." The slave thanked him and did as he was directed. He remained with William Wright until April, 1829. During this short time he learned to read, write, and cipher as far as the single rule of three, as it was then called, or simple proportion. During his residence with William Wright, nothing could exceed his kindness or gratitude to the whole family. He learned to graft trees, and thus rendered great assistance to William Wright in his necessary business. When working in the kitchen during the winter he would never allow Phebe Wright to perform any hard labor, always scrubbing the floor and lifting heavy burdens for her. Before he went away in the spring he assumed a name which his talents, perseverance, and genius have rendered famous in both hemispheres, that of James W.C. Pennington. The initial W. was for his benefactor's family, and C. for the family of his former master. From William Wright's he went to Daniel Gibbons', thence to Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and from there to New Haven, Conn., where, while performing the duties of janitor at Yale College, he completed the studies of the college course. After a few years, he went to Heidelberg, where the degree of D.D. was conferred upon him. He never forgot William Wright and his family, and on his return from Europe brought them each a present. The story of his escape and wonderful abilities was spread over England. An American acquaintance of the Wright family was astonished, on visiting an Anti-slavery fair in London many years ago, to see among the pictures for sale there, one entitled, "William and Phebe Wright receiving James W.C. Pennington." The Dr. died in Florida, in 1870, where he had gone to preach and assist in opening schools amongst the Freemen. In 1842 a party of sixteen slaves came to York, Pa., from Baltimore county, Md. Here they were taken in charge by William Wright, Joel Fisher, Dr. Lewis, and William Yocum. The last named was a constable, and used to assist the Underground Rail Road managers by pretending to hunt fugitives with the kidnappers. Knowing where the fugitives were he was enabled to hunt them in the opposite direction from that in which they had gone, and thus give them time to escape. This constable and a colored man of York took this party one by one out into Samuel Willis' corn-field, near York, and hid them under the shocks. The following night Dr. Lewis piloted them to near his house, at Lewisburg, York county, on the banks of the Conewago. Here they were concealed several days, Dr. Lewis carrying provisions to them in his saddle-bags. When the search for them had been given up in William Wright's neighborhood, he went down to Lewisburg and in company with Dr. Lewis took the whole sixteen across the Conewago, they fording the river and carrying the fugitives across on their horses. It was a gloomy night in November. Every few moments clouds floated across the moon, alternately lighting up and shading the river, which, swelled by autumn rains, ran a flood. William Wright and Dr. Lewis mounted men or women behind and took children in their arms. When the last one got over, the doctor, who professed to be an atheist, exclaimed, "Great God! is this a Christian land, and are Christians thus forced to flee for their liberty?" William Wright guided this party to his house that night and concealed them in a neighboring forest until it was safe for them to proceed on their way to Canada. Just in the beginning of harvest of the year 1851, four men came off from Washington county, Maryland. They were almost naked and seemed to have come through great difficulties, their clothing being almost entirely torn off. As soon as they came, William Wright went to the store and got four pair of shoes. It was soon heard that their masters and the officers had gone to Harrisburg to hunt them. Two of them, Fenton and Tom, were concealed at William Wright's, and the other two, Sam and one whose name has been forgotten, at Joel Wierman's. In a day or two, as William Wright, a number of carpenters, and other workmen, among whom were Fenton and Tom, were at work in the barn, a party of men rode up and recognized the colored men as slaves of one of their number. The colored men said they had left their coats at the house. William Wright looked earnestly at them and told them to go to the house and get their coats. They went off, and one of them was observed by one of the family to take his coat hastily down from where it hung in one of the outhouses, a few moments afterward. After conversing a few moments at the barn, William Wright brought the slave-holders down to the house, where he, his wife and daughters engaged them in a controversy on the subject of slavery which lasted about an hour. One of them seemed very much impressed, and labored hard to convince his host that he was a good master and would treat his men well. Finally one of the party asked William Wright to produce the men. He replied that he would not do that, that they might search his premises if they wished to, but they could not compel him to bring forth the fugitives. Seeing that they had been duped, they became very angry and proceeded forthwith to search the house and all the outhouses immediately around it, without, however, finding those whom they sought. As they left the house and went toward the barn, William Wright, waving his hand toward the former, said, "You see they are not anywhere there." They then went to the barn and gave it a thorough search. Between it and the house, a little away from the path, but in plain sight, stood the carriage-house, which they passed by without seeming to notice. After they had gone, poor Tom was found in this very house, curled up under the seats of the old-fashioned family carriage. He had never come to the house at all, but had heard the voices of his hunters from his hiding-place, during their whole search. About two o'clock in the morning, Fenton was found by William Wright out in the field. He had run along the bed of a small water course, dry at that time of year, until he came to a rye field amid whose high grain he hid himself until he thought the danger was past. From William Wright's the slave-catchers went to Joel Wierman's, where, despite all that could be done, they got poor Sam, took him off to Maryland and sold him to the traders to be taken far south. In 1856 William Wright was a delegate from Adams county to the Convention at Philadelphia which nominated John C. Fremont for President of the United States. As the counties were called in alphabetical order, he responded first among the Pennsylvania delegation. It is thought that he helped away during his whole life, nearly one thousand slaves. During his latter years, he was aided in the good work by his children, who never hesitated to sacrifice their own pleasure in order to help away fugitives. His convictions on the subject of slavery seem to have been born with him, to have grown with his growth, and strengthened with his strength. He could not remember when he first became interested in the subject. William Wright closed his long and useful life on the 25th of October, 1865. More fortunate than his co-laborer, Daniel Gibbons, he lived to see the triumph of the cause in which he had labored all his life. His latter years were cheered by the remembrance of his good deeds in the cause of human freedom. Modest and retiring, he would not desire, as he does not need, a eulogy. His labors speak for themselves, and are such as are recorded upon the Lamb's Book of Life. #################################################### Album of pix of Plainfield w interior> https://goo.gl/photos/UKfYAyysNzACjBVF9 ########################################## The Wright House is located on property owned by Ludwigs on the northernmost end of Adams County in Latimore Township. It's along Latimore Valley Road, set back in a bit. I have never seen it in person, so I don't know what condition it is currently in. It is on private property, which is why I do not give the location of the house on my website. The black and white photos are from the 1920s and the color photos are from 1993. It played a part in the underground railroad and at least one of the photos shows where slaves would have hidden. My Dad said he was back there when he was little and they pulled the dresser away to reveal the crawl space behind it. I think William and Phebe Wright were the ones who owned it, hence the name, the "Wright House." I don't know anything about them, though, off-hand. The house looks like it would have been a nice place if it had been fixed up, but I imagine it's beyond repair at this point. -from email from D. Worley

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junker-town · 4 years

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10 college basketball teams that could make the NCAA tournament for the first time

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The ‘Never Made the Tournament’ Club would lose a few members this year.

One of the best parts of every March is seeing coaches, players, and programs that have never heard their name called on Selection Sunday celebrate the moment that all changes.

Of the 353 teams that are current members of Division I, 42 have never gone dancing. Four of those teams — Army, St. Francis (NY), William & Mary, and The Citadel — have been Division I programs since “Division I” became a thing in 1910.

Here are the 10 members of the “never been dancing” club that have the best shot at altering that status this month.

1. William & Mary (Colonial Athletic Association)

As mentioned earlier, Bill & Mary is one of four original Division I programs that has never made the NCAA tournament. This feels like it could finally be the year for a program that has come excruciatingly close to getting over the hump in recent years.

The Tribe made it to the 2014 CAA title game and led by six with 1:20 to go before collapsing and allowing Delaware to score the game’s final seven points. They made it back to the title game in 2015 as a heavily favored No. 1 seed, but laid an egg in a 72-61 loss to Northeastern. In three of the past four seasons, William & Mary has suffered a competitive loss in the tournament semifinals.

With All-American candidate Nathan Knight leading the way, the 21-10 Tribe will be the 2 seed at this year’s CAA tournament. They split the regular season series with top-seed Hofstra, who finished just a game ahead of them in the final league standings.

2. Hartford (America East)

The Hawks have fielded some highly competitive teams in recent years, including a 2018-19 squad that advanced to the AE tournament semifinals before dropping a double overtime heartbreaker to UMBC. Hartford will more than likely be the 3 seed in this year’s conference tournament, and poses one of the biggest threats to regular season champion and heavy postseason favorite Vermont. Middle of the league finishers New Hampshire and UMass Lowell are also members of the never been dancing club.

3. Stetson (Atlantic Sun)

The Hatters (HATTERS!) are easily the longest-tenured member of the Atlantic Sun, having joined the conference all the way back in 1985. That’s 13-years before Jacksonville University — the second-ripest A-Sun OG — became a member. Even with that being the case, Stetson has never won the conference and has never played in a non-league postseason tournament of any sort. They’ll be the 4 seed in this week’s A-Sun tournament, but momentum isn’t exactly on their side after they dropped their last four games of the regular season. The good news is the Hatters (HATTERS!) swept both regular season meeting with their quarterfinal opponent, North Alabama.

Also, here’s one vote for the old Stetson hat logo as the best official logo in college athletics.

I need to see that hat on Selection Sunday. We all do.

4. Longwood (Big South)

A year ago, Gardner-Webb — a fairly regular featured guest on this list — won the Big South tournament and left the never been dancing club forever. The best Big South candidate to repeat the feat in 2020 is every 13-year-old boy’s favorite low major program, Longwood. The Lancers will be the No. 4 seed in the 11-team tournament, which gets underway on Tuesday.

5. Youngstown State (Horizon League)

The Penguins (PENGUINS!) are the lone members of the Horizon League that have yet to experience life in the NCAA tournament. Thanks to the leadership of Bob Huggins protege Jerrod Calhoun, YSU just produced its first winning season in seven years and appears to finally be trending in a positive direction. They’ll be the 5 seed in the Horizon League tournament, which means they’ll need to win four games over the next eight days to go dancing for the first time.

6. Bethune-Cookman (MEAC)

Despite a tough overtime loss at league-leading NC Central on Monday night, Bethune-Cookman is a live shot in the MEAC. The Wildcats are sitting in fifth-place at 9-6, but have won five of their last seven.

7. Sacred Heart (Northeast)

The Pioneers enter the postseason with 19 wins, their most since making the move to Division-I in 1999-2000. Their 12-6 record in league play was strong enough make them the 3 seed in the NEC tournament. The good news for Sacred Heart is that they have arguably the best frontcourt player in the conference in E.J. Anosike. The bad news is they went a combined 0-4 against St. Francis (Pa.) and Robert Morris, the teams that will be the top two seeds in the tournament.

8. Army (Patriot League)

Another one of the original four D-I teams that still hasn’t made the NCAA tournament, Army has one of the best pure scorers in the Patriot League in Tommy Funk, and gets home court advantage for its quarterfinal game against Lafayette. Win that and the fourth-seeded Black Knights will almost certainly square off against regular season champ Colgate in the semis.

9. Grambling (SWAC)

A non-No. 1 seed has won the SWAC tournament in seven of the last 12 seasons. That’s good news for Grambling, which currently sits alone in fourth place in the league standings with three regular season games still to play.

10. Almost every non-favorite in the WAC and Summit League

The WAC and the Summit League are the two most dense conferences in America when it comes to percent of teams that have never played in the NCAA tournament. Five of the nine teams in the Summit League have never danced, and six of the nine teams in the WAC have never been announced on Selection Sunday. The bad news is that the three teams atop the league standings in both leagues — North Dakota State and South Dakota State in the Summit and New Mexico State in the WAC — are March Madness regulars.

South Dakota and Omaha are the biggest threats to break through in the Summit, while there doesn’t seem to be a legitimate challenger to New Mexico State outside of Cal Baptist, which is ineligible for postseason play. The Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros are the only other WAC team currently above .500 in league play, and with that name, they should have the world rooting for them next week in Vegas.

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