Fugitive Slave Rescue
Blairsville, Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
In April, 1858, citizens of Blairsville rescued a fugitive slave, Newman, from arrest by a U.S. Marshall and Virginia slave hunters. Lewis Johnson, a local black abolitionist and conductor on the Underground Railroad, housed Newman. Indiana County was an important UGRR stop.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In April 1858, with the Fugitive Slave Act empowering federal marshals and Southern slave-catchers to reach deep into the free states, the people of Blairsville acted. They rescued a man named Newman from arrest, and local Black abolitionist Lewis Johnson—a conductor on the Underground Railroad—sheltered him. Indiana County had long been an important station on the secret routes north.
Why it matters
It marks how ordinary Northern communities defied federal slave law in the tense years before the Civil War, making the Underground Railroad a living act of civil resistance.
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Related people
- · Newman
- · Lewis Johnson
Related events
- · Underground Railroad
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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