Richard Moore (1793-1875)
Quakertown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Quaker businessman and abolitionist. Moore made his home a safe house for freedom seekers traveling on eastern Pa. routes of the Underground Railroad. One was Christiana Riot participant William Parker. Over three decades Moore assisted about 600 fugitives to freedom.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
In the decades before the Civil War, eastern Pennsylvania's Quaker communities formed a dense network of shelter for people escaping slavery. Richard Moore, a Quakertown businessman and man of conscience, turned his own home into a station on the Underground Railroad, sheltering freedom seekers moving north through Bucks County. Among those he aided was William Parker, a central figure in the 1851 Christiana Resistance in which a Maryland slaveholder was killed. Over roughly thirty years Moore helped hundreds continue on toward liberty.
Why it matters
Moore's house is a tangible reminder that the fight against slavery was carried out quietly, at personal risk, by ordinary Americans opening their doors — a grassroots resistance that helped make emancipation thinkable.
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Related people
- · Richard Moore
- · William Parker
Related events
- · Underground Railroad
- · Christiana Resistance
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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