Underground Railroad in Crawford County

by: Charli and Isabella

The Underground Railroad through Crawford County was made up of many people who volunteered to hide slaves. Daniel Parker organized the Little Village Church that was located in Russellville on the west bank of the Wabash River in Lawrence County. The Little Village Church was later moved into Crawford County where it is known as Canaan Primitive Baptist Church. In the 1800’s  there were beliefs of Underground Railroads stations in Crawford County. Someone found a bricked- up door in the west wall of the basement of the old Chautauqua House  toward the river which led to a cave in a tunnel, coming from Crawford County. There is a house in the vicinity of Morea in Crawford County that was built hundreds of years ago on the Palestine / Lawrenceville road that is believed to have been an Underground Railroad station on a route that goes through Crawford County. There is a small underground cellar-like room that has steps leading to the outside. It leads us to believe this was an escape opening. Early history of counties north of Crawford tell of the underground Railroad activities and according to the history of the underground railroad by Co. William M. Cockrum that there was one route that crossed the Wabash near the Southern line of Gibson county in Indiana into Illinois going along the Wabash or near in Illinois.