New Garden Quakers

Abolitionism in Iowa

New Garden Quakers and the Underground Railroad; Iowa in the Fugitive Slave Era

            By Lewis D. Savage

The New Garden Meeting:

            If Salem Quakers stand in first place as leaders by their numerous activities in the Underground Railroad in Iowa, then in a strong second position stands the New Garden Quakers in nearby Lee County Iowa.

            Only a small fraction of the fascinating and exciting stories of the Underground Railroad have been kept alive and told.  This is an attempt to share a few of the stories that have come down to us from the activities carried on by New Garden Quakers.

            The site of New Garden Meeting House and Burial Ground was set off from the farm of Jacob Thornburg.  It was located ½ mi north and 1 mile east of present day St. Paul, Iowa, ¼ mile back in a field across the road to the north from where Henry Pickard and family lived.  New Garden Meeting was about half way between Ft. Madison and Salem.

            The central corps of the leadership of New Garden Meeting came from two Quaker Meetings in Indiana near Levi Coffin's home in Newport, (now Fountain City).  They were called New Garden and Chester.  This corps of Friends had been well trained in Levi Coffin's real life training school for participating in the Underground Railroad in their new homes and Meeting in Lee County Iowa.  Many other active leaders at New Garden had been born in North Carolina where they had shared in close association with Levi Coffin and his cousin, Vestal, in their Underground Railroad activities. These anti-slavery leaders left the land of slavery and moved north to the land of freedom, and were prepared to help runaway slaves experience the same.

Nathan Bond and the Berry Brothers

In the early day of Iowa settlement George and William Berry, former slave owners, came from Virginia to Iowa and took up claims in Pleasant Ridge Township Sec. 7 & 8 in the northern part of Lee County.  They lived a short distance northeast of the New Garden Quaker Meeting House, and were surrounded by many neighboring Quaker families.

            When the Berrys moved from Virginia to Lee County they brought with them an old Negro mammy who had been in the family for years as a domestic slave.  This situation was not acceptable to the New Garden Quakers, and they let the newcomers know that slave keeping in Iowa was illegal and would not be tolerated.  Some of the Berry family were absent for a time after their arrival claiming they had taken the old mammy back to the old home in Virginia, but the Quakers soon learned that the Berrys had taken the old slave down into Missouri and sold her for an old mule and some remnants from an old store.  The Quakers were unhesitant in sharing their disapproval with what the Berrys had done. 

            Some of the Quaker families who lived on farms around where George and William Berry lived included the following:  J. Thornburg, A. Newby, Jacob Griffin, S. Clark, F.A. Price, S. Parkins, G. Hampton, H. Pickard, J. Harvey, B. Binford, Nathan Bond and others.

            One of the Berry brothers neighbors in Iowa living to the south was the Nathan and Abigail Beard Bond family.  They had come from New Garden Friends Meeting in Indiana.  It was not long after the Berrys and the Bonds had established themselves in Iowa that the Bond family received and gave shelter in their barn to a runaway slave from Missouri.  The Berry brothers became aware of the Bonds harboring a fugitive slave and informed the former owners and the authorities and claimed the $200 reward payment for the recovery of the fugitive slave.  Nathan Bond was fined several hundred dollars for slave harboring.

            This was not the end of the story in New Garden.  The neighboring Quakers continued to pour out their fiery criticism against the Berry brothers for their support of slavery and being willing to sell out to the slave system for money.  After years of this cutting criticism the Berry brothers sold their farms in the New Garden community and relocated in other areas.  (In a providential confirmation of the Berry character, by local lore it was noted amongst the Quakers that while the adjoining Quaker farms thrived and were bountiful, those farms of the Berry brothers during those same years were poor and unproductive in yield and when subsequently taken over by other farmers after the Berry's sold out, the farms produced very well for others. )

Connections of the Railroad, Fluidity in Motion:    

            Among the other strong and active leaders in the New Garden Quaker Meeting was the Samuel and Ann Kellum family who had also come from the New Garden Quaker Meeting in Indiana, the home meeting of abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Levi Coffin.  Ann Coffin, the wife of Samuel Kellum was a sister of Levi Coffin.  Levi Coffin while living in Newport, Indiana had assisted over 1,000 runaway slaves on their way to freedom.  Later while he was living in Cincinnati, Ohio for another 20 year period gave assistance to over 2,000 more slaves on their way to freedom in Canada.

            Consequently, it is no wonder that with such closely related and strongly activated people that the New Garden Meeting in Iowa ranked right alongside Salem in action in the Underground Railroad!

            One feature that kept the the Underground Railroad working was its many and changing routes.   Salem for instance had 10 or more for receiving and sending on runaways.  For instance, many fugitives coming to the area were taken to the Joel Garretson and Joseph D. Hoag stations 5 miles east of Salem in the East Grove Quaker Meeting area.  From there they were often transported by Nathan Kellum on horseback to shelter and hiding by the Kellum family.  From there they would later be carried in the same way to Denmark and then on to Burlington and on by way of Chicago to Canada across from Detroit. 

            Nathan Kellum's work as conductor or transporter continued for a period of years.  The Civil War and the freeing of the slaves put him out of business when the Underground Railroad then came to an abrupt end.  Rachel Maxwell Kellum when 80 years old wrote several articles for the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends publication, "Western Work" in which she shared her,  "Reminiscences of Friends in Early Iowa".  This includes anecdotal stories about her husband Nathan Kellum's work in the Underground Railroad, and others.

            Fugitive Slaves and Henry Pickard in the Iowa New Garden Meeting

            We often hear it said, to 'save the best till last'.  This may be true in this very unique and interesting story about the underground Railroad that took place in the New Garden community.  This story centers about the Henry Pickard family.  Henry Pickard was born in North Carolina.  He married Eleanor Woody and they had 18 children with 16 living to adulthood.

            The  Pickard family moved from North cCarolina to Indiana in 1815 where they prospered and expanded their land holdings.  The Pickard family moved to Iowa in 1845.  A year after this move Henry Pickard's wife, Eleanor, died.  Henry still had 7 minor children at home.  He later married a neighbor widow, Mary Hammar, who had 8 children when her former husand, David Hammar died.

            So Henry and Mary Hammar Pickard combined their families and had quite a large family of 15 children around their table.  Henry was a giant of a man standing 6 ft. 6 in. tall and weighed 350 lbs. and a very wealthy man for that time owning several farms of good land.

            Rather late on a cold early winter evening the Henry Pickard family were surprised by a knock at their door.  When Henry opened the door, there stood a black man with a small child in his arms.  He was promptly welcomed into the warmth and light of the Pickard home where he shared his sad story.  He told the Pickards that he was a runaway slave from Missouri on his way to freedom in Canada.  He said that his master had sold his wife down river when their baby was three weeks old and he decided to take their child and flee slavery, but his child who was now 6 mo. old became sick and he knew she would die if he continued with her..  He asked the Pickards to take and care for his child while he would go on to Canada.  He planned to come back and get his child after getting settled in Canada.  The Pickards took the little black girl into their home and family, and the Negro father went on his way to Canada, but was never heard from again.  With a pending pursuit following, this man was then sent along further on his way.  The fate of the flight of this runaway slave has never been known beyond New Garden.

            The little black girl, who was born in 1857 became child number 16 in the Pickard family.  She went to school and Quaker Meeting with the other children of the Pickard family and the New Garden Community.  This matter of integration of the races was also a practice of the abolitionist movement of the era.  Like with abolitionism, integration would not have been without deep controversy in that day, but it evidently was a matter of point with Henry Pickard and family.

            The child was given the name of Mary after her foster mother.  She continued to live and share in the work of the family until she was 20 years old.  At that time she wanted to go out on her own.  It is known that she went first to Mt. Pleasant and it is supposed that she shared there with the small black community.  Nothing further is known about Mary until in July 1935 when she attended a Pickard Family Reunion held in Donnellson, Iowa.  Mary was living and working in Des Moines, Iowa and was then 78 yrs. Old.  She was very proud of her ties with the Pickards and was very appreciative of their help in her life.  She had met and married William Mills and they had lived and worked in Des Moines and later died and are buried there.

            Most Underground Railroad incidents covered a few days at most and the runaway was moved on, but this one incident 'tops them all, for it covers shelter and care given for 20 years.  It also has something to share about the shelter of Henry Pickard and the whole New Garden Quaker community, that the Pickard family could keep in their home for 20 years a black girl from Slavery without confrontation or challenge by authorities and this was done so openly during the era within 15 miles of the slave State of Missouri.

Lewis D. Savage

February 2004

Salem, Iowa

Source of references

Salem Monthly Meeting Minutes

New Garden Monthly Meeting Minutes

"The Quakers of Iowa"  Louis T. Jones:

Reminiscences Coffin, Levi. 

History of Henry County Iowa 1879

The Pickard Family, Weller, Dorothy

The Story of Salem Quakers, Savage, Lewis D.

Traveling on the Underground Rail Road in Iowa, Garretson, Owen A.

 (Reminiscences), Kellum, Rachel    Western Work    1897,

Atlas, Lee County Iowa 1874

The Search for Mrs M.G. Mills,  Eis, Betty

(Lewis D. Savage has been a life-long amateur academic historian of the Salem, Iowa fugitive slave era.  A Quaker minister, he was formerly the director of the Lewelling Quaker House and Museum of Salem Iowa for 20 years.)

New Garden Iowa Underground Railroad Historic District,

O.A Garretson published in the July 1924 edition of The Iowa Journal of History and Politics:

“The Quakers were a peace-loving people and generally engaged in the pursuits of agriculture. Settlements were made and meetings established in several places around Salem. Some four miles to the northwest was Cedar Creek meeting; to the south was Chestnut Hill; while to the east in what is now Jackson Township was the meeting of East Grove. In Lee County at a point about equally distant from Salem and Denmark was established the meeting of New Garden, which played an important part in the working of the so-called Underground Railroad.

Many of these Quakers or their ancestors had first settled in North Carolina, where they came into actual contact with slavery, an institution that was obnoxious to the soul of all ardent Quakers, whose cardinal faith was the love of justice and equality among men. To free themselves from this unwholesome environment, the Quakers emigrated to Ohio and Indiana, and thence to the free, open prairies of Iowa. The knowledge of slavery acquired by actual contact made the Quakers of Salem the natural enemies of the slaveholders of the adjoining State of Missouri and it was difficult for them to restrain their indignation at the institution.

 Since this work of liberation was of necessity carried on in secret, no record of the work could be made and, all the original actors in the drama having passed to their reward, it is difficult to get accurate information in regard to names and dates. It will, therefore, be necessary to rely largely on tradition for a history of those stirring days. Some of these anecdotes illustrate the methods of traveling on the Underground Railroad.”

The New Garden Iowa Quaker Meeting House:

The site of New Garden Meeting House was set off from the farm of Jacob Thornburg.  It was located ½ mi north and 1 mile east of present day St. Paul, Iowa, ¼ mile back in a field across the road to the northeast from where Henry Pickard and family lived.  New Garden Meeting was about half way between Ft. Madison and Salem.

The New Garden Meeting in Iowa opened in January of 1840 as a monthly meeting under the auspices of the Society of Friends Indiana Yearly Meeting, Western Quarter.  It was subsequently closed in 1879.  In its day it had about 70 families as members.

The Quaker Use of the “New Garden” Name:

The name New Garden first appears in Quaker records in John L Nichall’s “Journal of George Fox” pg.38.  There is this statement: “and from thence we went to New Garden, where there was a great meeting… “  (This was on a visit to Ireland.)

In the Stephen B Weelas book “Southern Quakers and Slavery” he includes an interesting reference to the name, New Garden, pgs. 104-105. “When we come to the New Garden settlement… of the settlers who formed the New Garden Meeting the first to arrive were doubtless the immigrants from Pennsylvania by way of Maryland.  They brought the name (New Garden) with them from Pennsylvania.  It has always been a characteristic of Quakers to reproduce the names of the sections with which they have been associated in former years.  Many English Quaker (and Irish) are reproduced in America.  There is a New Garden… in Pennsylvania.”  It was carried to North Carolina, later to Indiana, and from Indiana to Iowa.

-Lewis D. Savage

The New Garden Iowa Friends Meeting

• The practice of Quaker Meeting of Worship,

 Quaker Meeting, the Society of Friends, in the Underground Railroad era:

O.A Garretson and published in the July 1924 edition of The Iowa Journal of History and Politics:

“It may seem strange to many that such law-abiding, peace-loving people should be found boldly and persistently violating the laws of the land. A knowledge of some of the fundamental principles of the Friends, however, will explain this seeming contradiction. " The one corner-stone of belief upon which the Society of Friends is built", says one writer, "is the conviction that God does indeed communicate with each one of the spirits He has made, in a direct and living in breathing of some measure of the breath of His own life; that He never leaves Himself without a witness in the heart as well as in the surroundings of man". On this theme of the "inner light"  William Penn wrote: "That which the people called Quakers lay down as a main fundamental in religion is this—That God, through Christ, hath placed a principle in every man, to inform him of his duty, and to enable him to do it; and that those that live up to this principle are the people of God, and those that live in disobeyance to it, are not God's people, whatever name they may bear, or profession they may make of religion."

The reader can now see that upon this principle of the "inner light" the Quaker relied for guidance. He did not carry his Bible into the pulpit or read the scriptures in his public worship: the Bible had been handed down through the hand of man and might contain the imperfections of man, but the message received by direct communion with the Holy Spirit was always true and righteous altogether. Relying on this principle the Quakers were often brought into conflict with the rules established by society and tile statute laws enacted by the governments. For this they were often persecuted, banished, and sometimes hanged; but they persisted in their ways and quietly suffered persecutions for conscience sake. As every human being, of whatever sex, race, or tongue, possessed the "inner light", every person stood on an exact equality in the sight of God. Acting on this thought, the Quaker refused to remove his hat in the presence of court or king, priest or potentate, because this would be an act of servility; he never addressed another as "Mister" (master), for this implied superiority in the one and servility in the other; he never addressed another as "you", for this was the language of a servant to his lord. He used the words " thou " and " thee " which signified equality among men. The reader can readily see from these precepts why the Quakers, of all men, were opposed to bondage or slavery.

From this foundation principle of the "inner light" was developed another precept or "testimony" as the Quakers called it. They refused to bear arms even in war or engage in personal combat. This principle of non-resistance developed in the Quaker a characteristic that distinguished him from most other men. As he could not carry out his designs by force, he developed a sort of cunning or strategy which carried him safely through many a dangerous situation. This superiority in strategic power is what made the Quaker so successful in assisting the fugitive to elude the grasp of his pursuer. Who but a Quaker would have thought of driving to a distant flouring mill and after purchasing a load of bran drive boldly along the highway, while beneath his sacks of bran was concealed a cargo of human freight, whose destination was the land of freedom; or of loading hay on a wagon and leaving a hollow interior where human beings could be concealed and carried in comfort and security; or of clothing a fugitive slave in the garb of a Quaker woman, with bonnet and veil, placing him in a carriage, and driving fearlessly along the public road to friends and security! Such were the tactics of the Quaker with which he won his bloodless battle.”

The New Garden Quaker Cemetery

The New Garden Burial Ground was set off from the farm of Jacob Thornburg.  It was located ½ mi north and 1 mile east of present day St. Paul, Iowa, ¼ mile back in a field across the road to the north from where Henry Pickard and family lived.  New Garden Meeting was about half way between Ft. Madison and Salem.  There is a sign showing the location of the New Garden Quaker Cemetery.

NEW GARDEN QUAKER SETTLEMENT CEMETERY

SECTION 13, MARION TOWNSHIP, LEE COUNTY, IOWA

Walked in November, 1987, Joyce Coweles

HOWE, Martha  d/o D. & E.   d. Dec. 2, 1875  age 20 yrs.

DENNEY, Sarah Jane  w/o James   d. 28th day of 9th mo. 1862, age 37y 1m 28d

THORNBURGH, Rachel  w/o J.   d. 29th day of 10th mo. 1864, age 67y 4m 15d

THORNBURG, Jacob   d. July 1, 1870   (age hidden in newer cement base)

HAMMAR, Phebe T.  w/o Wm.  D. Dec. 18, 1851 age 24y 1m 15d

PICKARD, Charley W.  s/o W.E. & R.J.   d. Mar. 15, 1861 age 15 days

CASE, Charley A.  s/o O. & M.E.   d. Aug. 30, 1860 age 2y 11m 20d

WILLIAMSON, Ellsworth  s/o O. & M.   d. 9th mo. 17th day, 1862  age 1y 3m 5d

BINFORD, John Henry  s/o J. & M.   d. Sept. 18, 1862  age 1y 5m 9d

MILLER,  Myron E.  s/o R. & E.  d. Sept. 13, 1863 age 2y 4m 24d

PICKARD, Mary A.  d/o H.J. & C.J.  d. Jan. 11, 1865 age 1m 24d

PARKINS, (name broken off)  s/o S. & S.A.  d. July 30, 1863  age 5y 1m 20d

BUTLER, Ile C.  d/o W.E. &  R.A.   d. 1864 age 3 yrs.

HARVEY, Emily J.  d/o I. & M.A.   d. Sept. 7, 1852  age 8m 7d

BENEDICT, Philip     (no dates)

RYNEARSON, Omer  s/o S.D. & R.  d. Nov. 6, 1857  age 11m 9d

MOON,  _____miah    d. 7th day 6th mo. 1869   age 69  yrs.  (name partly broken off)

BENEDICT, Isaac    d. 2nd mo. 12th day, 1875  age 81y 25d

HAMMAR, Arthur D.  s/o W. & T.  d. Jan. 19, 1873  age 13y 8m 24d

HARVEY, Mary A.  d/o I. & M.A.  d. Jan. 15, 1862  age 6y 3m 8d

HAMMAR, David   d. Dec. 26, 1848  age 44y 1m 8d

TOWNSEND, Mary   d. 27th day 7th mo. 1846  age 54 yrs.

TOWNSEND, Stephen  d. July 12, 1860  age 35 yrs.

DYER, Eunice  d/o G.H. & E.   d. 8th mo. 25th day, 1846  age 2m 2d

SLAUGHTER, ______h    (rest broken)

PICKARD, An_____    w/o J.   d. July 6, 1856  age 41y 10m 15d  (broken)

MAYFIELD, Harriet P.  w/o Leroy     b. 1st mo. 3rd day, 1835

d.       3rd mo. 18th day, 1860

BOND, Elmer C.  s/o Wm. P. & E.   Apr. 24, 1866 – Oct. 8, 1866

PICKARD, ____________ s/o J. & E.   b.  5th mo. 6th day, 1865

                                                                 d.  9th mo. 20th day, 1866   (broken)

_______________, Joseph  s/o                  (loose broken piece of stone)

These additional stones were found on a reading done in 1971 that I did not find in 1987.

PICKARD, Rosannah J.  w/o W.E.   d. Apr. 15, 1871  age 36 yrs.

HILL, Nanie P. w/o B.   d. Oct. 19, 1855  age 65y 8m

BINFORD, __________s/o U? & A.   d. 22nd day of 1st mo., 1861  age 9m 11d.

_ _

New Garden Cemetery – Marion Twp. Lee County, Iowa

Copied April 20,1975 by Carroll Redfern and Nancy Thums.

All stones were down and broken and scattered.  We copied all we found, beginning at the south and working north.  Hand written notes:

1. Jeremiah Moon –died 7th of 6mo. 1869 aged 69

2. Omer, son of S.I.. and R. Rancarson, Died Mov. 6, 1857, aged 13 mo. 9 days.

3. Phillip Benedict

4. Emily J., dau. Of L. and M.A. Harvey, Died Sept. 7, 1852, aged 8mos. 7 days.

5________, son of S. and G.A. Parkins, Died July 30, 1863, aged 5 yrs. 1 mo. 26da.

6.Ile  C. dau. Of R.A. Butler, Died 1864 aged 3 years.

7. H. Slaughter

8. Isaac Benedict, Died 2-12, 1855 aged 81 years 25 days.

9. Arthur G. son of W. and T. Hammar, Died 1-19-1873, aged 13 yrs. 8 mo. 24 da.

10. C. Satherthwaite, Died 6-25-1861, aged 27 yrs.

11. Mary A. dau. Of H. and C. Pickard, Died 1-11-1865, aged 1 mo.

12. Infant son of R. and A. Pickard, Died 1-22-1861

13. Mary A. dau. Of T. and M. Harvey d. 9-13, 1863 aged 1yr. 3 mo.

14. Myron son of R.H. and L. Miller, d. 9-13-1863, aged 6 yrs. 3 mo. 8 da.

15. John Henry son J. and M. Binford, d 9-15-1862, aged 1 yr. 3 mo.

16. Ellsworth son of O. and M. Williams, died 9-17-1862, aged 1 yr. 3 mo. 5 da.

17. Stephen Townsend, died 7-12 1860, aged 35 yrs.

18. Mahlon Townsend, died 3-18-1848, aged 28 yrs. 6 mo.

19. Daniel Townsend, 2-28-1848,  aged 33 yrs,

20. Charles son of O and M.E. Case, d. 8-30-1860, aged 15 yrs.

21. Eunice dau. Of G. H and E. Dyer d. 8-25-1846 aged 2 mo. 8 da.

22. Charles son of J.E and E. R. Pickard, died 3-15-1861, aged 15 da.

23. Mary Townsend, Died 7-27-1846, aged 54 yrs.

24. Phebe T. wife of Wm. Hammar, Died 12-18-18(??), aged 24 yrs. 1 mo. 15 da.

25. David Hammar died 12-26-1846 aged 44 yrs. 1 mo. 8 da.

26. Rosannah J. wife of J.E. Pickard, Died 4-15-1861, aged 20 yrs. 2 mo.

27. Elmer G. son Wm. P. and E. Bond b. 4-21-1866, d. 10-8-1866

28. Abraham L. son Jand E. Pickard d. 7-24-1866

29. Sarah Jane wife of James Denny, d. 9-27-62 aged 37 yrs.

30. Rachel wife of J. Thornburg, d. 10-29-1864, aged 57 yrs.

31. Jacob Thornburg, d. 7-1-1870

32. Martha Howe, dau. Of D. and E. Howe d. 12-2-1875 aged 20 yrs.

32 burials listed.

Farmsteads: Nathan and Abigail Bond and the George and William Berry Brothers

In the early day of Iowa settlement George and William Berry, former slave owners, came from Virginia to Iowa and took up claims in Pleasant Ridge Township Sec. 7 & 8 in the northern part of Lee County.  They lived a short distance northeast of the New Garden Quaker Meeting House, and were surrounded by many neighboring Quaker families.

         When the Berrys moved from Virginia to Lee County they brought with them an old Negro mammy who had been in the family for years as a domestic slave.  This situation was not acceptable to the New Garden Quakers, and they let the newcomers know that slave keeping in Iowa was illegal and would not be tolerated.  Some of the Berry family were absent for a time after their arrival claiming they had taken the old mammy back to the old home in Virginia, but the Quakers soon learned that the Berrys had taken the old slave down into Missouri and sold her for an old mule and some remnants from an old store.  The Quakers were unhesitant in sharing their disapproval with what the Berrys had done. 

         Some of the Quaker families who lived on farms around where George and William Berry lived included the following:  J. Thornburg, A. Newby, Jacob Griffin, S. Clark, F.A. Price, S. Parkins, G. Hampton, H. Pickard, J. Harvey, B. Binford, Nathan Bond and others.

         One of the Berry brothers neighbors in Iowa living to the south was the Nathan and Abigail Beard Bond family.  They had come from New Garden Friends Meeting in Indiana.  It was not long after the Berrys and the Bonds had established themselves in Iowa that the Bond family received and gave shelter in their barn to a runaway slave from Missouri.  The Berry brothers became aware of the Bonds harboring a fugitive slave and informed the former owners and the authorities and claimed the $200 reward payment for the recovery of the fugitive slave.  Nathan Bond was fined several hundred dollars for slave harboring.

 This was not the end of the story in New Garden.  The neighboring Quakers continued to pour out their fiery criticism against the Berry brothers for their support of slavery and being willing to sell out to the slave system for money.  After years of this cutting criticism the Berry brothers sold their farms in the New Garden community and relocated in other areas.  (In a providential confirmation of the Berry character, by local lore it was noted amongst the Quakers that while the adjoining Quaker farms thrived and were bountiful, those farms of the Berry brothers during those same years were poor and unproductive in yield and when subsequently taken over by other farmers after the Berry's sold out, the farms produced very well for others. )

-Lewis D. Savage

Nathan and Abigail Bond and the William and George Berry Farmsteads (continued)

“Many things transpired within a few years that were calculated to arouse every abolitionist to action. One of which was the coming of two families from Virginia, bringing a slave woman with them, that had cared for each of them in infancy, and they expected to keep her as a slave here. Finding that impossible since neither the law nor public opinion would sustain them, (the people saw that if they allowed one to be held here more would be brought),the new comers gave out the word that she was discontented they would take her back to their old home. Instead, they took her to a slave state and sold her to strangers, receiving as compensation one beast of burden, and the remnants of an old store. Then they began the work of returning fleeing slaves for bounty, receiving two hundred dollars for the return of one company that they tracked to a barn. They were not allowed to go on in peace, for as they started, rising early in the morning thinking the neighbors would not be up, an old man stopped them and with the tied slaves listening told them

the awful wickedness of what they were doing, and that the curse of God would rest upon them. They went on and got their money, but no one could ever see that it did them any good. Shortly after their return, a dying man, a brother of Nathan Kellum sent for one that lived nearest and told him with the power that is given to one standing on the threshold of the eternal world the consequences of what he was doing, and this work ceased.”

by Rachel Kellum

A series from 1908/1909 "Western Work" a regional publication

of the Society of Friends

published in Oskaloosa, IA, from 1894 - 1912  

(Nathan Bond, Court Records, trial, conviction and fines for harboring fugitive slaves. )

“In The Quakers of Iowa, by Louis T. Jones, the statement is made that no fugitive who reached Salem was ever returned to bondage. This may be true of the town of Salem, but it is not correct in regard to the communities around Salem. A negro fugitive from Missouri who was being assisted by Friends in the New Garden community, the half way station between Salem and Denmark, was concealed in the barn of Nathan Bond, awaiting an opportunity to proceed to Denmark. Here he was discovered and apprehended by two brothers by the name of Berry who returned him to his master. For this the Berry brothers received a reward of two hundred dollars but their act aroused the indignation of almost the entire community. Many citizens remonstrated against their actions, and some of the more zealous warned them that the judgment of the Lord would surely be visited upon them for their perfidy. According to the reports of many pioneers, this prophecy became an actual fact: while the farms around them were yielding abundant harvests, the crops on the Berry farm dwindled and failed. This condition continued as long as the property was owned by the Berry brothers. After the farm had passed to other hands it produced abundantly.”   -written by Owen.A Garretson and published in the July 1924 edition of The Iowa Journal of History and Politics.

Farmsteads (continued)

Nathan and Abigail Bond and the William and George Berry 

Nathan H. Bond:

“Farmer in Sec.31 Jackson Twp. Henry Co. (1879).   Born Dec.30 1813 in Guilford Co. North Carolina.  In 1831 moved to Indiana; in 1838 to Lee County, Iowa; in 1875 came to Henry County owning 63 acres of land.

When in Lee County Iowa he attended the first government sale and entered 160 acres of land which he improved and afterward sold;: he followed the blacksmith trade for six years when in Indiana.

Nathan H. Bond married Abigal Beard Dec. 30, 1835; she was born March 10, 1817 in Guilford County, North Carolina.  They had seven children, five living to adulthood: Mary Ella, Rachel A., William P., Hannah J., and Ellihu.

Society of Friends, Salem Monthly Meeting minutes: 8-31-1839 CRF (membership certificate of good standing recorded) Nathan H. Bond from New Garden Monthly Meeting, Indiana”.

(edited from “History of Henry County, Iowa” (1879)

-Lewis D. Savage

George Berry:

-A Pleasant Ridge Township Lee County, Iowa farmer, section 8.  The fourth son of John and Jenny Berry, natives of Bath County Virginia where George was born January 16, 1805.  At 12 years of age, having lost both parents, he made his home with his elder brothers and sisters until 18 years of age, and having acquired a good common school education with a few terms at a select school, he engaged in teaching; this he engaged in for seven years, when his health having failed, he traveled.

                Nov. 18,1834 he married Isabel daughter of James and Elizabeth Given, <> Graham, she was born in Nicholas Co. Va. Jan 8, 1816; in the fall of 1836, they removed  to Peoria, Ill., and in the spring of 1837 became pioneers of Lee Co. Iowa; pour in purse they rented what was then the Edson farm, and at the land sales of 1838 purchased his present property of 165 acres now valued at $40 per acre.

                In 1846 Mr. Berry was a delegate to the convention for the purpose of reframing the State constitution of that year; in 1849 he was made Deputy United States Surveyor, and the same year had 10 townships assigned him west of  Dubuque for surveying, and held the office of County Surveyor for 15 years.  The Berrys had 10 children with 7 living.  Two of their sons were lawyers and a daughter was a teacher in the Ft. Madison schools.  They were members and leaders in the Methodist Church.

-Lewis D. Savage

(Information from “Directory of Lee County”)

Samuel and Anne Kellum Farmstead

Connections of the Underground Railroad, Fluidity in Motion:

         Among the other strong and active leaders in the New Garden Quaker Meeting was the Samuel and Ann Kellum family who had also come from the New Garden Quaker Meeting in Indiana, the home meeting of abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Levi Coffin.  Ann Coffin, the wife of Samuel Kellum was a sister of Levi Coffin.  Levi Coffin while living in Newport, Indiana had assisted over 1,000 runaway slaves on their way to freedom.  Later while he was living in Cincinnati, Ohio for another 20 year period gave assistance to over 2,000 more slaves on their way to freedom in Canada.

         Consequently, it is no wonder that with such closely related and strongly activated people that the New Garden Meeting in Iowa ranked right alongside Salem in action in the Underground Railroad!

         One feature that kept the Underground Railroad working was its many and changing routes.   Salem for instance had 10 or more for receiving and sending on runaways.  For instance, many fugitives coming to the area were taken to the Joel Garretson and Joseph D. Hoag stations 5 miles east of Salem in the East Grove Quaker Meeting area.  From there they were often transported by Nathan Kellum on horseback to shelter and hiding by the Kellum family.  From there they would later be carried in the same way to Denmark and then on to Burlington and on by way of Chicago to Canada across from Detroit. 

         Nathan Kellum's work as conductor or transporter continued for a period of years.  The Civil War and the freeing of the slaves put him out of business when the Underground Railroad then came to an abrupt end.  Rachel Maxwell Kellum when 80 years old wrote several articles for the Iowa Yearly Meeting of Friends publication, "Western Work" in which she shared her,  "Reminiscences of Friends in Early Iowa".  This includes anecdotal stories about her husband Nathan Kellum's work in the Underground Railroad, and others.

-Lewis D. Savage

Samuel and Anne Kellum Farmstead  (continued)

"Reminiscences" by Rachel Kellum   WW-3-1908

"Samuel Kellum and family came to Salem in the spring of 1839 from near New Port Indiana, now Fountain City.  His wife was a sister of Levi Coffin and was in sympathy with his anti-slavery work.

The work of assisting fleeing slaves began here as soon as any called for it.  Remaining near Salem the fist summer, they permanently located the following year, twelve miles southeast, near the Lone Tree, one of the marks that travelers were told to look for on the road from Ft. Madison to Salem.  The tree was a very large cottonwood and while it served as guide for so many people, few if any, left the road to go nearer, as a thicket of thorn bushes would prevent their seeking its shade, and the spring of cool water was a quarter of a mile distant on the other side of the road.  During all the years of the anti-slavery work the Lone Tree, with the thorn thicket at its base and prairie grass on the outside of that, made a hiding place for the fugitive slave that was never penetrated by his pursuer.  Next in importance was the task of getting him there without arousing the suspicion of neighbors, as well as the stranger that came in pursuit, and offered money to any that would betray their slaves."

"Reminiscences", WW 4-1908  by Rachel Kellum:

 "Just before dark one evening a young man lightly tapped on door of the Joel Garretson home four miles east of Salem. The wife cautiously opened it, and by waving her hand showed him the way to the orchard, where he went and found a hiding place underneath a bushy peach tree that had tall grass meeting the limbs. In a little while the men were there hunting him, and as they thought went all over that orchard. When they were tired and left Joel Garretson took him to where Joseph D. Hoag would expect to find any one that needed help. (Which was a certain thicket) and took him food and returned to the house to see what would come next. They did not have to wait long until some one came with the wife and babe of the young man, and they were taken to him in the thicket during the night. J. D. Hoag conveyed them to a hiding place near his home where they remained during the day. At night the conductor on the underground railroad came, riding as though going to a wolf chase, but the returns had to be different. With the woman for the horse and the two men walking they proceeded. The moon was shining and enough of the slave holders and their men were there so that their patrols passed over the road every thirty minutes. Under these conditions the trip was made by keeping sufficient distance from the road, only when it must be crossed, and then wait for a cloud in the clear sky to cover the moon, but it came and while not large was thick enough to make a deep shadow in which they crossed the road and thanked God for it and took courage. When they met the man from Denmark, it was so late at night they had to secrete the slaves in a ravine, three miles this side of Denmark. Then the race for safety and perhaps life began. The distance of seven miles home was covered at a speed that no one timed. The father who was up watching, took Nathan Kellum's horse to the back stall, hid the saddle and bridle, gave the horse a few rubs to even up the hair, and fed all the horses in the stable, when approaching footsteps warned him, and he concealed himself while the salve holders examined the horses. They said none of them had been run or they had not been sweating, and were breathing evenly, so they left, not wanting to waste their time."

"Sheep took an important place, as they had done so many times before, in educating men for higher duties.  As every family expected to keep sheep from whose fleeces the winter clothing was all made, and those tufted mittens were a joy to their possessor when he went fifteen or twenty miles to market or twenty-five to mill.

Hunting Wolves

The prairie wolves were so numerous that it became necessary to organize a band of wolf men for he protection of its sheep.  In the chase they became acquainted with the lay of the land for miles around, where the streams would be forded away from the traveled roads, etc., and with the horses that could finish the chase and not be lame the next day.  A small gray mare belonging to Nathan Kellum, second son of Samuel Kellum, proved to be one of these, and it entitled her to service later on when her master became conductor on the underground railroad as it was called.  One of the first things the Missourians did was to go to the stables and hunt for lame or tired horses, believing they could tell whether they had been on duty during the night in this way."

Samuel and Anne Kellum Farmstead  (continued)

The Kellum Family

Nathan H. Kellum was born 6-5-1821 in Wayne Co. Indiana of a family of 3 boys and 3 girls.  His father, Samuel, born 9-271794 in Roman Co. North Carolina, and his mother, Ann Coffin, born 4-23-1793 in Guilford Co. North Carolina was a sister of Levi Coffin.  In 1839 when Nathan was 16, his family moved from Indiana to Iowa.  After 1 year near Salem, the Kellums settled on a farm of 80 acres in Section 13 Marion Township Lee County Iowa just east of the New Garden Friends Meeting House.  In the spring and summer of 1844 Nathan made a visit to Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina where he observed many of the cruelties of slavery at first hand.  After his return to Iowa, he took an active part in the antislavery movement as an Underground Railroad conductor.

                Nathan Kellum married Rachel Maxwell and lived near New Garden Quaker Meeting House until 1875 when they moved to a farm two and one half miles south of Salem until Nathan died.

(Information gathered from several sources)

-Lewis D. Savage

Francis Sheldon Farmstead

"Reminiscences", WW 4-1908  by Rachel Kellum:

"Fugitive Slaves   By this time Daggs slaves had made their escape, and several families that believed in "free soil" had been added to the band already here, and the slaves were coming in larger number. Seventeen [9] in this company successfully crossed the Des Moines river and got within a mile of Salem before they became aware that they were followed. They scattered so quickly that none of them were taken just at the time, and one old man full of faith in God and the Quakers ran into town asking for help about the middle of the afternoon. He was gotten out of sight for a few minutes until men could think. Paul Way solved the problem by coming to the door and calling out, if any body wanted to follow him they would have to be in a hurry as he was going. He went to the hitch rack, untied his horse, sprang into the saddle and started home at full speed. Two men who understood his action got the negro out and onto another horse, gave him the little grand son he was carrying and away he went fast enough to keep in sight. The Missourians came in time to see him leave and started in pursuit, but Paul Way made too many turns and they lost them and returned to watch for others. This one was taken in an old lime kiln about three miles north east of town and hidden. He was fed and kept that night and another day. Two of my sisters and myself sat up until near morning making clothes for the child. On the second night the old man and child were taken to the Kellum home, but so near morning that they could not safely take them to the "lone tree," so the conductor went to the nearest neighbor, Francis Sheldon's and they made a rail pen just high enough so that the man could hold his head up straight when sitting on the ground. Straw was hastily thrown over it and the man and child out in. In a very short time one of the Missourians was along the road inquiring of they had seen any colored people pass that road. All day the man and his wife cleaned wheat with a fanning mill set so the chaff fell in the pen, and that night men from Denmark came for him.”

Francis Sheldon Family:

Salem Monthly Meeting records for 10-18-1845 show a certificate of membership received for Francis Sheldon and sons, Franklin and Thirrsia from Birch Lake Monthly Meeting in Michigan.  It is know that many of the Michigan Quakers came from upper state New York and New England.  The Sheldon family settled in the New Garden Meeting area in section 16 of Pleasant Ridge Township in northern Lee County Iowa on

80 acres with another nearby 40 acres.  All very good productive land. 

Francis Sheldon was an Abolitionist and worked with his neighbors Samuel and Nathan Kellum in aiding and sheltering the run-away slaves.  He harboured some of the Daggs runaway slaves on their way to freedom in Canada.

Salem Monthly Meeting minutes indicate in 4-18-1849 that Stephen Hockett, Joseph D. Hoag and Francis Sheldon were appointed trustees of all monthly meeting property.

Information gathered from several sources, - Lewis D. Savage

Henry Pickard Farmstead

Fugitive Slaves and Henry Pickard in the Iowa New Garden Meeting

         We often hear it said, to 'save the best till last'.  This may be true in this very unique and interesting story about the underground railroad that took place in the New Garden community.  This story centers about the Henry Pickard family.  Henry Pickard was born in North Carolina.  He married Eleanor Woody and they had 18 children with 16 living to adulthood.

            The  Pickard family moved from North Carolina to Indiana in 1815 where they prospered and expanded their land holdings.  The Pickard family moved to Iowa in 1845.  A year after this move Henry Pickard's wife, Eleanor, died.  Henry still had 7 minor children at home.  He later married a neighbor widow, Mary Hammar, who had 8 children when her former husband, David Hammar died.

         So Henry and Mary Hammar Pickard combined their families and had quite a large family of 15 children around their table.  Henry was a giant of a man standing 6 ft. 6 in. tall and weighed 350 lbs. and a very wealthy man for that time owning several farms of good land.

         Rather late on a cold early winter evening the Henry Pickard family were surprised by a knock at their door.  When Henry opened the door, there stood a black man with a small child in his arms.  He was promptly welcomed into the warmth and light of the Pickard home where he shared his sad story.  He told the Pickards that he was a runaway slave from Missouri on his way to freedom in Canada.  He said that his master had sold his wife down river when their baby was three weeks old and he decided to take their child and flee slavery, but his child who was now 6 mo. old became sick and he knew she would die if he continued with her..  He asked the Pickards to take and care for his child while he would go on to Canada.  He planned to come back and get his child after getting settled in Canada.  The Pickards took the little black girl into their home and family, and the Negro father went on his way to Canada, but was never heard from again.  With a pending pursuit following, this man was then sent along further on his way.  The fate of the flight of this runaway slave has never been known beyond New Garden.

Henry Pickard Farmstead (continued)

The little black girl, who was born in 1857 became child number 16 in the Pickard family.  She went to school and Quaker Meeting with the other children of the Pickard family and the New Garden Community. 

This matter of integration of the races was also a practice of the abolitionist movement of the era.  Like with abolitionism, integration would not have been without deep controversy in that day, but it evidently was a matter of point with Henry Pickard and family.

         The child was given the name of Mary after her foster mother.  She continued to live and share in the work of the family until she was 20 years old.  At that time she wanted to go out on her own.  It is known that she went first to Mt. Pleasant and it is supposed that she shared there with the small black community.  Nothing further is known about Mary until in July 1935 when she attended a Pickard Family Reunion held in Donnellson, Iowa.  Mary was living and working in Des Moines, Iowa and was then 78 yrs. Old.  She was very proud of her ties with the Pickards and was very appreciative of their help in her life.  She had met and married William Mills and they had lived and worked in Des Moines and later died and are buried there.

         Most Underground Railroad incidents covered a few days at most and the runaway was moved on, but this one incident 'tops them all, for it covers shelter and care given for 20 years.  It also has something to share about the shelter of Henry Pickard and the whole New Garden Quaker community, that the Pickard family could keep in their home for 20 years a black girl from Slavery without confrontation or challenge by authorities and this was done so openly during the era within 15 miles of the slave State of Missouri.

- Lewis D. Savage

Henry Pickard Family

It is thought that the Pickards came from Picardy, France to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror, and thence to America.  Henry’s grandfather, John moved into Orange County North Carolina about 1753, where Henry was born in 1794.  Members of the Pickard family became Quakers in England.

            At age 21 years in 1815 Henry and his wife Eleanor (Nellie) Woody migrated to Park County, Indiana by covered wagon.  There they prospered and expanded their land holdings.  They had a large family of 18 children with 16 living to adulthood.  In 1845 they moved from Indiana to Iowa where they settled in Sec. 13 Marion Township Lee County near New Garden Meeting House.  Within a year Eleanor his wife died, and he later married Mary Hammer.  Henry Pickard lived just southwest of New Garden Meeting House, and he owned several farms of good land and was a very wealthy man.  He was a faithful Quaker and a strong Abolitionist.   -Lewis D. Savage

Jacob Thornburg Farmstead

The New Garden Quaker Meeting House and Quaker Burial Ground were set off from the farm of Jacob Thornburg.

The Thornburg Family

                The Thornburgs came from Ireland in the early 1700’s to Chester County Pa.  They migrated to Hopewell Meeting in Fredrick Co. Virginia and later moved on south to North Carolina.

Jacob Thornburg, son of Edward and Phebe Thornburg was born in 1802 in North Carolina.  In 1821 Jacob married Rachel Hammar in Randolph County Indiana.  Jacob and Rachel Thornburg came to the Salem, Iowa area in 1839, and settled in the New Garden community in Marion Township of northern Lee County, Iowa.  They were Quakers and their children were Isaac 1824, Havila 1825, David 1830, William 1834, Charlotte 1826, Phebe 1827. 

Salem Monthly Meeting records show 9-28-1839 that they received a certificate of membership for Jacob Thornburg and sons from Cherry Grove Monthly Meeting, Wayne County, Indiana.         

The New Garden Meeting Friends House and cemetery site was located on the Jacob Thornburg land in Section 13 of Marion Township.  This small tract of land was probably purchased from Jacob Thornburg, a common practice with established Quaker Meeting houses in the Society of Friends.

- Lewis D. Savage

New Garden Iowa, the UGRR “Lone Tree” Safe-drop

The New Garden UGRR "Lone Tree":

"Reminiscences" by Rachel Kellum   WW-3-1908:

"Samuel Kellum and family came to Salem in the spring of 1839 from near New Port Indiana, now Fountain City.  His wife was a sister of Levi Coffin and was in sympathy with his anti-slavery work.

The work of assisting fleeing slaves began here as soon as any called for it.  Remaining near Salem the fist summer, they permanently located the following year, twelve miles southeast, near the Lone Tree, one of the marks that travelers were told to look for on the road from Ft. Madison to Salem.  The tree was a very large cottonwood and while it served as guide for so many people, few if any, left the road to go nearer, as a thicket of thorn bushes would prevent their seeking its shade, and the spring of cool water was a quarter of a mile distant on the other side of the road.  During all the years of the anti-slavery work the Lone Tree, with the thorn thicket at its base and prairie grass on the outside of that, made a hiding place for the fugitive slave that was never penetrated by his pursuer.  Next in importance was the task of getting him there without arousing the suspicion of neighbors, as well as the stranger that came in pursuit, and offered money to any that would betray their slaves."

"Reminiscences", WW 4-1908  by Rachel Kellum:

"Fugitive Slaves   By this time Daggs slaves had made their escape, and several families that believed in "free soil" had been added to the band already here, and the slaves were coming in larger number. Seventeen [9] in this company successfully crossed the Des Moines river and got within a mile of Salem before they became aware that they were followed. They scattered so quickly that none of them were taken just at the time, and one old man full of faith in God and the Quakers ran into town asking for help about the middle of the afternoon. He was gotten out of sight for a few minutes until men could think. Paul Way solved the problem by coming to the door and calling out, if any body wanted to follow him they would have to be in a hurry as he was going. He went to the hitch rack, untied his horse, sprang into the saddle and started home at full speed. Two men who understood his action got the negro out and onto another horse, gave him the little grand son he was carrying and away he went fast enough to keep in sight. The Missourians came in time to see him leave and started in pursuit, but Paul Way made too many turns and they lost them and returned to watch for others. This one was taken in an old lime kiln about three miles north east of town and hidden. He was fed and kept that night and another day. Two of my sisters and myself sat up until near morning making clothes for the child. On the second night the old man and child were taken to the Kellum home, but so near morning that they could not safely take them to the "lone tree," so the conductor went to the nearest neighbor, Francis Sheldon's and they made a rail pen just high enough so that the man could hold his head up straight when sitting on the ground. Straw was hastily thrown over it and the man and child out in. In a very short time one of the Missourians was along the road inquiring of they had seen any colored people pass that road. All day the man and his wife cleaned wheat with a fanning mill set so the chaff fell in the pen, and that night men from Denmark came for him.”

New Garden Iowa UGRR “Lone Tree” Safe-drop (continued)

Locating the ‘Lone Tree’

A strong likely site as the candidate for the 'Lone Tree' safe place of the UGRR stories there in  New Garden is within  Twp. 69 - 5w  NE Q The watering Spring on border of sections 17-18,   the lone tree in the swail drain below in Section 19. The old pioneer era road passed through diagonal-ing on the NW between Sheldon farmstead and Nathan Bond farmstead.  The old trail from Ft. Madison towards Salem came through there after coming across the prairie top before.  In the drawn detailed 1838 survey map a very definite spring was drawn there as the first or last obvious watering place in a long ways across that prairie top along the roadway for horses, oxen, livestock and people coming along that trail.

That would put the tree about less than a mile from all the known New Garden Iowa UGRR conductors:  Kellums, Sheldons, Bonds, and Pickards.   The public spring and roadway then away nearer by the Bonds and Sheldons.  This also locates the pro-slavery Berry brothers on the other side of the neighborhood a good safe distance. 

Examining the original drawn survey map and also the survey hand-written description, it makes a lot of sense when you look at it.

-Doug Hamilton

Major Bibliographical References:

Source of references

Salem Monthly Meeting Minutes

New Garden Monthly Meeting Minutes

"The Quakers of Iowa"  Louis T. Jones:

Reminiscences, Coffin, Levi. 

History of Henry County Iowa 1879

The Pickard Family, Weller, Dorothy

The Story of Salem Quakers, Savage, Lewis D.

Traveling on the Underground Rail Road in Iowa, Garretson, Owen A. The Iowa Journal of History and Politics

 (Reminiscences), Kellum, Rachel    Western Work    1897,

Atlas, Lee County Iowa 1874

The Search for Mrs M.G. Mills,  Eis, Betty

Directory of Lee County

Original land survey and physical description, 1838 (State of Iowa)

 (Lewis D. Savage has been a life-long historian of the Salem, Iowa fugitive slave era.  A Quaker minister, he was formerly the director of the Lewelling Quaker House and Museum of Salem Iowa for 20 years.)