Lou’s View

By Lou Bernard

It’s Juneteenth! That is, assuming you’re reading this on the same day it comes in the mail. If you waited a couple of days, maybe, I don’t know, backdate it in your head or something. I can’t figure out everything.

Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated to commemorate the ending of slavery in America, which I think we can all agree was a good thing. We tend to celebrate it with tacos in my house, because they’re my son’s favorite food and I let him pick.

Locally, we had Maria Molson working to help end slavery. Maria was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, living at 19 East Water Street. It’s the only house in Lock Haven that can be documented as being on the Underground Railroad; it’s mentioned in Maria’s obituary. I’ve heard rumors about a few others, but most of them are only rumors, and a few can be disproven, as the house wasn’t built until much later. (Don’t come to me telling me that a house built in 1925 was on the Underground Railroad. Really. Just don’t.)

Maria Molson was born January 30, 1825. At the time, this was Lycoming County; it didn’t become Clinton County until 1839. She was married three times: To William Coffey, Hiram Graham, and David Molson. William Coffey died in 1847, and was buried in the Great Island Cemetery; his body was unfound when the cemetery was moved in 1919. Hiram Graham’s burial is unknown; I’m sure he’s around here somewhere.

Her third husband, David Molson, died fighting in the Civil War. He was a private in the Army. He’s buried in a soldier’s grave in Dunnstown.

Maria herself found a way to defend her country at home—She sheltered escaped slaves as they made their way north. Maria’s home, like most on the Underground Railroad, contained no hidden passageways, trap doors, or tunnels. Just one brave woman trying to do her part. Her obituary, in the Clinton Republican, said,”In the days before the war of the rebellion her house was a refuge for runaway slaves who were fleeing to Canada to escape from bondage. As many as seventeen runaway slaves have been concealed in her house at one time, and she has often related how she dressed the wounded backs of the refugees who were suffering from whippings received only a few days before they made their escape from their cruel masters.”

It’s speculated that Maria may have had some help from local reverend Joseph Nesbitt, of Great Island Presbyterian Church. It’s not exactly carved in stone, evidence-wise, but Nesbitt may have been assisting with the Underground Railroad. There’s some circumstantial evidence in his journal, and he and Maria did attend the same church, so they would certainly have known each other. (No, the church doesn’t have any secret tunnels either.

Enough with the secret tunnels. Those are more of a myth than they are truth.)

Locally, fugitives stopped at Maria’s house and then proceeded up into Keating Township. Some of them settled and stayed there, forming families whose descendants still exist today. Others continued going north, reaching Olean, New York, and hopefully Canada and freedom.

Maria died on November 14, 1890, at the age of sixty-six. She was buried in Highland Cemetery, and I’ve visited her grave many times. Her obituary noted that she was a respected local citizen and a participant on the Underground Railroad. On Juneteenth, as we celebrate Black History in America, I wanted to remember her, and I’ll think of her later as I eat tacos with my boy.