There is so much circumstantial evidence, but the black historians I have contacted in Pennsylvania are not interested. They say that there is no, "record" of these peoples involvement in the Underground Railroad (isn't that why they call it the Underground Railroad?).
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Hello Anita,

How true rings your statement concerning "records". A current thread on this Forum is dealing with the invovlement of the AF-AM Day family in Logan County, Ohio. There seems to be very little supporting documentation.

When using Wilbur H. Siebert's work in researching the UGRR it is quite obvious there is even in his work perhaps a bias, at least an oversight, of many AF-AM's who were involved in this great effort.

The URL below has a list of Operators by County, within State mentioned in Siebert's work. The disclaimer that AA conductors are indicated by an (*) in front of their name is true, only to a point.
There are some known AF-AM's who are listed, but do not have the (*) in front of their name. Can you believe the very small number of AA's referenced in the entire State of PA? Very few in MI, and county after county in Ohio where there were known to be "heavy" black settlements have NONE listed as operators.

My personal experience......African American Adams' in Ohio, David in Hancock County and Lewis Adams in Champaign County. No asterisks, and this is an AA father and son.....David, the son, has his picture in Siebert's book "Mysteries of the Ohio Underground Railroad" and he is unmistakeably (sp) an AF-AM. David's AA grandfather Frank Reno and his sons Lewis and Joseph also have no asterisk.

I believe Lewis Adams, Frank,Joseph and Lewis Reno would not have been mentioned had David not been one of those conductors in Hancock County, Ohio who were interviewed by Siebert, or one of his students.
Here is an example of four (4) AA's who were involved, but the "record" does not reflect them as AA's.

Is the moral/lesson that circumstantial evidence is meaningless as it applies to US?

Sorry to vent, but your observation obviously hit one of my sore spots.

Art Thomas