Sandra Moats Burke responded to an inquiry on quilts and the Underground Railroad plus UGRR activity in Virginia/West Virginia

Permission to post granted by Sandra Moats Burke
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Hi Bonita,

It's good to hear from you again. I really haven't been doing any Underground Railroad research the past six months or so. But earlier last year, I had to travel around West Virginia for my job. I used the opportunity to delve into local history. I found several more references to Underground Railroad sites.

When I last spoke of the quilts with Henry, he was of the opinion they had little to do with the national Underground Railroad. I haven't read the book, so maybe I'm not the best informed. But my impression is that the book only indicated the quilts were used in South Carolina where the slaves came in a group, with their culture intact, from the same portion of Africa. From what I understand, the authors never claimed the quilts were widely used for the UGRR.

I want to keep my focus on the people, black and white, who worked the Underground Railroad. There are far more quilters than there are Underground Railroad researchers. I will leave the textile history for those interested in textiles.

But I'm finding great things about the Underground Railroad. Did you know that Francis Peirpoint, wartime governor of Loyal Virginia (in Wheeling) and called "the father of West Virginia," once represented a black man indicted for his work as a conductor? The biography of Peirpoint reports that fact. Amazingly, the conductor is quoted as having admitted his guilt to Peirpoint. He admitted, "I owe a debt to old Cype Ross." That name may not mean much to you, but Cyrus "Cype" Ross was the most notorious slave trader in Harrison County. The research librarian at Clarksburg says he suspects Ross was the operator of the notorious slave ranch, the breeding operation near Clarksburg. I now suspect that Ross may also be ultimately responsible for the deaths of the Nutter brothers who were murdered separately at Nutter Farm.

As soon as Henry told me that oral history reported Nutter Farm as a station of the Underground Railroad, I put two and two together and I still think the UGRR was the most likely motive for the murders of the four brothers. The Nutter family was in court in a land dispute with Cyrus Ross over some boundary dispute near Nutter Farm. Ross owned land there too, though he lived some 50 miles away in Harrison County. This is only speculation, but I suspect Cyrus Ross may have set up another slave breeding farm on his land near Nutter Farm. I recently learned of a slave cemetery just a few miles from Nutter Farm. The old Northwestern Virginia Turnpike (now U.S. Route 50) was a major route from eastern Virginia to the Ohio River. The river was the superhighway of its day. They were literally selling people down the river. The large slave cemetery at Williamstown was almost certainly a result of the domestic slave trade. The old state road through northwestern (West) Virginia brought goods (including slaves) to the Ohio River. Since Marietta was the major market town before Parkersburg, the road bypassed Parkersburg and went through Williamstown. The turnpike, built later, followed the old state road in some places, but it went to Parkersburg which by then was a rival for Marietta.

Bits and pieces of Underground Railroad evidence are almost all over West Virginia. Even collections of ghost stories contain clues. Did you know about "Darkish Knob?" I think it's in Tucker County. A young female slave was riding horseback at night and took the wrong trail. She and the horse plunged to their deaths. Her ghostly scream has been reported in the locality since then.

Another ghost story comes from near Fairmont. A log cabin (still standing) was a station of the UGRR. A group of fugitive slaves was hidden there when they were found by thugs. The story goes that they cut off their heads and threw the heads in the river. The land owners buried the headless bodies in the family cemetery. Ever since the "ghost lights" had been seen from the cabin. It was said the headless slave ghosts are seeking their missing heads.

That's just the folklore. Local histories of numerous counties contain information about the Underground Railroad. I have also made contacts around the state in several counties who supply me with information. We stay in touch online. It's sporatic, not often. But the interest is there.

The reference librarian at Bethany College is interested. They are well aware that Joseph Bryant of Bethany College was once jailed for his Underground Railroad work.

Ilene Evans, who does Harriet Tubman for the WV "History Alive" presentations around the state, is interested. There was a new article in the Huntington paper that quoted me and Henry. Don't know where they got my quotes. Maybe from Henry. Maybe from Ilene (cause they used her picture in the article). But I was glad to see it. You can search Sandra Moats Burke online and you should be able to find the article.

Ilene wants to produce a map of West Virginia Underground Railroad sites. I should really get in touch with Henry and his friend Charlie Fogle to see if they can make the maps. I told Ilene I had given Charlie my information to use to make a UGRR map of WV.

Tom Drakos of Burgettstown, Pa., is researching the UGRR at Weirton and other Northern Panhandle cities. John Mattox is also doing some research there.

Let's stay in touch,

Sandra Moats Burke