Parker Kidnapping & Rescue
Emboldened by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law, Maryland slave catchers kidnapped Rachel and Elizabeth Parker from the Nottingham area in 1851. Rachel's employer Joseph Miller was murdered in a failed attempt to rescue her from Baltimore. Public outrage led Pa. officials to seek the sisters' release in a Md. civil court case that secured their freedom in 1853. The forcible enslavement of two young free black women galvanized antislavery sentiment.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov
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