Quaker Falls

Quaker Falls. . The site, known as Quaker Falls, is at the entrance to the former village of Quakertown. The remnants of the village of Quakertown lies just ½ mile Northeast of the falls. Located in Mahoning Township, Lawrence County and owned by the County of Lawrence, the site provides an experience in learning about the first Quaker settlement in the Lawrence County area. In 2019, archaeological digs were excavated throughout the area, where flint pieces were found, dating to the Precontact Period. , Known as the Religious Society of Friends, the Quakers are a Protestant group, who originally immigrated to the United States of America from England and Wales in the 17th century. Notable Quakers were Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Herbert Hoover, John Cadbury, and William Penn. Some values that the Quakers were known for are refusals to participate in war or to swear oaths, opposition to slavery, wearing plain dress and practicing teetotalism. , Between 1799 and 1804, the Cadwalader family moved to Western Pennsylvania and settled the area, where they laid out the village of Quakertown, Others joined them including the Sharpless, Shearer, and Townsend families. As the town grow in number, it became a self-sustaining community with a grist mill, saw mill, train station, machine shop, and schoolhouse. , After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a group of citizens from Lawrence County said that they would, "make a war upon that infamous law.” Around the midcentury, many residing in Quakertown grew to prominence as conductors on a secret collaborative effort to assist the former slaves to freedom, known as the Underground Railroad. Those who assisted former slaves northward were known as conductors, similar to the well-known conductor, Harriet Tubman. Although little to anything was ever written about the effort due to the federal illegality of abolitionist efforts, local research has identified the following Mahoning Township residents as conductors: Alexander Wright, Jr., Elizabeth Wright, Septimus Cadwalader, Eli Cadwalader, Talbot Townsend, Elizabeth Townsend, Benjamin Sharpless, and Amy Sharpless. Other abolitionists in the area were: Edwin A. Sharpless, Eliza Sharpless, John P. Calvin, Horace Greely Reed, and John C. Book.