The Dorrington House

Marker is at the far southeast brick pillar facing Stone Street.

On this site stood the home of pioneers David and Ann Dorrington, the first permanent settlers of Falls City. Known as the "father and mother of Falls City," the Dorringtons came here in 1857 to build a life for their family and to establish a town that would soon serve as a bastion of freedom, aiding those escaping slavery on their way north through Nebraska.

David and Ann were born, raised, and married in England before immigrating to Oneida County, New York. While there, they became fervently involved with the abolitionist movement. As David was an experienced carpenter and joiner, the family moved to Doniphan County, Kansas, to help build the west and aid in the cause. There he met Jim Lane and others who urged him to come to this spot to build an abolition-minded community and a way station on what is known as "The Lane Trail."

The Dorrington homestead soon became Falls City's base of operation for the underground railroad. Behind the house to the west (close to the present alley) was a barn that served as the primary location where the Dorringtons hid slaves. Freed slaves were often transported in false-bottomed mail wagons and were delivered here under cover of the night. The family gave them food and encouragement, and the barn provided them with prairie hay beds/hideaways.

"Squire" Dorrington wore many hats in early Falls City. In addition to building many of the early houses and businesses, he also served as justice of the peace, carrier of the mail, undertaker, and one-time mayor.

"Mother" Dorrington was an essential part of the community, ministering to the sick, the injured, and the dying, as well as delivering babies. Along with her husband, she was deeply involved with the underground railroad.

Many of their descendants still live in Falls City or in nearby communities.

The Lane Trail was a route of special importance, in that it was actually a two-way path. The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to self-determine whether they would become free or slave states. Gen. James Lane, an ardent abolitionist and founder of Falls City, sought to bring free-state settlers from the east to Kansas in order to help secure the votes necessary to admit Kansas as a free state. He found a sensible passageway, avoiding pro-slavery Missouri by entering Nebraska from Iowa and then proceeding south into Kansas.

As the traffic south slowed, the use of the trail as a way to bring slaves north increased. Falls City, as Nebraska's seat of the abolitionist movement and station on the underground railroad, became a hotbed of activity, protecting and transporting slaves while dealing with pro-slavery factions from near and far.

No figure of the abolitionist movement is more famous than John Brown. Brown recognized the Lane trail as a convenient route to shepherd slaves north, and he used it to his advantage. In his travels, he made many stops here. On one occasion just outside of Falls City, some South Carolina rangers had recaptured a group of fleeing slaves but then found themselves surrounded by John Brown and his forces. Brown freed the slaves and relieved the rangers of their arms and horses. The pursuers were then rebuked and were forced to repeat the Lord's Prayer before being sent back south. Brown's last stop in Falls City was on his way to Harpers Ferry, where he met his end in 1859. He would never return, but "His soul goes marching on."