His bio if anyone is interested ROBERT C SMEDLEY (Abiah,Daniel,Thomas,Thomas,George),b. Willistown,4-5-1832;d.West Chester,1-2-1883;m.Penn township,4-24-1862, Esther Kent,b.Andrews' Bridge,Lancaster Co.,10-22-1835;d.West Chester, 5-13-1873;dau.of Benjamin Kent and Hannah Simmons,of Chester Co. Her father was the son of Daniel and Esther (Hawley) Kent,and grandson of William and Ann Kent,of Limerick,Ireland. He was a woollen manufacturer and farmer,and an earnest worker for temperance and the anti-slavery cause,as well as a preacher among Friends. Hannah Simmons was the daughter of Henry Simmons and Rachel Preston,the latter being a preacher for more than sixty years. Robert C Smedley worked on his father's farm till 21;then taught school in Newtown nearly three years,during which time he began to study medicine with Dr. John P Lewis, of the allopathic system. He also taught a winter in E. Goshen and another at Grove,in W. Whiteland. Before entering college he read works on hydropathy and homoeopathy, and being impressed with the truth of the latter gave it his especial attention, graduating from the Homoeopathic Medical College,Philadelphia,March, 1860. He settled at Oxford,Chester Co.,in May,and steadily gained a large practice,but preferring West Chester as a permanent residence removed to this place in 1863. Here he gained a large and respectable practice. He had purchased the homestead in Willistown,together with adjoining lands,making in all about 102 acres,which he sold in 1863 to J Ellwood Worrall,of Nether Providence. He subsequently purchased real estate in West Chester,and his last residence was on the east side of Church Street,near the Mansion House hotel. He left in manuscript a history of the Underground Railroad in Chester and the neighboring counties,a work of much interest and research,which was published a few months after his death in a volume of over 400 pages. Esther Kent was engaged for several years in teaching and in writing for the press-chiefly poetry. In 1866,after her marriage,she was induced,by the solicitation of several members of the Society of Friends,to edit a periodical of useful reading for Friends' children,and on the 1st of the 5th mo.issued the first number of "The Children's Friend." This was a magazine of exceptional moral purity and exaulted intellectual character which won the approval of many in other denominations.After her death it passed into the hands of her sister,Annie F Bradley,and later into those of Mary Y Hough,of Phila. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandra Ferguson" <ferg@ntelos.net> To: "PaOldCh" <pa-old-chester-l@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 16:57 PM Subject: [PaOldC] Chester Co underground RR > A friend just sent me a fascinating book, History of the Underground RR > in Chester and Neighboring Counties..... This is a republication of the > book by R. C. Smedley, written in 1883. The book is a record of the > first hand experiences of those who actually participated in the operation > of the RR. > There were specific routes of the RR and those responsible for running > the northward and eastward routes were Daniel Gibbons, Thomas Peart, > Thomas Whitson, Lindley Coates, Dr. Eagle man, James Moore, Caleb C. Hood, > of Lancaster Co.: > James Fulton, Gideon Pierce, Joseph Haines, Thomas Bonsall, Gravner > Marsh, Zebulon Thomas, Thomas Vickers, John Vickers, Micajah and Wm A. > Speakman, Esther Lewis and daughters, Dr Edwin Fussell, William Fussell, > Norris Maris, Emmor Kimber, and Elijah f. Pennypacker. > The book has an index of names and if you suspect that an ancestor > might have been involved I'll be glad to see if the name is mentioned, > keeping in mind that the RR was run pretty exclusively by Quakers and free > blacks. > Sandra > > > > Sent from Sandra's iPod ???? > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PA-OLD-CHESTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message