The Diamond

A testament to the role that Bellefonte played in helping Freedom Seekers achieve and maintain their freedom is the story of Henry Thomas. Having escaped slavery in either Maryland or Virginia, Thomas gained employment at The Pennsylvania Hotel, now the Brockerhoff House at 105 South Allegheny Street. That’s where he was working in 1856 when two disguised Southern agents came into the hotel and asked Thomas for help with directions. Thomas agreed and went along to aid them on their ride through the Halfmoon Valley. But unbeknownst to Thomas, the pair were really sent to seek escaped slaves, which was legal under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, and return them to the South. Thomas was bound with cords and put in the carriage as the pair headed off in the direction of Huntingdon. This is where Andrew Curtin, whose statue stands in front of the courthouse in the middle of Bellefonte, comes into play. Curtin, who became governor of Pennsylvania during the Civil War, was at the time a lawyer and staying at the hotel while trying a case. When Curtin found out what had happened to Thomas, he gathered a posse of men and they peeled out in stagecoaches from the Pennsylvania Hotel in pursuit of the kidnappers. While they were unsuccessful in retrieving Thomas, this story speaks to the character of Curtin, who, as governor from 1881-87, raised troops to defend the Union. We know about this story, thanks, in part, to the writings of William H. Mills, who owned a barber shop on South Allegheny Street in the 1870s.