History of Salem shaped by Underground Railroad

SALEM - As guests sipped tea and snacked on finger sandwiches, the great-great-grandson of Henderson Lewelling, of the Lewelling Quaker Museum, talked about his family's history with the Underground Railroad during the annual tea on Sunday, April 28.

Walter Lewelling, the great-great-grandson of Henderson Lewelling, who helped usher Freedom Seekers to freedom in the 1830s, spoke about how his family were some of the first settlers in Salem and were staunch abolitionists. The Lewelling Quaker Museum is celebrating their 60th anniversary since it became a museum and a charitable nonprofit this year.

'The museum means a lot to my family,” Lewelling said. 'It's worthwhile to preserve it.”

Lewelling said that the Underground Railroad was kept quiet. No records were kept of how many Freedom Seekers passed through the Lewelling house and not much more has been uncovered over the years.

'The stories were that Henderson was involved in the Underground Railroad, but we don't know much about it. We heard stories growing up, but we don't know much more than we did now,” Lewelling said during the tea.

The Lewellings helped Freedom Seekers because of their strong convictions stemming from the Quaker faith. Henderson was an abolitionist. He felt strongly that slaves should be freed immediately, Lewelling said. But when there was a split in the Quaker faith between those who were strongly anti-slavery and those who were passively anti-slavery, Henderson was 'kind of run out of town” after 10 years of living in Iowa because of his involvement in the Underground Railroad, Lewelling said.

As guests passed around delicate cookies, they shared stories of how their own families were involved in the Underground Railroad in Salem at the time of the Lewellings.

Kathy Helman, who sits on the Lewelling Quaker Museum board of trustees, is more familiar than most with the history of the museum. Her great-great-grandfather was good friends with Henderson Lewelling.

'Many of us are descendants of the first families who settled here,” Kathy said, whose great-great grandfather Joel C. Garretson was a conductor on the Underground Railroad after he moved to Salem in 1837.

'Joel would ride into town to gather up Freedom Seekers,” Kathy continued. 'He has a bounty on his head of $500, but he was never caught. The family story is that he had a fast horse,” Kathy said with a laugh.

Over the years, the family continues to tell the stories of Joel C. Garretson and his wife Elizabeth. Kathy's favorite story is of Elizabeth hiding a Freedom Seeker in their peach orchard.

'One day, a runaway slave came to the door frightened saying slave catchers were right behind him,” Kathy said. 'Elizabeth directed him to hide in the peach orchard where the prairie grass grew high and the peach tree leaves hung low. The slave catchers were within 50 feet of him and did not see him.”

The Garretsons still own Joel C. Garretson's original farm - East Grove Farms in Salem. It's the oldest farm in Iowa to remain in the same family.

Kathy said that her great-great-grandfather's activism in helping slaves make it to freedom has continued in her family.

'People today might call us progressives. We feel very strongly the importance of the Civil Rights movement and equality of all races, men and women,” Kathy said.

Kathy said that the basis of that progressive spirit is partly because of the Quaker faith. While her family no longer practices the traditions of the Quakers, she said they still carry with them the traditions.

'Everyone is born with God's Inner Light,” Kathy said.

Loree Dee, also carries with her family stories of the Underground Railroad. Her mother Doris Garretson's aunt owned the Lewelling house before it was purchased and turned into a museum.

'My mom, when she was a little girl, would hide in the crawl space in the kitchen with a flashlight and books,” Dee said. The crawl space was where the Lewellings would hide Freedom Seekers in the 1830s.

Dee said that growing up, the stories were so natural. It wasn't until she learned about the Underground Railroad in school that she understood the impact of the Lewelling house.

'My ancestors did something wonderful,” Dee said.

Morene Sepeter, of Fairfield, also has Salem roots. Her family, the Pidgeons, actually built the first streets in town.

'The Lewelling Quaker Museum is special,” Sepeter said.

Glenda Moeller, of Houghton, attends the Lewelling Quaker Museum tea annually.

'I like seeing all the people and the menu is always great,” Moeller said.

Sharon Walden, of Salem, is also known to regularly attend the tea.

'I enjoy everything. It's just a bunch of ladies getting together and having a good time,” Walden said. 'The museum means a lot to the town. It's one of our landmarks.”