Whose name belongs to the history of the Underground Rail Road, owed his
peculiarly fine nature to a mother of large physical proportions, and
correspondingly liberal mental and spiritual endowments. She was a
natural sovereign in the sphere in which she moved, and impressed her
son with the qualities which made his Anti-slavery life nothing but an
expression of the rules of conduct which governed him in all other
particulars. Believing in his inmost soul in principles of rectitude,
all men believed in him, his "yea," or "nay," passing current wherever
he went. Tall, dignified, and commanding, he had that in his face which
inspired immediate confidence. Said one who looked: "If that is not a
good man, there is no use in the Lord writing His signature on human
countenances." Even in early youth, honors which he never sought, were
pressed upon him, as he gave assurance of ability commensurate with his
worth. He was sent to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for five sessions,
where he became the personal friend of the Governor, Joseph Ritner, and
also of Thaddeus Stevens. At the request of the latter, he consented to
occupy the position of Secretary to the Board of Canal Commissioners,
and two years after, by the wishes of Mr. Ritner, took a seat in the
Canal Board, becoming a co-worker with Thaddeus Stevens. Here ripened a
friendship, which afterward became of national importance, for although
a nature so positive as that of Thaddeus Stevens could scarcely be said
to be under the influence of any other mind, still, if there were those
who exercised a moral sway, sustaining this courageous republican
leader, at a higher level than he might otherwise have attained, Elijah
F. Pennypacker was surely amongst them. Almost antipodal as they were in
certain respects, each recognized the genuine ring of the other, and
admired and respected that which was most true and noble. The purity,
simplicity and high-minded honor which distinguished the younger, had
its effect on the elder, even while he smiled at the inflexibility which
would not swerve one hair's breadth from the line of right. The story is
often told, how, when this young man's conscience stood bolt upright in
the way of what was deemed a desirable arrangement, Stevens one day
exclaimed: "It don't do, Pennypacker, to be so d----d honest."
Pennypacker stood his ground, and the life-long respect which Stevens
ever after awarded, proved that _he_ at least, thought it _did_ do.
When it became clear to his mind, that a great battle was to be fought
between Liberty and Slavery in America, Mr. Pennypacker felt it to be
his duty to turn aside from the sunny paths of political preferment,
into the shadows of obscure life, and ally himself with the
misrepresented, despised and outcast Abolitionists, ever after devoting
himself assiduously to the promotion of the cause of Freedom.
Notwithstanding his natural modesty, here as elsewhere, he took a
conspicuous position. At home, in the local Anti-slavery Society of his
neighborhood, he was for many years chosen president, as he was also of
the Chester county Anti-slavery Society, and of the Pennsylvania State
Anti-slavery Society.
Soon after his retirement from public life, he united himself with the
Society of Friends, but was much too radical to be an acceptable
addition. For a long time he was endured rather than endorsed, and it
was only when such anti-slavery feelings as he cherished became
generally diffused throughout the Society, that he found the unity he
desired and expected. Whatever may have been his trials here or
elsewhere, he found a rich reward for his faithfulness in the
intellectual and moral growth which he attained by association with the
most advanced minds of the time, and he has often been heard to say that
no part of his life has been more fully and generously compensated than
that devoted to the Anti-slavery cause.
His home, near Phoenixville, Chester county, Pa., was an important
station on the Underground Rail Road, the majority of fugitives
proceeding through the southern rural districts of Eastern Pennsylvania,
passing through his hands. At all times he was deeply interested in
their welfare, and in his hospitality towards them, had the entire
sympathy and co-operation of his family, they, like himself, being
earnest abolitionists, but his more important duty of influencing public
sentiment in favor of freedom, overshadowed his labors in this
department. In steadfastness and integrity he stood beside Findley
Coates and Thomas Whitson, a trio who will long be remembered in their
native State.
So long as Dr. B. Fussell resided in the northern section of Chester
county, he and Elijah F. Pennypacker, were companions in Anti-slavery
and other reform labors, as well as in business on the Underground Rail
Road. Differing widely in temperament and mental structure, these two
men were harmonious in spirit, and a close bond of sympathy and
affection existed between them. It was a mutual pleasure to work as
brothers, and afterward to rejoice together in labor accomplished. One
of the last visits which roused the flickering animation of the dying
physician, was from this friend of more vigorous years, and the voice
which gave fitting expression to the worth of the departed, at his
funeral, was that of Elijah F. Pennypacker.
Like that of the highest grade of men everywhere, his appreciation of
woman has ever been keen and true, and demanding the full rights of
humanity, he makes no distinction, either on account of sex or color. In
his own family, he has always encouraged the pursuit of any occupation
congenial to the person choosing it; whether or not, it were a departure
from the routine of custom, and in educational advantages he has ever
demanded the widest possible culture for all. Wherever known, he is
estimated as a pillar in the temperance cause. Gentle, modest, courteous
and benignant, he combines, in a remarkable degree, strength and
tenderness, courage and sympathy. At one time, holding at bay the powers
of evil and baffling the most determined opponents by his manly
adherence to right; at another he may be found yielding to impressions
bidding him to seek the source of some hidden private sorrow, and with
delicate touch, binding up a flowing wound, or offering himself as the
defender and protector of such as may need his brotherly care. Obedient
to these impressions, he rarely errs in his ministrations, and whether
his errand be to remonstrate with the evil doer, setting his sins
clearly and vividly before him, or to strengthen and encourage suffering
innocence, he is alike successful. Men, whom he has warned in reproof
when it cost the utmost bravery to do so, have become his confiding
friends, and have been known afterward to entrust him with heavy
pecuniary responsibilities, and to point him out to their children as an
example worthy of imitation. Those whose griefs he has frequently
softened, have laid upon his head a crown of blessing whiter than the
honors which come with his silver hairs, and all with whom he comes in
contact in business, in duty, or in social intercourse, acknowledge the
presence, the wide usefulness and influence of the upright man.
The memories of the choice spirits he used to meet in the Anti-slavery
gatherings; their mutual and kindly greetings; the holy resolves which
animated them and made the time hours of exaltation, now serve to
brighten the pathway of his declining years, and to throw a halo around
the restfulness of his home, as in peace of mind he looks abroad over
his beloved country, to see millions of enfranchised men beginning to
avail themselves of its pecuniary, educational and political advantages,
and beholds them starting on a career of material and spiritual
prosperity, with a rapidity commensurate with the expansive force of the
repressed energies of a race.