As a comment to my May 5 post about Mercersburg, Marc asked if the African-American community there was impacted during the 1863 campaign. Of course, as we know and as Marc indicates, the Army of Northern Virginia rounded-up blacks during that campaign and sent them South “back” into slavery.
Well, during my “Chambersburg ride” a couple of weekends back, and after snapping several photos related to the burning of Chambersburg and John Brown’s time in the “burg,” I came across a pamphlet that mentioned a marker in Mercersburg that just so happened to focus on the seizing of civilians from that town. Being a “marker hunter” (though not quite to the dynamic level as Craig Swain :-) … ), I had to take-on a couple extra miles and began my drive to Mercersburg. In addition to a number of other markers in the town, I found the marker about the seizing of civilians. Yet, the marker mentioned the seizing of civilians by Confederate soldiers in both October 1862 AND June/July 1863.
To answer Marc’s question… yes, Confederates did take free blacks from Mercersburg during the 1863 Campaign. As the final portion of the text on the marker states, “John Filkil, Findley Cuff, Samuel Brooks, Amos Barnes and other African Americans [were] sent to Richmond and kept them from their families for months.” It’s interesting to note however, that these blacks were released and allowed to return (as the sign indicates, after “months”) to Mercersburg, during the war.
As for the seizing of Mercersburg’s white civilians in 1862, I will have more to say about this in an upcoming post.
*Update: I took some time to look-up the names of the four Mercersburg African-Americans on the Web and could find only two pieces of information that might be of interest. For one, I now know that Findley Cuff was apparently married when he was seized by the Confederates. He married Harriett R. Brown on March 14, 1859, in the Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church.
More interestingly, however, is the info that I found on the Valley of the Shadow site. On page 8 of the Dec. 23, 1863 issue of the Franklin Repository, there is the mention of Amos Barnes being released, “through the help of Mercersburg friends and Revs. Creigh and Moore. Barnes, a black resident of Mercersburg, was captured by the rebels on July 2, and sent to Richmond where he worked in Camp Winder.” So, while he wasn’t sold into slavery, Barnes was used by the Confederates for labor.
Craig Swain
May 12, 2009
Would be interesting to see the correspondence between the Confederate authorities that lead to the release. Particularly to compare with the experience of the white civilians from Gettysburg who were also detained.
cenantua
May 13, 2009
Craig,
I’m not able to find a great deal about the blacks that were seized. Of the four names listed on the marker, I’m only able to find info about Amos Barnes. Though he wasn’t sold into slavery, it is interesting to see the way that the Confederate authorities used him.
David Cuff Burnette
January 2, 2012
I am a descendant of Findley Cuff, and we have retained alot of our history from that time period. As for John Filkill, I have an old photograph of him. The filkill’s were a very well known family in Mercersburg. The Cuff’s were one of the very few families that belonged to the Presbyterian Church of Mercersburg. Most belonged to the AME Methodist Church ( Bethel AME).Rev. Creigh married my great grandparents and was the pastor at the Upper West Conococheague Church.
Robert Moore
January 4, 2012
Would love to see the photo of John Filkill, if you are willing to share.
Cindy
July 20, 2012
Hi David, I am trying to find information on the Filkill family of Mercersburg, PA.. Are you from Franklin County, PA.? Would be interested in the photo of John Filkill. Also, the family in the brochure from the Mercersburg Chambers of Commerce – would you know about this Filkill family? Any help on where I might be able to gather genealogical information would be great. Thank you.
jenniferwilke
May 12, 2009
Robert:
Have just discovered your most interesting blog. I’m a fiction writer and a Northerner (great-grandfather in 43rd Ohio, 1862-65, who kept a daily diary on which I’m basing a novel), and find that my own research re Confederate sensibilities has left two questions largely unanswered. Perhaps you or your readers could help: (1) The very strong emotions that emancipation raised throughout this era seems to be often based on the angry presumption that blacks would then be superior to whites, the concept of any kind of equality being almost never mentioned, as if it was inconceivable; and (2) What would the continent be like now if the Confederacy had won? What was the long-term goal and shape of a Confederacy that adopted the U.S. Constitution with so few changes?
Are either of these questions something you’d be interested in addressing on your blog? Thanks for a fascinating site.
cenantua
May 13, 2009
Hi Jennifer,
I don’t think that Southerners felt that blacks would be superior to whites, but I do think that freeing them threatened the social hierarchy, especially among those that might be considered poor whites.
I can’t really speculate on the what if the Confederacy had won… there are far too many variables (not only in North America, but worldwide) that could have altered the face of history after Confederate victory.
Best,
Robert
John T. Cuff III
March 23, 2012
I am a descendant of Findley Cuff also. One of his son’s was John T. Cuff Sr, my grandfather. He went to Lincoln University in Lincoln University, Pa and graduated in 1912 and became a Presbyterian minister. If anyone can help me I would appreciate it. I live in Oregon now.