Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall, Underground Railroad

The Quaker couple Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall lived near this spot on Kennett Pike and used their home, Oakdale, as a refuge for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad. Both were members of Old Kennett Meeting until slavery divided that congregation, and in eighteen fifty-three they helped found Longwood Progressive Meeting for those who would not compromise on abolition.

Dinah carried the cause to the highest level. In eighteen sixty-two she was part of a committee that traveled to Washington and met with President Lincoln, urging him to issue the Emancipation Proclamation. The Mendenhalls also championed women's voting rights, tying the freedom of enslaved people to the broader struggle for equality. Their farm in Chester County stood as a practical station along one of the most active corridors of the Underground Railroad.