Commercial Township considered a part of the Underground Railroad
Jean Jones
Staff Writer for The Bridgeton Evening News

Much has been written in recent years about Greenwich being a stop on the Underground Railroad, but information recently has come to light that indicates Commercial Township also was part of that network.

Barbara Haenn of Mauricetown said the Joseph Butcher house, still standing in Mauricetown, and the John Bradway House, in Haleyville, both were stations.

"My aunt told me that there used to be a tunnel from the little creek (Peterson's Ditch) that crosses Buckshutem Road just as you're coming into town to the back of the butcher house," Haenn said. "Runaway slaves were brought in by boat -- there must have been a lot more water then -- and through the tunnel to the bottom of the house. Then they would be taken to grandfather Bradway's house, that was on the bend in Haleyville, near where the railroad used to be, and he would get them on a train."

That alone would be surprising news, but there's more to this tale.

"There was one young black girl who stayed behind and lived with the Bradways and took care of their children. When she died, she was buried in the family plot at Haleyville cemetery and her name is on the stone," Haenn said.

The stone was found, just as Haenn described, on McElwee Drive, halfway between the church and Steep Run Road. It reads:

"Broadway, John W., 1849-1922, Ella V., 1853-1915, faithful Servant Sophie Blackledge, 1846-1916.

Aside from the gravestone inscription, there is no other trace of Sophie Blackledge, except the record of her death. She does not appear in census records of the day. Her death record says she died Feb. 23, 1916, single, about 70, a domestic, born in North Carolina and died in Port Norris. Parents unknown.

Haenn's aunt, 92-year old Frances Goetz, remembers the tunnel being filled in when she was a child of about four. All that remains is a tale handed down through the family and the gravestone, a tribute a faithful friend, who stayed at the side of the family with whom she lived even in death.

Taken from The Bridgeton Evening News;
250 Years of History Special - 6/26/1998