The Underground Railroad in Macon County, TN
The Underground Railroad in Macon County, TN
The Stories passed down through generations here, state that the Underground Railroad laid tracks into Macon County, TN., becoming a safe haven and station for enslaved blacks, seeking release from their living’s oppression.
This invisible railroad was a route thus named signifying the secrecy of transport of suppressed people with one marked destination… freedom!
Fleeing into the darkness and safety of the night and dependent upon the kindness of any, who could provide food and shelter, until their exodus was complete. These sojourners placed their lives into the hands of many trusted folk, bent on helping freedom become their reality.
Tradition says that at least one such affected family lived in an unnamed cave for one winter in the secludedness of northern Macon County in the Hanestown region. According to Mark Roark, who heard from his grandfather James Maxie Roark, who had heard from his grandfather Johnson Roark (a Civil War, Union soldier of Company A, 9th KY Infantry), that this site was used as a camping station for the Underground Railroad.
Nestled in the confines of this remote area, away from prying eyes, that could doom their existence, respite was offered, if only for a season. The cave, of course, provided an enclosed, temperature controlled environment, shielding from the weather’s harsh elements and the creek provided water and a food source.
Various locals to this area have reported learning from their grandparents and other older citizens, tales of these facts, verifying that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, although, no paper trail has yet, been firmly established.
Mark Roark, Jimmy Law, Jack Hanes, and Barry Meador have related hearing of this early history from elders in their lives. Each stating the same facts of this episode happening in the distant past.
It was said that an internet reference was made connecting Harriett Tubman, the renowned abolitionist and ‘Moses to her people,’ to this Macon County site. I have been unable to locate this source.
The creek system seems to have been utilized, which would easily disguise the scent trail and tracks left by those seeking their liberty offered by Northern states or Canada.
The cave, which has been visited by many since its discovery, has unfortunately collapsed, said due to timber being cut circa 2010. It is mostly unrecognizable, now that the entrance has been decimated, but these are the approximate GPS coordinates: 36.62121 -86.10952 and is owned at this writing by Mark Roark. The mouth is situated approximately 75 yards from the unnamed branch in Negro Hollow, about 20 feet above on a bluff.
Spelunkers, who have ventured into this cavern, report a large room leading off into two directions. Unknown was the length or size thereof.
The attributed trek for this ‘liberation migration,’ according to David ‘Champ’ Jones, was from the Cumberland River, to Castilian Springs, in Sumner County, TN. Here they would shield, in either an old log house or barn, with an earthen floor, during the day and then travel in the concealment of the night. He had learned this from John Garrett, an historian from Sumner County.
Entering Macon County in the vicinity of the Phillips and Leath Hollow, into the Gravely (Gravel) Hill section, which has historically been a black settlement area, then following the meandering of Rocky Mound Road, to the Popular Grove Road that turns into Old Hartsville Road in Allen County, KY. This route isn’t far from the ‘Cave Depot’ showcased here.
Mark Owen relayed hearing his grandparents tell, “when they were kids, their grandparents talked about what was going on, and that they (the Underground Railroad) would come up from Leath’s Chapel Hollow to Gravel Hill and through Fair View. They talked about a lot of bad things that happened way back then.”
Further investigation needs to be made to uncover, perhaps other stories dealing with this pertinent history, of but one chapter, in not only of our Nation’s history, but that of Macon County.
~ Randy G. East, Macon County Historian
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