York Daily Record

Jim McClure York Daily Record

Amanda Berry Smith was a bit of a renaissance woman. She grew up in York County, Pa., and as an adult, she served as an evangelist. She's remembered as a chronicler of the Underground Railroad movement in northern Maryland and York County. Also of interest: Shrewsbury’s Amanda Berry Smith: ‘God’s image carved in ebony’.

Two score years ago, a historical marker was firmly planted along the Susquehanna Trail near Grace United Methodist Church in Shrewsbury.

The 9-square-foot marker observed the site where Samuel Berry's family secreted slaves to freedom before the Civil War.

That act was illegal in those days and identification as an Underground Railroad operator could have meant imprisonment.

So station masters posted no billboards, and the record on those sites is sketchy today.

But Samuel Berry's daughter, Amanda, was skilled with the pen.

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