Liberty Hall Bell Plaque - New Bedford, MA - Underground Railroad Sites on Waymarking.com

In New Bedford, at the corner of Purchase Street and William Street is a bronze plaque that lists the buildings and historical events that happened at that corner. The plaque states:

"On this site the former meeting house of the First Congregational and Unitarian societies was erected - 1795-97
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These buildings were converted into Liberty Hall - 1839
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Original Liberty Hall burned and rebuilt - 1854
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Merchant National Bank's second bank building erected - 1893
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This building erected 1914
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News of the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law was brought from Boston in 1851 by an express messenger who rode all night and the bell from the old hall was wrung to give warning to fugitive slaves that U.S. Marshals were coming.

The bell was melted in the fire of 1854 and a fragment is inserted into this tablet.

[Symbol of bell with draping chord] [Mounted Bell Fragment] [Symbol of bell with draping chord]"

On the web site for the New Bedford Historical Society is a reference to this location. It states:

"East wall of former Bay Bank, Purchase and William Streets
Liberty Hall once stood on this site. Inside the Hall was a bell which, during the 1850’s and 60’s was used to warn runaway slaves that the U.S. Marshals were approaching. Aaron Childs, an African-American, was one of the largest contributors to the bell."

These two statements seem to conflict on the years the bell was used, since the on-site plaque indicated that the bell had been destroyed in the fire of 1854. The fire did happen on November 6, 1854, as reported on Whalingcity.net.

New Bedford was a major stopping point along the underground railroad. It was estimated that 300-700 fugitive slaves passed through the city from the 1840s to 1860s. Frederick Douglass passed through the city in 1838.

Sources:

New Bedford Historical Society:
(visit link)

Whalingcity.net (New Bedford History - 1850-1858):
(visit link)

Teachervision.fen.com (New Bedford, MA and the Underground Railroad):
(visit link)

Address: Purchase and William Streets New Bedford, MA United States 02074 Web site: [Web Link] Site Details: On a public street corner on a bank building built in 1914. Open to the public?: Public Name of organization who placed the marker: Not known/not listed.

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