The Peoria Historical Society has discovered what a curator is calling its “largest acquisition of historical material.” It includes paintings, letters and diaries. The collection is now part of the Pettengill-Morron House Museum that was one of the first homes in Peoria, dating to the mid 1800s.
The documents could help verify the house’s link to the underground railroad.
Moses Pettengill and his wife Lucy were outspoken abolitionists. And for that reason, historians have speculated that the Pettengill-Morron home was a stop on the underground railroad.
“Underground railroads weren’t like Holiday Inns. You didn’t put up signs, so we’re hoping that in these documents it will reveal this was in the underground railroad," Historical Society Executive Director Walter Ruppman said. "It may not reveal it, that doesn’t mean people won’t continue to speculate.”
Ruppman says the Society acquired eight boxes full of documents, including Moses Pettengill’s autobiography and correspondence.
The Historical Society's curator Robert Killion was made aware of the collection last year when a local historian met a living descendant of the family in New Hampshire -- where the Pettengills moved from in 1833.
"This is one of the most exciting things to happen since I've been here," Killion said.
Killion traveled to Concord, New Hampshire in February to gather the collection. Two of the paintings have been restored and are now hanging in the Pettengill-Morron house's dining room. Other paintings yet to be restored include works by Frank C. Peyraud and Grant Wright.
Killion says he and a biographer are sifting through the documents for evidence of the family’s role in the underground railroad.
So far, the Society has only been able to confirm that Moses Pettengill did business with other abolitionists. But, there’s one personal document yet to arrive in the mail -- his diary.