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Fredonia residents once again found their village the topic of discussion at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop during a recent episode of the popular History Channel series “Pawn Stars.”
The episode featured an 1879 book, “Sketches in the History of the Underground Railroad,” that detailed the memoirs of Dr. Eber M. Pettit during his collection of stories from fugitive slaves while they escaped to freedom on the Underground Railroad, as well as the people who aided them, called conductors. Pettit was a longtime conductor on the railroad in Fredonia and died at the age of 83.
“Many a fleeing fugitive from slavery has found an asylum and safe conduct to liberty through his instrumentality,” Pettit’s 1885 obituary in the Fredonia Censor newspaper stated. “The history of ‘The Underground Railroad’ was written in a series of numbers for the Fredonia Censor. They were charmingly written, and attracted much attention. Some years later, the sketches were published … and many copies distributed among his friends, who will keep them as choice memorials of his philanthropy and self-sacrificing nature.”
Rick Harrison, one of the four main operators of the famous pawn shop, remarked during the episode that the fact someone was able to document the risky journeys of some slaves was “absolutely great.”
“To find a book this old on the Underground Railroad is quite unusual. There are very few titles like this from the 19th century,” the book’s owner, simply referred to as “Thomas,” said during the show. “I’d like to get at least $500 for the book.”
Thomas’ edition of the book sported the signature of the man who persuaded Pettit to write the slaves’ and conductors’ stories: Willard McKinstry, editor of the Fredonia Censor.
Harrison brought in a rare-books expert to analyze the antique.
The expert stated the book had a fairly small printing in Fredonia and it had value in the sense that it documented the slaves’ tales, which otherwise would have been passed down as oral history.
Thomas ended up selling the book for $700.
The Fredonia Baptist Church on Church Street holds a first-edition copy of Pettit’s book, according to a 2009 essay by Church Archivist Wendy Straight entitled “Eber M. Pettit, the Underground Railroad, and the Fredonia Baptist Church.”
Pettit was an active member of the church and a deacon for some time.
“Underground Pawn,” as the episode was titled, will re-air Thursday at 8 p.m. and Friday at 12 a.m.
This is the second time “Pawn Stars” has featured antiques tied to Fredonia. A July 2013 episode, “Rage Against That Machine,” saw a man sell two rotating, double-barreled rifles from the 1800s that were crafted by William Hart, a Fredonia gunsmith.
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