200-year-old advertisement adds to the history of New Philadelphia

We are excited to share an amazing addition to the documentation of New Philadelphia’s story. Scholars Gerald and Kate McWorter have found an 1825 wanted ad (attached) documenting the freedom flight of Frank, Jr., son of town founders Frank and Lucy McWorter. Such ads were common in the South before the Civil War; this one was published in the Louisville Public Advertiser.

According to Gerald McWorter, “We knew my great granduncle Frank Jr. made it to Canada, but now we know when and how.  It proves that history is never complete.  There is always more to find.”

The ad documents that Frank Jr. left Pulaski County, Kentucky, on October 1, 1825, riding a sorrel horse with a blaze on her face.  Letters between him and his family in New Philadelphia support the oral history that the family helped others to freedom as well.