Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall
Quaker Abolitionists

Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall were very active stationmasters on the Underground Railroad. Their home was just east of Rt 52 in Pennsbury Township, PA. Just over the PA line. Their home was known as Oakdale. They were related to Thomas Garrett, in Wilmington, DE, through his wife, Rachel Mendenhall Garrett. Because of this family tie, Thomas Garrett sent many freedom-seekers from the slave state of Delaware on to the Mendenhall's in the free state of Pennsylvania. After 1850 and the adoption of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, Isaac and Dinah left their Oakdale farm to their son and moved closer to the Delaware boarder. They built a home for the express purpose of helping freedom-seekers. They were very involved in the creation of the Longwood Progressive Friends Meetinghouse and are buried in the Longwood Cemetery.