CASSOPOLIS — When one mentions the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County a few things come immediately to mind.

There is the historic Bonine House and carriage house on the corner of M-60 and Calvin Center Road, the Underground Railroad Days in Vandalia each summer and Christmas at the Bonine House each December.

But there are many parts to the society, whose mission is to help preserve the origins and activities of the Underground Railroad and the role that the people of Cass County played in helping slaves escape to freedom.

While the James E. Bonine home and carriage house are a visible symbol of that history, collecting, preserving and teaching that history for future generations is another significant goal of the organization.

Ruth Andrews is the URSCC education chair. She is helping make sure that future generations of Cass County residents know about the history of the Underground Railroad.

“Part of the goal of the education committee is to teach children our unique local history,” she said. “There are two really good ways to do that. One is the wax museum, which we have been doing for three years. And now, Jessica Mark, a fifth-grade teacher (at Sam Adams Elementary) is incorporating that into the classroom, which is ideal.

“The other away is participating in Michigan History Day. Last year was our first year to do that. It is a wonderful thing. It is actually part of National History Day. Michigan History Day is channeled through the Michigan Historical Society and schools can participate.”

Students grades four through 12, are eligible to participate in Michigan History Day. They can choose one of five categories to compete in.

They can write a paper, develop a website, create an exhibit, film a documentary or put on a performance.

The students from Sam Adams are doing a performance.

“We had about 20 kids participate last year and I think we will have about the same this year,” Andrews said. “Last year our fourth and fifth grade team were the state champs. We have two kids on this team that were part of that team last year. We hope to repeat.”

Andrews believes deeply that history needs to be preserved. Two of the members of their performance team have ancestors who participated in the Kentucky Raid.

“So it is live stories from their families,” she said. “They don’t always know a lot about that. They don’t know how exciting that was, so we bring that to life. Even for kids who don’t have that kind of ancestry, their ancestors were involved in something. We just don’t know what or where that was.

“It is such an exciting local history and it makes history come alive. The way this project is set up, the kids have to learn to think like historians. They have to go to sources. They have to develop a bibliography that contains primary and secondary sources and they have to know the difference. After they perform, the judges quiz them to see if they really know their history.”

Andrews has been a member of the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County since the beginning. She has been the education chair the past two years.

When the society was formed, the Bonine home and carriage house, as well as their history, were on the verge of being lost.

“They were a few months away from ruin,” she said. “I think we have had incredible growth since the very beginning when we started with nothing. We have so many members now.”

Andrews is also pleased with the growth of the Underground Railroad Days, which draws people from other states.

Looking forward, the URSCC is trying to get the Bonine property on the National Historic Register, restore the carriage house and build a museum within the Bonine House. For more information about the Underground Railroad Society or to become a member, visit the website at www.urscc.org.

Bill and Brenda Beadenkopf, both Quakers, are not only URSCC board members, but are on the research/history committee helping preserve the oral history of the Underground Railroad in Cass County.

“Part of what we have been doing is trying to capture some of the stories that people have in their memories,” Bill, who handles the history, said. “We have been interviewing and videotaping people with their stories to tell. People who heard a story from a family member like a grandparent. They want to pass this on before it gets forgotten.”

The 40 people who have been interviewed so far either have ancestors who were involved in the Underground Railroad or they live in or are owners of a historic house that has stories to tell.

“Their ancestors often built it and they are still living in it and that is really fun because they are exited about this house,” Brenda, who is the researcher, said. “Some of them had 300 year old beams down underneath. We got to see these things that were built so long ago. Before the Civil War, so it is exciting.”

Quakers played a key role in helping slaves escape north to freedom.

According to Brenda’s research, “fugitives on the Underground Railroad came up two lines that joined in Cass County — one from Illinois and the other called ‘the Quaker Line’ from Indiana. Many freedom seekers were sent from Levi Coffin in Fountain City, Indiana (called Newport then), south of Fort Wayne. Coffin was known as the ‘president’ of the Underground Railroad. He visited and was impressed by the community in Cass County.”

The Beadenkopfs credit Mary Anne Bonine for helping get the research and history committee off to a great start.

“She contributed so much,” Bill said. “She researched 40 families, Quakers and free blacks, and compiled stories in binders and donated that to the Underground Railroad Society.”

Many in Cass County know her story, but did not know what great lengths she went to in order to preserve history.

“This kept her alive,” Brenda said. “She was very, very sick with cancer. And when she was done with all this research, doing all this in a great amount of pain, she died. It is such an amazing story of her dedication. But she felt like she had to get this done. We are planning to put this all in the future library that we are planning for the Bonine House.”

The Beadenkopfs stressed that they are researching both the Quaker background and the free African American side of the story.

“Both sides are very important and we were both raised as Quakers,” Brenda said. “I was very immersed in the Quaker culture and its history.”