It wasn’t until late in his career that Orrin Vanderhoven (1825-1906) provided testimony to the public of his observations and support of the Underground Railroad work in Paterson and as a newspaper editor, he is likely to have contributed to the obituaries of participants that outlined their participation in the Underground Railroad. Vanderhoven, a native of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, moved to Paterson in the early 1850s to work at, and own The Guardian, a local paper that supported the Union and “peace at any cost” in the years before the outbreak of Civil War. Vanderhoven held strong anti-slavery views personally, but publicly, in his writings for the paper included editorials “denouncing the abolitionists and foretelling the woes they would bring upon the country” to cover his tracks.
On February 10, 1900, now the editor of The Evening News, he published a column call “Editor Van’s Stories.” He talked about the motivating forces for providing assistance to freedom seekers that not only included the demands of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 but also the impact of the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision, “Heretofore the liberty loving people of the free states believed that the moment a man stepped upon free soil he was free.” From his perspective, this decision contributed to the local perspective, in Paterson, that assisting was a more dangerous activity, both for the helpers and for the freedom seekers. The narrative of this article was framed around the stories associated a small ditch, Dublin spring creek, that was used as a town dump as a vehicle to discuss Underground Railroad work in Paterson. The stream course was fouled with all sorts of garbage but was used as a back path between Underground Railroad stations in this part of the city.
In the article, Vandenhoven described a meeting of Underground Railroad operatives in the tin shop of former sheriff, Nathaniel Lane that included an unnamed man, the freedom seeker. The activities at this tin shop, in Vanderhoven’s opinion included the regular bringing of food to the tin shop, must have been suspicious and noticed because after checking in to the Franklin House, three strangers, US Detectives, were seen outside the tin shop. A colleague interrupted the meeting in progress to notify the assembled group of their presence and the freedom seeker was immediately hustled out, taken along the creek bank to the rear of William Langwith’s “saloon” on Broadway and into the rear cellar and safety. This event, Vandenhoven noted was the first time that William Langwith helped a freedom seeker by sheltering on his premises. Vandenhoven then listed other Underground Railroad associates, and in addition to William Langwith, Darius Wells, and Henry M. Low who are described in known detail in this application, he included: former Sheriff Nathaniel Lane, L.R. Stelle, William Pennington, Henry A. Williams, H.B. Crosby, John J. Brown, D.G. Scott, Charles Danforth, A.B. Woodruff, S. Tuttle, William Cooke, and Aaron Prall.”