Kennett Heritage Center - 120 N. Union Street - Starting point of tour

This home, built for Dr. Isaac D. Johnson in 1901, houses the Kennett Heritage Center and the Kennett Underground Railroad Center. Dr. Isaac D. Johnson (1827 – 1911) was a mechanic, inventor, author & physician. In 1858, Johnson, with assistance from Quaker abolitionist, Ester Hayes, rendered aid to an injured freedom seeker at the home of black abolitionist, James H. Walker. The patient was spirited out of Kennett by “conductors” on the Underground Railroad, and eventually settled in Boston. As a freeman he chose to use the name Johnson Hayes Walker. Liberal Quakers actively supported abolition during the Antebellum period. Abolitionists, both Black and white, played important roles in Kennett and the surrounding area in securing freedom for self-emancipated slaves.