A place where people gathered to discuss the news and politics of the day. The shop became a busy Underground Railroad hub. Clark housed slaves seeking freedom in his home or in the homes of other families, and arranged transportation for the next stage in their journey to Canada. In October 1851, William “Jerry” Henry, a freedom seeker from Missouri who had lived in Syracuse, found refuge here in Mexico while fleeing arrest under the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law.