The west side of the foundation is being restored to match the east side, using cobblestones from the Bonine House front yard. BullsEye Construction took down part of the 1930s foundation and installed new beams at the southwest corner. (Submitted photo)

Quaker abolitionists James E. Bonine and Sarah Bogue Bonine are surely smiling.

The restoration of their Victorian home at Penn Road and M-60 in Vandalia, as an events and Underground Railroad (UGRR) education center is progressing beautifully, with the iconic front porches to be added by early summer and upstairs library to open in late spring.

Work has also begun to restore their Gothic revival carriage house across M-60 at Calvin Center Road, that will allow the public to experience a genuine Underground Railroad station.

It is said that more than 1,500 fugitive slaves (now called freedom seekers) came through Vandalia from 1840 until 1860, helped to freedom by Quakers, free blacks and other abolitionists residing there.

Many arrived via the Underground Railroad, two lines of which met in Cass County — the Illinois Line and the Quaker Line through Indiana. The UGRR was a series of houses, barns and other structures called “stations” where freedom seekers were given shelter, food and clothing before being taken by “conductors” to the next station.

Well-known stations in Penn Township were the Stephen Bogue House at M-60 and Crooked Creek Road, the William Jones House at M-60 and Gards Prairie Road and the Bonine Carriage House, built around 1850.

It has seen use as a barn, an Oliver dealership and a branch of Buchanan Feed Mills; but the structure itself is original, except for some of the foundation, which was replaced by cement in the 1930s.

The Underground Railroad of Cass County (URSCC) a 501(C)3 non-profit, purchased the Bonine House and the carriage house in December of 2010.

Because the house was near collapse, efforts of the organization focused on saving it, and restoration is ongoing. The carriage house will function as a major exhibit museum of the period and also allow visitors to experience what it was like on the Underground Railroad.