9781422287491

12 Liberty Bell: Let Freedom Ring

town had fewer than 40 homes. Flower quickly conclud- ed there was no good place in town to hide 11 very large and heavy bells. He decided to continue the journey to nearby Allentown. While heading for Allentown, though, Mickley’s wagon broke down. The train stopped, and the great State House bell was moved to the wagon driven by Frederick Leaser. Flower found places in Allentown to hide all 11 bells. On the morning of September 25, 1777, the bell from the State House was hidden in the basement of the Zion High German Reformed Church. Flower’s men pried up the floorboards so they could lower the bell into the basement. Although the British did occupy Philadelphia, they left in 1778 to continue fighting the war elsewhere. The bell at Zion church was returned to the steeple of the State House. Years later, the State House in Philadelphia would become known as Independence Hall, and the bell hanging in its steeple would earn the name Liberty Bell. In later years, the government of Pennsylvania erect- ed tablets commemorating the roles Mickley and Leaser played in saving the State House bell from the hands of the British. Mickley’s tablet was placed outside the church in Allentown, which still stands today and is now known as Zion’s Reformed United Church of Christ. The tablet reads: “In commemoration of the saving of the Liberty Bell from the British in September 1777. Erected to the