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The African-American Experience in Ohio 1850-1920
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field(SUBJ_at_od1(Undergroundrailroad))
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If you come to us and are hungry, we will feed
you if thirsty, we will give you drink if sick,
we will minister to your necessities if in
prison, we will visit you if you need a hiding
place from the pursuer, we will provide one that
even bloodhounds will not scent out. -Credo of
the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1843
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Slavery is a Hard Foe to Battle Written by
Judson, 1855 I looked to the South and I looked
to the West And I saw old Slavery a-coming With
four Northern dough faces hitched up in
front Driving freedom to the other side of
Jordan Then take off coats and roll up
sleeves Slavery is a hard foe to battle Then
take off coats and roll up sleeves O Slavery is
a hard foe to battle I believe.
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Am I not a man and a brother? Date
Created/Published 1837. Summary The large,
bold woodcut image of a male slave in chains
appears on the 1837 broadside publication of John
Greenleaf Whittier's antislavery poem, "Our
Countrymen in Chains." The design was originally
adopted as the seal of the Society for the
Abolition of Slavery in England in the 1780s, and
appeared on several medallions for the society
made by Josiah Wedgwood as early as 1787.
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Reynolds Political Map of the United States,
designed to exhibit the comparative Area of the
free and slave states New York and Chicago, 1856
Map
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The underground railroad / Chas. T. Webber.
c1893. African Americans in wagon and on foot,
escaping from slavery.
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Ashtabula HarborAshtabula Harbor, from which
fugitive slaves were sent across Lake Erie to
Canada. The warehouse on the left was a hiding
place for the fugitives.
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Aaron L. Bendict's House and BarnPhotograph of
Aaron L. Benedict's house and barn, Underground
Railroad station, Alum Creek Friends' Settlement
(Marengo), Morrow County, Ohio.
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Barn of Seth Marshall Photograph of the barn on
the Seth Marshall homestead in Painesville, Lake
County, Ohio. The barn was a hiding place for
fugitive slaves.
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John Parker 1827 - 1900
Born enslaved in Virginia, Parker was sold away
from his mother at age eight and forced to walk
in a line of chained slaves from Virginia to
Alabama. After several unsuccessful attempts, he
finally bought his freedom with the money he
earned doing extra work as a skilled craftsman.
Parker moved to Cincinnati and then to Ripley,
where he became one of the most daring slave
rescuers of the period. Not content to wait for
runaways to make their way to the Ohio side of
the river, Parker actually "invaded" Kentucky
farms at night and brought over to Ripley
hundreds of slaves. He kept records of those he
had guided towards freedom, but he destroyed the
notes in 1850 after realizing how the Fugitive
Slave Law threatened his home, his business, and
his family's future.
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John Rankin (1793-1886) Ripley, Ohio, was a
minister and abolitionist. His first congregation
recoiled from his anti-slavery doctrine and drove
him off. Rankin and his large family moved to
Ripley where they lived as public abolitionists
who enlisted several hundred Ohio residents
against slavery.
Bust of John Rankin by Ellen Rankin Copp
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John Rankin House (Ripley, Ohio) Photograph of
the restored John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio.
The Rankin House is one of the sites operated by
the Ohio Historical Society.
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"Freedom Stairway" Photograph of the "freedom
stairway", the steps leading from the Ohio River
to the John Rankin House, Ripley, Ohio.
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View of the Ohio River and downtown Ripley, Ohio
from the John Rankin House. Photograph by
Richard Cooper
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Alfred Murphy, an ex-slave Photograph of Alfred
Murphy, an ex-slave who lived in Columbus,
Franklin County, Ohio. "Never Too Old to Learn!"
That's the slogan of this 105 year old ex-slave
who was a pupil in a literacy class conducted by
the WPA in Columbus, Ohio.
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David Wilborn, an ex-slave Photograph of David
Wilborn, an ex-slave who lived at 220 Fair Street
in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio.
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Charles Green, an ex-slave Photograph of Charles
Green, an ex-slave who lived at 231 Buxton Avenue
in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, District 1.
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Life In Slavery Sarah Ashley, 93, was born in
Mississippi I used to have to pick cotton and
sometimes I pick 300 pound and tote it a mile to
the cotton house. Some pick 300 to 800 pound
cotton and have to tote the bag the whole mile to
the gin. If they didnt do they work they get
whip till they have blister on them. Then if they
didnt do it, the man on a horse goes gown the
rows and whip with a paddle make with holes in it
and bust the blisters. I never get whip, because
I always get my 300 pound. Us have to go early to
do that, when the horn goes early, before
daylight. Us have to take the victuals in the
bucket to the field. Us never got enough to eat,
so us keeps stealing stuff. Us has to. They give
us the pack of meal to last the week and two,
three pound back on in chunk. Us never have flour
or sugar, just cornmeal and the meat and
potatoes. The slaves have the big box under the
fireplace, where they keep all the pick and
chicken what they steal, down in salt.
Sarah AshleyCredit Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division Washington
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Angelina Lester, an ex-slave Photograph of
Angeline Lester, an ex-slave who lived
Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio, District 5.
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In 1834, Jermain Loguen (circa 1813-1868), a
Tennessee slave (otherwise known as Jarm Logue),
boldly rode out of Tennessee and slavery, and
continued to ride until he reached Canada and
freedom. Loguen and his wife received fugitives
ceaselessly, at all hours of the night and day,
and even while their daughter lay fatally ill.
Loguen agitated for jobs for blacks. Loguen
established a school and a church wherever he
could for emancipated slaves.
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Elsie Ross, an ex-slave  Photograph of Elsie
Ross, an ex-slave who lived at 300 Sprague Street
in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, District 2.
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Punishment Walter Calloway, Birmingham,
Alabama Master John had a big plantation and
lots of slaves. They treated us pretty good, but
we had to work hard. Time I was ten years old I
was making a regular hand behind the plow. Oh,
yes Sir, Master John good enough to us and we get
plenty to eat, but he had a overseer name Green
Bush what sure whip us if we dont do to suit
him. Yes Sir, he mighty rough with us but he
didnt do the whipping himself. He had a big
black boy name Mose, mean as the devil and strong
as a ox, and the overseer let him do all the
whipping. And, man, he could sure lay on that
rawhide lash.
Walter CallowayCredit Library of Congress
Prints and Photographs Division Washington
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Sarah Frances Shaw Graves Age 87 "I was born
March 23, 1850 in Kentucky, somewhere near
Louisville. I am goin' on 88 years right now.
(1937). I was brought to Missouri when I was six
months old, along with my mama, who was a slave
owned by a man named Shaw, who had allotted her
to a man named Jimmie Graves, who came to
Missouri to live with his daughter Emily Graves
Crowdes. I always lived with Emily Crowdes."
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Harriet Tubman 1822 - 1913
When, as a young child on a plantation in Eastern
Maryland, Tubman tried to protect another slave,
she suffered a head injury that led to sudden
blackouts throughout her life. On her first
escape, Tubman trekked through the woods at
night, found shelter and aid from free Blacks and
Quakers, and eventually reached freedom in
Philadelphia to align with William Still and the
Vigilance Committee. After hearing that her
niece and children would soon be sold, Tubman
arranged to meet them in Baltimore and usher them
North to freedom. It was the first of some
thirteen trips during which Tubman guided
approximately 50 to 70 people to freedom. Tubman
spoke often before antislavery gatherings
detailing her experiences. She was never
captured, and went on to serve as a spy, scout,
and nurse for the Union Army. When the government
refused to give her a pension for her wartime
service, Tubman sold vegetables and fruit
door-to-door and lived on the proceeds from her
biography.
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(Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special
Collections Division, Broadside Collection,
portfolio 65, no. 16).
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BETSEY ESCAPES TENNESSEE Arkansas Gazette
October 4, 1825 (October 11, 1825) 30 REWARD
RANAWAY from the subscriber, living near
Lawrenceburg, Lawrence county (Ten) about the
first of August last, a black NEGRO WOMAN named
BETSEY, about 15 years of age, spare made
stammers a little in her speech at times, and
when walking makes long steps--no particular mark
recollected. The above reward of Thirty Dollars
will be given if taken out of the State, and
confined so I get her, and Twenty Dollars if
taken in the state and confined so I get
her. PETER WINN September 3d, 1825
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ESCAPE OF JACK Arkansas Gazette December 2, 1820
(January 6, 1821) 150 Reward RAN away from my
plantation, Lincoln county, Tennessee, on the
first day of August last, a Negro man named JACK.
He is about 6 feet high, a dark mulatto, broad
shoulders, rather inclined to be round, high
cheek bones, thin jawed, thin lips, large hands
and feet, and rather an impediment in his speech,
dejected countenance when spoken to, and very
fond of spirituous liquors, a large scar on his
breast, on the left side, and under the left
nipple, and has been passing by the name of DAVE
he is a tolerable good shoemaker, and an
excellent hand at the whip-saw. Any person
apprehending said fellow and confining him in any
jail in Tennessee or Kentucky, shall have the
above reward, or one hundred dollars, if confined
to any jail in the United States, so that I get
him again or the above reward for the delivery
of said fellow to me, at Bradshaws Creek, Giles
county, Tennessee, with common expenses. Any
person taking up said Negro, will direct their
letters to Pulaski, Giles county, Tennessee. JOHN
HOLCOMB November 4, 1820
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http//teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/
underground_railroad/plantation.htm Click this
link for an interactive story about the journey
of Walter, a slave in Kentucky.
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Emancipation Katie Rowe, Age 88,  Tulsa, OK I
never forget the day we was set free! That
morning we all go to the cotton field early, and
then a house slave come out from old Mistress
on a horse and say she want the overseer to come
into town, and he leave and go in. After while
the old horn blow up at the overseers house, and
we all stop and listen, cause it the wrong time
of day for the horn. We start chopping again,
and there go the horn again. The lead row slave
holler Hold up! And we all stop again. We
better go on in. That our horn, he holler at the
head slave, and the head slave think so too,
but he say he afraid we catch the devil from the
overseer if we quit without him there, and the
lead row man say maybe he back from town and
blowing the horn himself, so we line up and go
in.
Page 1 of 3
Katie RoweCredit Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division Washington
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Page 2 of 3
When we get to the quarters we see all the old
ones and the children up in the overseers yard,
so we go on up there. The overseer setting on the
end of the gallery with a paper in his hand, and
when we all come up he say come and stand close
to the gallery. Den he call off everybodys name
and see we all there. Setting on the gallery in
a hide-bottom chair was a man we never see
before. He had on a big broad black hat like the
Yankees wore but it didnt have no yellow string
on it like most the Yankees had, and he was in
store clothes that wasnt homespun or jeans, and
they was black. His hair was plumb gray and so
was his beard, and it come way down here on his
chest, but he didnt look like he was very old,
cause his face was kind of flashy and healthy
looking. I think we all be sold off in a bunch,
and I notice some kind of smiling, and I think
they sure glad of it. The man say, You darkies
know what day dis is? He talk kind, and
smile. We all dont know of course, and we just
stand there and grin. Pretty soon he ask again
and the head man say, No, we dont know. Well
this the fourth day of June, and this is 1865,
and I want you all to member the date, cause
you always going member the day. Today you is
free, Just like I is, and Mr. Saunders and your
Mistress and all us white people, the man say.
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I come to tell you, he say, and I wants to be
sure you all understand, cause you dont
have to get up and go by the horn no more. You is
your own bosses now, and you dont have to have
no passes to go and come. We never did have no
passes, no how, but we knowed lots of other
slaves on other plantations got them. I want
to bless you and hope you always is happy, and
tell you got all the right and life that any
white people got, the man say, and den he get on
his horse and ride off. We all just watch him go
on down the road, and den we go up to Mr.
Saunders and ask him what he want us to do. He
just grunt and say do like we dam please, he
reckon, but get off that place to do it, unless
any of us wants to stay and make the crop for
half of what we make. None of us know where to
go, so we all stay, and he split up the fields
and show us which part we got to work in, and we
go on like we was, and make the crop and get it
in, but there aint no more horn after that day.
Some the slaves lazy and dont get in the field
early, and they get it took away from em, but
they plead around and get it back and work better
the rest of that year. But we all gets fooled on
that first go-out! When the crop all in we dont
get half! Old Mistress sick in town, and the
overseer was still on the place and he charge us
half the crop for the quarters and the mules and
tools and grub!
Page 3 of 3
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Runaway slaves usually hid during the day and
travelled at night. Some of those involved
notified runaways of their stations by brightly
lit candles in a window or by lanterns positioned
in the front yard. The resting spots where the
runaways could sleep and eat were given the code
names "stations" and "depots" which were held by
"station masters." There were also those known as
"stockholders" who gave money or supplies for
assistance. There were the "conductors" who
ultimately moved the runaways from station to
station. The "conductor" would sometimes act as
if he were a slave and enter a plantation. Once a
part of a plantation the "conductor" would direct
the fugitives to the North. During the night the
slaves would move, traveling on about 10-20 miles
(15-30 km) per night. They would stop at the
so-called "stations" or "depots" during the day
and rest. While resting at one station, a message
was sent to the next station to let the station
master know the runaways were on their way.
Sometimes boats or trains would be used for
transportation. Money was donated by many people
to help buy tickets and even clothing for the
fugitives so they would remain unnoticeable.
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Underground Railroad Code Phrases People who
helped slaves find the railroad were "agents" (or
"shepherds") Guides were known as "conductors"
Hiding places were "stations" "Stationmasters"
would hide slaves in their homes Escaped slaves
were referred to as "passengers" or "cargo"
Slaves would obtain a "ticket" Financiers of
the Railroad were known as "stockholders". As
well, the big dipper asterism, whose 'bowl'
points to the north star, was known as the
drinkin' gourd, and immortalized in a
contemporary code tune. The Railroad itself was
often known as the "Freedom train" or "Gospel
train", which headed towards "Heaven" or "the
Promised Land" - Canada. The wind blows from the
south today warning of slave bounty hunters
nearby A friend of a friend a password used
to signal the arrival of fugitives with an
Underground Railroad conductor The friend of a
friend sent me a password used by fugitives
traveling alone to indicate they were sent by the
Underground Railroad network "Load of Potatoes,"
"Parcel," "Bundles of Wood," or "Freight"
fugitives to be expected "A friend with friends"
a password used by railroad conductors to
signal to the listener that they were in fact a
conductor.
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http//www.freedomcenter.org/underground-railroad/
Click this link for a photograph of an exhibit
at the National Underground Railroad Freedom
Center museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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Florence Lee, Ex-Slave Narrative
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Sallah White, Ex-Slave Narrative
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Cleveland Gazette From Slave to
President Volume 09 Issue Number 07 Page
Number 02 Date 09/26/1891
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Cleveland Gazette Children of Slaves Deemed
Illegitimate Volume 05 Issue Number 39 Page
Number 02 Date 05/12/1888
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Palladium Of Liberty Form of a Petition Volume
01 Issue Number 01 Page Number 03 Date
12/27/1843
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