200 - HISTORY OF OHIO twenty days he gave a bond for $500 signed by two bondsmen as a guarantee of his good behavior and his ability to support himself. 2. That anyone harboring or concealing a fugitive slave should be fined $100, one-half to go to the informer and one-half to the overseers of the poor. 3. That no negro should be allowed to give evidence in any case to which a white man was a party. 4. That the sixth section of the act of January 5, 1804, be repealed. These two acts, with an intervening period of only a little more than three years, form the basis of the repressive measures known as the "black laws." It is not difficult to understand why legislation in restraint of the immigration of negroes into Ohio was demanded at this time. Many of the new settlers of the state were from the slave states where the prejudices against free negroes was strong. Business men in the southern part of the state, and especially in Cincinnati, wished to retain the good will of slaveholders with whom they had business relations. They wished it to be understood that they were willing to cooperate in an effort to prevent slaves from escaping into or through Ohio. In the towns and especially in the City of Cincinnati there was among white laboring men at an early period a growing hostility to the negroes who were coming into direct competition with them. It was difficult for these laborers to understand that they were competing with the product of slave labor in another state, but when the fugitive slave or the free negro came into direct competition with them in their own city they were promptly aware of the fact and hostile to the presence of their inferior competitor. Many persons who were opposed to slavery and did not wish to see it introduced into Ohio because of its demoralizing and degrading influence, were quite as strongly opposed to having the state made the refuge for the degraded victims of this institution. The hard conditions imposed by the acts of 1804 and 1807 would soon have removed practically all the negroes from Ohio if the laws had been rigidly enforced. The fact that the provisions were "honored more in the breach than in the observance" made it possible for the negroes to remain in the state and to eke out a rather sorry sort of existence. The inconsistency of such laws is of course readily apparent. They were inconsistent with the Declaration of Independence ; with the Ordinance of 1787 ; with the constitution of the State of Ohio. The first section of article 8 of the Constitution of 1802 contains the following: "We declare that all are born free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and pursuing and attaining happiness and safety." This section of the Bill of Rights does not vouchsafe these "natural, inherent and unalienable" rights to all white persons but to all persons without discrimination. The two acts directed against negroes, the provisions of which have been briefly summarized, took from them rights vouchsafed by the recently adopted constitution of the state. They made it difficult for the negro to secure a residence in Ohio. Having secured his residence it was made difficult for him to earn a living by honest labor. With these handicaps he was placed at the absolute mercy of hostile and unscrupulous white men. He could be assaulted and maltreated with impugnity, and if no white person testified in his behalf he had no redress at law. He might even be killed in the presence of a score of negroes and they could not bear testimony in court to bring the murderer to justice. His property might be taken from him and he had no redress except on the. testimony of white witnesses. Truly might the opponents of these iniquitous laws in after years register the following arraignment : "Their influence upon the blacks can not be otherwise than de- ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 201 structive to their moral and intellectual character, and their pecuniary interests. Mental debasement—moral degradation—self-disrespectunyielding prejudice on the part of the whites and the most distressing poverty, are the natural and necessary consequences of these pernicious, unjust and impolitic laws." 1 It is a little singular that hostility to these laws was not manifested at an early date. In the constitutional convention of 1802 the negro had able defenders when questions involving his fundamental rights were up for consideration. One is inclined to think that if Judge Ephraim Cutler had been in the General Assembly in 1804 and 1807 the result might have been different. From 1819 to 1826 inclusive he was in the General Assembly—f our years in the House and four years in the Senate. Through these years the two iniquitous laws against the blacks were on the statute books. Why did he make no effort to remove them ? It was not because he had changed his views on the subject of slavery. His attitude toward that institution through life was one of uncompromising hostility. On August 14, 1809, when he was driving cattle over the mountains to the eastern market he met drivers of herds of a different character and made this note in his journal : "On the way over Savage Mountain met two or three droves of negroes. Gave one of the drivers and the master who rode in the carriage a lecture they will be likely to remember. I felt some energy and what little humanity I possess was roused at the shocking sight. We stopped at Davis's and had breakfast, and hired a hand to help with the cattle and drove on to Long's, on the farther side of Knobly." When he was a member of the General Assembly in a letter to Mrs. Cutler, under date of January 9, 1820, he wrote : "A few days ago we had a resolution before the House respecting allowing slavery in the new State of Missouri ; that is, requesting Congress not to allow it in that country. I attempted to make a speech on this subject, got pretty warm, and spoke with energy. My friends appeared well pleased. I sometimes get excited in debate, perhaps too much so, but I believe I have never descended from a dignified course and when I have the floor I am gratified by the order and stillness which ensues." The resolution to which Judge Cutler referred was adopted January 15, 1820. Here it is as it passed the General Assembly : "Whereas, The existence of slavery in our country must be considered a national calamity, as well as a great moral and political evil ; and, "Whereas, The admission of slavery into the new states and territories of the United States is fraught with the most pernicious consequences and is calculated to endanger the peace and prosperity of our country ; therefore, "Resolved, by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That our senators and representatives in Congress be requested to use their utmost exertions to prevent the introduction of slavery into any of the territories of the United States or any new state that may hereafter be admitted to the Union." Assuredly the text of this resolution indicates a very strong sentiment in opposition to the extension of slavery. It seems out of harmony with the black laws of Ohio. Here is another evidence that many citizens were strongly opposed to slavery and its extension and were at the same time in favor of repressive laws to exclude negroes from the state. Just why Ephraim Cutler and other members of the General Assembly who shared his attitude toward the colored population made no 1 - Proceedings of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention, p. 39. 202 - HISTORY OF OHIO effort to repeal the black laws is not a matter of record. Possibly it was because these laws were not enforced. It is more probable, however, that Mr. Cutler did not wish to waste his time in what was apparently a hopeless effort, to the prejudice of important measures for the establishment of a state school system and an equitable taxation law for Ohio. He had given much thought to these reforms and early introduced bills to carry them into effect. In 1829 a law was passed, entitled, "An act for the relief of the poor." It provided that persons residing one year in any township of the state without being warned by the overseers of the poor, or three years after being once so warned without being again warned should be considered as having gained a legal residence. There were also provisions for indentured servants and married women, determining under what conditions they could acquire legal residence. A second section in this law declared "that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to enable a black or mulatto person to gain a legal settlement in this state." This was a continuation of the policy to make it increasingly difficult for negroes to acquire the right to enjoy their freedom in Ohio. Later, when a school code was adopted, a provision was included to the effect "that when any appropriation shall be made by the directors of any school district, from the treasury thereof, for the payment of a teacher, the school in such district shall be open to all the white children residing therein for the space of three months" each year. On February 15, 1831, an act was passed to prevent kidnapping. This seems to have been designed to prevent professional slave hunters from seizing negroes and taking them into slave territory where on the flimsiest pretenses they could be sold into slavery. Section 2 of this act forbade any person to attempt to take negroes out of the state without first establishing before a court their right to do so under the laws of the United States providing for the return of fugitive slaves. The kidnapping of negroes had been a source of so much annoyance and such flagrant injustice that the General Assembly of Ohio was moved to take action to prevent it. In spite of this last act which seems intended to protect the negro his condition in Ohio was a most unhappy one. Mr. Charles T. Hickok in his excellent monograph, "The Negro in Ohio," has this to say of the laws restricting the rights of colored inhabitants of Ohio : "By their injustice and cruelty they establish for the state an extremely unenviable reputation. With all her boast of freedom, of her inheritance of the Ordinance of 1787, and of her honorable descent from the Northwest Territory, it was said to her shame that the slave states themselves treated their free colored population with scarcely more cruelty than did the free state of Ohio." Negroes coming into the state and expecting to find a paradise here compared with conditions in the slave states were naturally soon disillusioned and greatly disappointed. They found their rights curtailed on every hand and obstacles placed in their way to prevent them from getting to Canada where "black laws" were unknown. A song composed by M. C. Sampson, a colored man, seems to express the opinion that members of his race would naturally form of Ohio : Ohio's not the place for me ; For I am much surprised So many of her sons to see In garments of disguise. Her name has gone out through the world, Free labor—soil--and men— But slaves had better far be hurled Into the lion's den. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 203 Farewell, Ohio ! I can not stop in thee ; I'll travel on to Canada Where colored men are free. While popular opposition to the black laws was of slow growth, the number of citizens who felt that these statutes discredited Ohio grew from year to year. Cases of flagrant abuse of negroes by conscienceless and irresponsible whites were not infrequent and such exhibitions made these laws increasingly unpopular. On the following pages is given, somewhat in detail, one of these cases that became historic. THE CASE OF MATILDA LAWRENCE This noted case, interesting in itself as a part of the anti-slavery history of Ohio prior to the Civil war, is doubly important because of its subsequent influence upon the public careers of two noted citizens of the state. Matilda Lawrence was the daughter of a mulatto slave and her master. She was an octoroon and had been brought up in the house of her father as a servant and dependent. At the age of sixteen she lost her mother, whom she succeeded as housekeeper. The father never married. At the age of twenty Matilda was a very attractive brunette, so light in color that her taint of negro blood was not generally suspected. This was understood, however, in the immediate neighborhood where she grew up and she was not there admitted to the society of white people. Her father forbade her to associate with the blacks. For years she lived in this position, not recognized as belonging to either race. She learned to read and picked up an education from the books of her father's library. In the winter of 1836, because of failing health, he went to New York to consult an eminent physician. He did not wish to lose the services of his daughter as nurse and it was inconvenient and dangerous for him to take her as his slave. He therefore determined to have her accompany him as his daughter. Her neat appearance and apparent intelligence made it easy to have her thus accompany him. Her modesty, attractive manners and natural beauty made her a favorite with those who met her in the northern city. The new associations afforded opportunity for further education, for she was quick to learn from contact with new found acquaintances. In conversations with her father she begged that she might not be taken back to Missouri. She feared if he should die she would be sold as other slaves at public auction. This request somewhat alarmed Mr. Lawrence and he decided earlier than he had anticipated to return to Missouri. On his way back home he stopped at a hotel in Cincinnati where he expected to take passage by steamboat for St. Louis. Matilda tried in vain to have him give her "free papers." She was willing to return with him if he would do this and serve him faithfully. What she feared was her fate if her father should die. He refused, however, to grant her request. She then decided not to return with him to Missouri. She quietly left the hotel and concealed herself until her father had departed. She later found employment with a white family and in October, 1836, she was employed by the wife of James G. Birney as a nurse in her home. She was very agreeable and intelligent and the taint of negro blood in her veins was not suspected. A slave hunter by the name of John W. Riley learned of the case and accosted Matilda on the street one day in the spring of 1837 and told her that he knew that she was a runaway negro slave. She hastened back to the Birney home and told the story of her past history. Riley at once undertook to get possession of her. He and his associates kept watch over the Birney home in order that she might not 204 - HISTORY OF OHIO escape. A warrant was finally issued for her arrest and she was tried in Common Pleas Court before Judge David K. Este of Hamilton County. The three attorneys who appeared for Riley were M. N. McLean, Gen. Robert Lytle and N. C. Read. Salmon P. Chase, who was then a young attorney in the city, made a notable argument in behalf of Matilda Lawrence. The law was clearly in favor of her. She was not an escaped slave fleeing to free territory. She had been brought into free territory by her master and once thus brought into free territory, under the law, she became herself free. Riley and his attorneys, however, insisted that she was a slave who had escaped from Missouri into Ohio. The judge, who was himself a strong pro-slavery sympathizer, in spite of the very able plea of Salmon P. Chase, decided in Riley's favor, and she was hurried away to slavery and the auction block. 2 Among those who listened to the arguments in this famous case was a young student of the Cincinnati Medical College. He became deeply interested in the unfortunate woman and the scholarly and eloquent plea of her attorney, Salmon P. Chase. Someone in the courtroom remarked that it was a pity that a young man with Chase's ability should become interested in a case that was certain to make him unpopular with influential men in Cincinnati. This aroused an opposing sentiment in the medical student and he said to himself, "There is a man I can and will vote for whenever I have the opportunity." Afterward Chase and the medical student met and became acquainted. Matilda was remanded back to slavery and brought a big price at public auction. Nothing further appears to be known of her history. James G. Birney was arrested under the "black laws" of Ohio for harboring her. He was, however, ably and successfully defended by Salmon P. Chase. The medical student was none other than Dr. N. S. Townshend, who afterwards became famous as an educator in Ohio and was largely instrumental in aiding to establish the State University. His opportunity came in after years to remember Salmon P. Chase. He and Col. John F. Morse were elected members of the General Assembly of Ohio in 1848. They were elected as independent free soil men and the two leading political parties were so equally divided in the General Assembly that Townshend and Morse had the balance of power which they might throw to either the whigs or the democrats.. They were abolitionists and were eager to have "black laws" of the state, which grossly discriminated against colored free citizens, repealed. A United States senator and judges of the Supreme Court were to be elected by the General Assembly. Morse and Townshend first agreed to support Joshua R. Giddings for United States senator and the whig candidates for the Supreme Court with the understanding that the whig members of the General Assembly would aid in the repeal of the "black laws." Giddings was a well known abolitionist, so strong in his opposition to slavery that some of the whig members refused to support him. 1 - The learned and able argument of Mr. Chase was heard by Este with the ostentatious courtesy of a judge who had already made up his mind. The refusal to discharge was from the first a. foregone conclusion. As soon as it was pronounced by the judge, the young girl, sobbing in her terror, was seized by three stout hired ruffians, hurried through the crowd, placed in a carriage in waiting, driven rapidly to the wharf, and taken by ferryboat to Covington, where she was put in jail for safe keeping. The same night she was transferred to a steamboat bound to New Orleans. There she was sold at public auction to the highest bidder. What became of her afterward was never known. The price she brought was large, and, rumor said, was divided equally between the kidnapper and his three attorneys. None of the blood money was offered to Judge Este, who performed his part of .this crime against humanity and law without fee or reward and with perfect decorum; and, probably, none of it went into the hands of the father. William Birney, in James G. Birney and His Times. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 205 Townshend and Morse then went to the democrats with the proposal to elect Salmon P. Chase, who in his earlier years was a democrat, and four judges selected by the democratic members of the Legislature with the understanding that the democrats were to join in the repeal of the "black laws." The democrats accepted the proposition and the agreement was successfully consummated. Salmon P. Chase was elected United States senator, judges satisfactory to Morse and Townshend were chosen and the grossly unjust "black laws" of Ohio were repealed. Chase drew the bill which Colonel Morse introduced to accomplish this repeal. Chase afterward rapidly rose to state and national distinction. He became governor of Ohio, secretary of the treasury in the cabinet of Abraham Lincoln and chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Doctor Townshend served one term in Congress, was a member of both houses of the General Assembly and a delegate to the second Constitutional Convention of Ohio. He was a member of the first faculty of the Ohio State University. One of the buildings of that institution bears his name. The fate of Matilda Lawrence aroused much sympathy, even in the City of Cincinnati where pro-slavery sentiment was then strong, but this did not save her. It may be truly said, however, that her immolation on the altar of slavery hastened the repeal of the "black laws." FROM COLONIZATION TO IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION Of all the organizations formed for the amelioration of the condition of the negro, the mitigation of race hatred and the ultimate abolition of slavery, the most popular for some time was the Colonization Society. It appealed to the South as well as to the North. Some of its prominent members even hoped that it might banish sectionalism and unite all the states in an effort to provide against the evils resulting from slavery. In the slave states, especially in Virginia, Maryand and Kentucky, the solution offered by the Colonization Society was received with much favor. It was supported, (1) by slaveholders, who saw in it an opportunity to remove from their midst the free negroes who were a source of irritation and insubordination to the slave population ; (2) by those who were convinced that slavery was morally wrong and who were ready to emancipate their slaves if provision could be made for their future where they would not be a source of agitation and subject to ill treatment ; (3) by citizens of the free states who were opposed to slavery and wished to rid the whole country of its unfortunate victims, who-believed that it would be better for the negro and the white man if the former could be transfered to a distant shore where he could develop a civilization and institutions of his own, free from social contact with the whites and the demoralizing influence of racial antipathy ; (4) by abolitionists who regarded it as a step towards emancipation and an agency for the immediate accomplishment of practical results of advantage to their cause. The early abolitionists gave serious consideration to colonization. Osborn and Lundy discussed it in their papers, and the latter made an effort to establish a colony in Mexico. James G. Birney was so favorably impressed with it that he began his labors in behalf of the colored race—in behalf of both races—as an agent for the Colonization Society. He gave up a lucrative law practice and devoted himself with eloquent zeal to the cause, visiting the principal cities of the Southern states, addressing Legislatures and, wherever he could find sufficient support, establishing branches of the society. If this work had commenced earlier and had been pushed with vigor, it might have been rewarded with a larger measure of achievement. It finally failed because, (1) it was not favored by the Southern states with the exception of those already named and possibly Tennessee and North Carolina ; (2) it was assailed by the radical abolitionist who questioned its sincerity and denounced 206 - HISTORY OF OHIO it as impractical and inhuman ; (3) it was opposed by the negroes who regarded it with suspicion as a device of the white man to transport them to a distant land where they would be subjected to new hardships and dangers distorted and magnified in their crude and superstitious imaginations. The objections of the radical abolitionist might have been ignored and the opposition of the uneducated and apprehensive negro could have been disregarded, but the hostility of the rising and dominating influence of the slave power of the South could not be overcome by the appeals and persuasive influence of the Colonization Society. So far as Ohio was concerned, the fate of colonization as a panacea for the ills of slavery was sealed in the great debate in Lane Seminary. This is worthy of a monograph yet to be written. Following is the spirited account of Gen. William Birney : "In February, 1834, the famous debate at Lane Seminary on slavery began, having been suggested and promoted by Arthur Tappan, who was the most generous benefactor of the seminary, and who, in the preceding December, had become president of the newly organized American Anti-Slavery Society. It was continued through eighteen sittings, held at intervals, and closing in April. It was the most able and thorough discussion of the subject ever held in this country. The participants were eighty students of theology. In age they ranged from twenty-one to thirty-five. Some of them had been lecturers for religious and benevolent societies. A few were noted as platform speakers. Of these Henry B. Stanton was one of the best. The leader, however, was Theodore D. Weld. He had already gained a reputation throughout the West and Southwest for effective oratory. As a speaker on temperance and education he had no equal. Profoundly religious in temperament, sympathetic with all human emotion, nobly simple in manner, free from thought of self, he touched the springs of the human heart with a sure hand. No revivalist—not even Finney or Moody—could bear his hearers to such heights of passion or through such a wide range of feeling. They wept or laughed with him, and did not suspect that they had listened to one of nature's greatest orators until they remembered that no one had ever before so moved them, and felt a consciousness of living on a higher plane than before they had heard him. His diction was copious, and his language so apt that every thought found natural expression. Poetry, pathos and humor gave variety to his eloquence, and purity and love were its atmosphere. He catered to no prurient taste ; uttered no malice ; sharpened no phrase so that its venomed point might rankle in another's breast. He was incapable of hate; his great soul was full of compassion for the oppressor and the oppressed. Secretary Stanton and Wendell Phillips pronounced him the foremost orator of his time ; they might have added 'and one of the greatest men.' He had none of the vanity of leadership, no egotism, no pretentiousness. He had been an abolitionist from boyhood, had traveled through the South, and was well informed in regard to the nature and effects of slavery. His knowledge and pervasive influence informed the Lane Seminary debate lifting it to the height of its subject. As it progressed, its results were published in the Journal, a Cincinnati religious weekly, to which Mr. Birney was a subscriber. When in May the Lane Seminary students, burning with enthusiasm and well equipped with arguments, set out to abolitionize the Northwest, they carried with them the sympathies of the leading emancipationists in Kentucky." 1 The influence of this series of discussions and the action of the divinity students in withdrawing from Lane Seminary prepared the way for harmonious action in favor of immediate emancipation at the meeting of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society at Putnam (now included in the City of Zanesville) in 1835. In the call for this meeting "all persons 1 - Birney, James G. Birney and His Times, pp. 135-136. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 207 who advocated the principles of immediate emancipation without expatriation" were invited to attend. The date fixed for the meeting was April 22, 1835. Prior to this time there had been a number of local anti-slavery organizations in Ohio. The first of which there appears to be authentic record was the Union Humane Society, organized by Benjamin Lundy at Saint Clairsville in 1815. A society was formed by Rev. Dyer Burgess at West Union in 1818. The Aiding Abolition Society of Monroe County was in existence as early as 1826. The society at Ripley was organized at an early date. In 1826 the Emancipation Society was formed at Zanesville, its expressed object being "the total extinction of slavery in the United States at the earliest practicable period." It was reorganized July 4, 1833, as the United States Constitution Society. In 1836 it became the Putnam Anti-Slavery Society. The Columbiana Abolition Society was organized at New Lisbon, January 6, 1827 and at the end of three months numbered 500 members. Its motto was "Abolition without condition or qualification." The Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention was called to unite the various local societies for more effective work. One hundred and ten delegates, representing anti-slavery societies in twenty-five counties, responded to the call. 2 These societies had each its separate constitution and platform of principles. These differed in form and detailed purpose. However, all were willing to unite in support of the principles announced in the call. Those who met in the Village of Putnam on the afternoon of April 22 numbered many of the veteran workers in the cause. Some of them afterward attained distinction in its service. A number of the delegates had been residents of the state for only a short time. Those who had been active anti-slavery workers in Ohio for more than ten years were John D. Mahan, Col. Robert Stewart, Col. William Keys, John Rankin, Samuel Crothers, William Dickey, James Dickey, and John Wallace. The last five were Presbyterian ministers and immigrants from slave states. Other prominent members were Levi Whipple, Horace Nye, Henry C. Howells, Elizur Wright, Hiram Wilson, Theodore D. Weld, Henry B. Stanton, James A. Thome, Horace Bushnell, Augustus Wattles, James B. Finley, and William T. Allen. Among the less prominent but devoted members were a number of Quaker representatives from the eastern apart of the state, including Joseph Bailey, Nathan Galbreath and James Hambleton, who were pioneer opponents of slavery. The entire list of delegates is a notable one and every name should have a place in this record. Col. Robert Stewart of Ross County was chosen president of the convention ; Elizur Wright of Portage County, first vice president. At the head of the list of vice presidents of the newly formed society was Alexander Campbell of Brown County, although he does not appear to have been in attendance. Theodore D. Weld, the great anti-slavery orator, was a very active member from Hamilton County, as were also the eminent divine, Horace Bushnell, Henry B. Stanton, afterward the husband of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Augustus Wattles, 3 superintendent of the privately supported colored schools in Cincinnati, who 2 - See list of delegates appended to this chapter. 3 - Augustus Wattles was born in Goshen, Connecticut, August 25, 1807. He moved to Ohio in 1833, locating in Cincinnati, where he at once became active in the anti-slavery cause. In the spring of 1855 he went to Kansas, settled near Lawrence and for a time was editor of the Herald of Freedom. In 1857 he moved to a farm in Linn County, Kansas, on which he lived until his death, December 19, 1876. He was an intimate friend of John Brown in Kansas and became so obnoxious to the pro-slavery party that a reward of $1,000 is said to have been offered for his head. In company with Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Col. James Montgomery he was active in planning for the liberation of John Brown from the jail at Charlestown. For particulars of this plan see Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. VIII, p. 213. 208 - HISTORY OF OHIO was afterward to gain fame in battling for the cause in "bleeding Kansas." One of the two members from Brown County was Rev. John Rankin, 4 who figured in the rescue of Eliza, the heroine of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." James G. Birney of Danville, Kentucky, James A. Thome of Augusta, Kentucky, William T. Allen of Huntsville, Alabama, and Ebenezer Martin of Washington County, New York, were present and by vote of the convention made "corresponding members" with the privilege of participation in the proceedings. Birney's fame had preceded him and he was well received by the convention. The business of the afternoon session progressed promptly and systematically and bore evidence of the fact that it had been carefully considered before the meeting. A committee appointed to nominate officers for the convention reported at once and the following officers were duly elected : Col. Robert Stewart of Ross County, president ; Hon. Elizur Wright of Portage County, vice president ; Col. William Keys of Highland County, second vice president ; Henry B. Stanton of Hamilton, Timothy Hudson of Medina and James T. Claypool of Fayette, secretaries. Provision was made for the following committees: 1. On declaration of the sentiments of the convention on the subject of slavery. 2. To draft a constitution for a state Anti-Slavery Society. 3. To draft resolutions. 4. To prepare an address to the churches. 5. To draft a petition to Congress for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia. 6. To report on the condition of the colored population of this state. 7. To consider and report on the laws of the State of Ohio, with reference to the colored population within its limits. 8. To prepare a report on the American slave trade. 9. To nominate delegates to represent this convention at the meeting of the American. Anti-Slavery Society, to be held in the City of New York in May next. Seven members were duly appointed on each of these committees and the convention adjourned to meet at eight o'clock on the following day. The reports of these committees, especially those on resolutions, declaration of sentiment including plan of operation, constitution, address to churches, condition of the people of color in the state and the laws of Ohio relating to colored people are valuable contributions to the history of the anti-slavery movement in the state. The declaration of sentiment on the subject of slavery which was reported by the chairman of the committee, Mr. Weld, is especially strong and concludes as follows : "Solemnly consecrated to the cause of emancipation, immediate, total and universal, we subscribe our names to this declaration. The principles which it embodies we will, by the grace of God, forever cherish and fearlessly avow, come life or death. We may perish but they shall endure." This declaration is signed by all of the members of the convention. The report of the committee on the condition of the colored people of Ohio covers a number of pages in the printed proceedings and is an illuminating and dispassionate statement of the condition of the negro population of Ohio at that time. It includes the report of the anti- 4 - Rev. John Rankin was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee, February 4, 1793. As early as 1814 he was actively engaged in organizing against slavery. About the year 1821 he came to Ripley, Ohio. Through the succeeding years of his long and eventful life he was a consistent opponent of slavery. Eight of his sons and one grandson fought for the North in the Civil war. He died in Ironton, Ohio, March 18, 1886. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 209 slavery society "late of Lane Seminary" on the condition of the colored people in the city of Cincinnati which was signed by Augustus Wattles, John W. Alvord, Samuel Wells, H. Lyman and Marius R. Robinson. Col. William Keys of Highland County presented the report of the committee on the laws of Ohio. This is a brief survey and arraignment of the "black laws" of the state which flagrantly discriminated against the colored inhabitants and rendered their condition in some sections deplorable. In the declaration of sentiment there is the following statement of the views of slavery entertained by these abolitionists : "This is slavery—slavery as it exists today, sheltered under the wings of our national eagle, republican law its protector, republican equality its advocate, republican morality its patron, freemen its body guard, the church its city of refuge, and the sanctuary of God and the very horns of the altar its inviolable asylum. Against this whole system in itself, and in its appendages, in its intrinsic principles, and in its external relations, we do with one accord, in the name of humanity and eternal right, record our utter detestation and enter our solemn protest. Slavery being sin we maintain that it is the duty of all who perpetrate it immediately to cease ; in other words that immediate emancipation is the sacred right of the slaves and the imperative duty of their masters. "By immediate emancipation we do not mean that the slaves shall be deprived of employment and turned loose to roam as vagabonds. We do not mean that they shall be immediately put in possession of all political privileges any more than foreigners before naturalization or native citizens not qualified to vote, nor that they shall be expelled from their native country as the price and condition of their freedom. But we do mean that instead of being under the unlimited control of a few irresponsible masters, they shall receive the protection of law, that they shall be employed as free labourers, fairly compensated and protected in their earnings, that they shall have secured to them the right to obtain secular and religious knowledge, and to worship God according to his word. We maintain that the slaves belong to themselves, that they have a right to their own bodies and minds, and to their own earnings ; that husbands have a right to their wives, and wives to their husbands ; that parents have a right to their children and children to their parents, and that he who plunders them of these rights, commits high handed robbery and is sacredly bound at once and utterly to cease. We maintain that every master ought immediately to stop buying and selling men, women and children, immediately to stop holding and using them as property, immediately to stop robbing them of inalienable rights which they have never forfeited. In a word we say to the master, it is your duty to emancipate your slave immediately, that is, to stop taking away from the slave those things which belong to him and to leave him unmolested in the possession of his body and soul, his earnings, his wife and his children, as you are in the possession of your body and soul, your earnings, your wife and children." Before adjourning, the convention appointed six delegates to represent the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society at the meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society to be held in New York City the following May and passed resolutions for the circulation of petitions to the Legislature of Ohio praying for the repeal of the "black laws" and requesting cooperation of the women of Ohio "in efforts to procure the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia." 5 The second meeting of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society called in the printed proceedings "the first anniversary of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society" was held near Granville, Ohio, in the barn of Ashley Bancroft 5 - Proceedings of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention, held at Putnam, 1835, pp. 1-54. 210 - HISTORY OF OHIO on April 27-28, 1838. The number of members enrolled had grown from 110 the previous year to 195. The report of the secretary indicated a most encouraging growth as the result of united effort within the past year. Here is a paragraph indicating the progress of the movement. "One year ago there were about twenty anti-slavery societies in Ohio. We have now on our list 120 regularly organized associations : the largest of these contains 942 members, several of them have from two to five hundred. Some from twenty to forty, one of eleven—the majority range from forty to 100. The whole number is conjectural—many societies have failed to report and some of these we set down as they were at the time of their organization and of others we know only what is shown in the appendix. We think the aggregate (membership) will not vary much from 10,000." In addition to the secretary's report there is an address to the women of Ohio and the churches of the state. Resolutions were again passed "to press unceasingly upon Congress the duty of abolishing slavery and the slave trade in the District of Columbia" condemning the "black laws" of the state as "highly oppressive" and "at variance with the spirit of the constitution." The following resolution was also adopted : "Resolved, That the thanks of this society be respectfully tendered to Ashley Bancroft for the use of his barn on this occasion ; and that we heartily forgive the unkindness of that portion of our fellow citizens, which rendered it necessary to hold our meeting in so unusual a place." A resolution was adopted to raise $5,000 to be appropriated to antislavery purposes. This was reconsidered and amended by making the amount $10,000. Four thousand, five hundred dollars was subscribed on the spot. Eleven delegates were chosen to represent the society at the meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York the following May. 6 After these initial meetings of the state organization interest in the movement continued to grow and agitation extended to every part of the state in favor of "emancipation, immediate, total and universal." The anniversary meeting of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention was the occasion of exciting scenes and incidents that are not set forth in the published proceedings, doubtless because they were for the most part witnessed and experienced immediately after adjournment. Meetings of abolitionists in Granville prior to the convention had been "egged" and the society was urged in the name of peace not to attempt to hold the meeting in the town. This request was acceded to and Mr. A. A. Bancroft, who lived near the village, offered the use of his large barn for the meeting. At this season of the year it was almost empty, and was soon put into very comfortable shape for the accommodation of the delegates and their friends. The barn was afterward known as the Hall of Freedom. In the mean time a mob had been gradually assembling in the town, determined to annoy the abolitionists. One of the petty offenses of the day was the "bobbing" of the manes and tails of the horses that had brought the delegates and visitors to the convention. The horse of the leader, James G. Birney, was given an especially close cut, and much merriment was made as he rode through the town. After the close of the convention, which concluded its work in a single session at two o'clock in the afternoon, a procession was formed and was soon on the way to Granville. The mob was in waiting. The mayor was conveniently absent. As the procession passed along the street there were hoots and jeers and an occasional egg, curving swiftly and gracefully through the air, found its mark. When the delegation of women appeared, some one yelled, "Egg the squaws," and the mob responded with a veritable shower of hen fruit. 6 - Report of the First Anniversary of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. held near Granville, 1836, pp. 1-53. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 211 Some of the abolitionists of the masculine persuasion forgot their "non-resistant principles" and a number of personal encounters developed along the line of march. There were fisticuffs and the whack of a club was occasionally heard. Some interesting mix-ups were reported. A young man arrayed with the mob vigorously protested against the indignities offered the women and found himself in a violent encounter with one of the more radical rioters. While it is claimed he came off triumphant, he had finally to flee with a number of wounds and bruises as a reward for his gallantry. There are conflicting reports, but it is perhaps fair to assume that the honors in the physical contest were about equally divided. The procession quickened its pace and was soon beyond the reach of the arms and missiles of the mob. The net result of the affair was very naturally an accession to the ranks of the local abolitionists. Good citizens who had no sympathy with anti-slavery agitators or the mob felt that their town had been disgraced by the riot and exerted their influence for law and order. Anti-slavery meetings were later held here without molestation, though the spirit of opposition in Licking County continued to be pronounced. Some verses, commemorative of the affair, entitled, "A Parody on the Mob at Granville, 1836," have been preserved. The concluding four stanzas read : But Granville saw another sight When mobites rushed to furious fight Commanding drunken fiends to light Upon the ladies suddenly. The riot deepens, on, ye slaves ! Who rush with fury on the brave. Wave, mobites, all your cudgels wave, And charge with all your chivalry. Then shook the town with riot riven ; Then rushed the mob by fury driven, And then in savage yells to heaven, Loud shouted the mobocracy. Ah ! few shall part where many meet Without a broken head to greet Their captain when he comes to treat The mobites for their gallantry. 7 OHIO ANTI-SLAVERY CONVENTION HELD AT PUTNAM, APRIL 23-24, 1835 List of Delegates by Counties Ashtabula Rev. Eliphalet Austin Rev. Henry Cowles Alpheus Cowles A. Sillcase Brown Rev. Robert Rutherford John B. Mahan Rev. John Rankin Stephen Riggs Joseph A. Dugdale Abraham Pettijohn Butler William H. Rogers William S. Rogers Belmont Rev. Jacob Coon Champaign David S. Hollister Columbiana Joseph Bailey Nathan Galbreath James Hambleton Cuyahoga Harmon Kingsbury, Esq. 7- Bushnell, Henry, The History of Granville, pp. 299-307. 212 - HISTORY OF OHIO Fayette Rev. William Dickey Col. James Stewart Joseph S. Gillespie, Esq. William A. Ustick James T. Claypoole, Esq. Hugh Ghormley Geauga Ansel Bridgeman Jonathan M. Tracy Timothy B. Hudson Chiles T. Blakesley Harrison Rev. William Sloan William Lewis James Wallace Hugh Stevenson Robert Vanhorn Hamilton Rev. Horace Bushnell George Clark William Poe Theodore D. Weld John T. Pierce Benjamin Basset S. W. Streeter Henry B. Stanton Huntington Lyman George Whipple Cincinnati Augustus Wattles William Holyoke John Melindy William Donaldson Highland Rev. Samuel Crothers Col. William Keys Samuel Smith Col. Thomas Rodgers Joseph G. Wilson James A. Nelson Hocking Rev. Luke Dewitt Licking Isaac Whitehead Dr. William W. Bancroft Samuel H. Ward Joseph Linnell William Whitney William S. Roberts Lorain Rev. John Monteith Medina Charles Olcott, Esq. Timothy Hudson, Esq. Morgan Stephen H. Guthrie Hiram Wilson Muskingum Levi Whipple Joseph Shepard Horace Nye Henry C. Howells William Wiley Albert G. Allen John Lewis Albert A. Guthrie Dr. James C. Brown Thomas Tresize William F. Hunt Rev. John Wallace David Wallace Mathew Gillespie John Sheward Hiram McFarland Rev. John Hunt John Jamison Moses Wiley John Wiley, Jr. David Warner Perry James Huston M. M. Cushing Pickaway Rev. Robert V. Rogers Dr. James B. Finley Pike Rev. Gamaliel C. Beaman Portage Elizur Wright, Esq. Greenberry Keen Asahel Kilborn Ralph M. Walker Rev. Benjamin Fenn Rev. William Beardsley Philo Wright T. H. Barr Ross Rev. James H. Dickey George Brown Rev. William Gage Rev. Hugh S. Fullerton Rev. James Dunlap Col. Robert Stewart James Johnson Stark Abraham Baer Trumbull Rev. Alvan Coe C. H. Bidwell James Loughead CORRESPONDING MEMBERS James C. Birney, Esq., Danville, Kentucky. James A. Thome, Augusta, Kentucky. William T. Allan, Huntsville, Alabama. Ebenezer Martin, Washington County, New York. CHAPTER III THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD The Underground Railroad may be defined as a route by which slaves secretly escaped from their masters to freedom. The destination was usually Canada, for negroes were never sure of their continued freedom while they remained in the United States. They could flee to the free states and abide there for a time under the protection of friends, but they were continually in danger of being arrested and returned to their masters. When once they passed beyond the borders of the United States into the British possessions to the North, they were permanently free and could not be legally remanded to slavery. The origin of the term Underground Railroad is uncertain. There are traditional accounts of how it came into use but these are not very satisfactory. According to one of these, a negro escaping from his master in Kentucky was so closely pursued when he reached the Ohio River that he leaped into the river and swam across. His master could not follow him and was delayed to find a skiff and finally effect a passage. He sought the fugitive in Ripley where he felt he must have landed, but he could find absolutely no trace of him. He was mystified and provoked and remarked that "the nigger must have gone off on an underground road." This suggestion amused some of the persons who heard it and "Underground Road" finally came to designate the route by which fugitives escaped. This designation, when railroads made their advent and were the subject of popular comment, was changed to "Underground Railroad." Another story is to the effect that a slave escaping from his masters to Southeastern Pennsylvania could usually be traced without much difficulty to Columbia, but there all traces were invariably lost. A baffled pursuer on one occasion declared that "there must be an underground railroad somewhere," and this expression soon afterward gained currency in that section and spread to others. The date assigned to this origin was much earlier than the building of railroads in this country ; hence this is a rather improbable story. In fact the origin of the term has not yet been satisfactorily accounted for and there appears to have been no serious effort to trace its first appearance in our literature. It is not a matter of great consequence, however, as its significance is readily and definitely understood. Slaves escaped from their masters in colonial times and at an early period of our history they were aided in their effort to find their way to freedom. As early as 1786 George Washington wrote two letters in which he reported the escape of slaves. In one of these he definitely refers to a society of Quakers in the City of Philadelphia, formed for the purpose of liberating slaves, and intimates that this society is probably responsible for the disappearance of the particular slave that he mentions. Levi Coffin, the Quaker from North Carolina who was so active and successful in aiding slaves to escape from their masters, had even while he remained in the South assisted slaves in fleeing from that state. This was prior to 1800. In the Centinel of the Northwestern Territory a few advertisements appeared offering rewards for the return of fugitive slaves. It is more than probable that as early as 1793 and 1794 there were settlers in the Northwest Territory along the Ohio - 213 - 214 - HISTORY OF OHIO River who were aiding slaves in their effort to escape from their masters. When Ohio was admitted into the Union and the Quakers began to come in greater numbers from North Carolina and settle in the state, negroes were still further encouraged in their efforts to gain their freedom. These efforts were by no means confined to the State of Ohio but, because of its geographical location between the slave states and Canada and the character of the early settlers from New England and from the Quaker settlements of North Carolina and Pennsylvania, the number of slaves escaping through Ohio was larger than through any other state. Levi Coffin directed his labors chiefly from Cincinnati and its vicinity. It is said that he was instrumental in helping 3,000 slaves to Canada and freedom. What the value of these slaves may have been, of course, is conjectural, but if they were worth only $100 each their aggregate value would have been $300,000 and if they were worth only $500 each their value in money was $1,500,000, a not inconsiderable sum in our time and a relatively much larger sum in the early half of the last century. The Ohio River, flowing in sinuous curves from the point at which it crossed the Pennsylvania border to the Indiana line, was throughout almost its entire course an inviting objective to slaves escaping from their masters. Once across the river, they were not only in free territory but had placed that river between themselves and their pursuers. More important than this, they were in a region where they usually could find white citizens who sympathized with their effort to escape. There were a number of points along this river through which branches of the Underground Railroad passed into Ohio and northward. Among these points were the following : Salineville, Steubenville, Wellsburg, Wheeling, New Athens, Moundville, Marietta, Parkersburg, Point Pleasant, Gallipolis, Burlington, South Point, Ironton, Portsmouth, Rome, Manchester, Ripley, Moscow, New Richmond, Cincinnati. North of points along the Ohio there was a perfect network of branches of the Underground Railroad. From some of the points the branches would proceed for a distance and then divide and subdivide, making it somewhat difficult to trace the courses accurately. In the northeastern part of the state, where the Quakers and New England settlers were comparatively numerous, there were many branches of the system. In the southwestern portion northeast of Cincinnati, where there were many Quaker pioneers, the same condition is evident. These branches led northward to the shore of Lake Erie. The following points were reached by branches : Conneaut, Harbor, Painesville, Cleveland, Lorain, Sandusky, Toledo. From the Lake Erie shore the fugitives found passage by boat to Buffalo, Port Burwell, Port Stanley, Pelees Point and Detroit. These points, with the exception of Buffalo and Detroit, were in Canada and those two were so close to the border that the fugitives, once arriving there, were virtually at the end of their journey to the British Dominions and freedom. The following routes indicate only roughly the roads followed by slaves crossing the Ohio River to their destination on the shores of Lake Erie. Only a reference to the map in Siebert's "The Underground Railroad" can give an idea of the network presented by this system that was in operation at various periods almost from the organization of the Northwest Territory to the Civil war. The main lines of travel represent by no means all the cities and towns that had a part in the activities of the Underground Railroad. Of course it is to be borne in mind that only a few persons in many of these places aided slaves in escaping from their masters. Severe penalties were attached to violation of the fugitive slave laws and this fact imposed great secrecy on all who had a part in the operation of the Underground Railroad. The ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 215 following cities and towns indicate the general direction of some of the principal routes : 1. Salineville, New Lisbon, Poland, Youngstown, Brookfield, Hartford, Gustavus, Andover, Conneaut. 2. Salineville, New Lisbon, Canfield, Austintown, Edinburgh, Warren, Bloomfield, Rome, Lenox, Austinburg, Ashtabula, Harbor. 2a. Warren, Newlyme, Jefferson, Ashtabula. 3. Salineville, New Lisbon, New Garden, Canfield. 4. Steubenville, Germans, New Garden. 5. Wheeling, Mount Pleasant, Cadiz, Annapolis, Hopedale, Kilgore, Scroggsfield, Mechanics Town, Hanoverton, New Garden, Canfield. 6. Moundville, New Athens, Hopeville. 7. Marietta, Rainbow, Summerfield, Cambridge, Washington, Newcomerstown, Coshocton, Massillon, Marlborough, Ravenna, Cleveland. 7a. Massillon, Tallmadge, Hudson, Cleveland. 8. Parkersburg, Morgans, Putnam, Concord, Coshocton, Millersburg, Holmes, Wooster, Saville, Oberlin, Elyria, Cleveland. 9. Point Pleasant, Rutland, Albany, Hubbards, Athens, Trimble, Deavertown, Putnam, Coshocton. 10. Gallipolis, Rio Grande, Vinton, Albany, Hubbards, Athens. 11. Ironton, Olive, Oak Hill, Jackson, Albany, Athens. 12. Burlington, Rio Grande. 13. Portsmouth, Chillicothe, Columbus, Delaware, Mount Gilead, Iberia, Mansfield, Greenwich, Norwalk, Milan, Sandusky. 13a. Oberlin, Florence, Sandusky. 13b. Columbus, Granville, Utica, Mount Vernon, Fredericktown. Mansfield. 13c. Delaware, Mount Gilead, Cardington, Iberia. 14. Manchester, West Union, Locust Grove, Hillsboro, Greenfield, Washington Court House, Charleston, Columbus. 15. Ripley, Russell, Sardinia, Hillsboro. 16. Ripley, Russell, Sardinia, Wilmington, Xenia, Springfield, Lewisburg, Pickerellton, Zanesfield, Kenton, Dunkirk, Arlington, Findlay, Bowling Green, Perrysburg, Toledo. 16a. Kenton, Sandusky. 17. Moscow, Williamsburg, Wilmington. 18. New Richmond, Williamsburg, Wilmington. 19. Cincinnati, Lebanon, Yellow Springs, Troy, Wapakoneta, Lima, Ottawa, Grand Rapids, Perrysburg, Toledo. The importance of Ohio as a field of operation of the Underground Railroad is inferred from a directory of names of "operators" published in an appendix to Siebert's "Underground Railroad." While a complete list of these is obviously unattainable, the names gathered by years of industrious research, correspondence and personal interviews is an index of value as to the comparative activity of the system in different states. The names of 1,543 "operators" in Ohio are given by counties, almost as many as in all cther states combined. Of this number about an even 100 were colored. 1 Estimates of the number of slaves that escaped from their masters vary widely. In the absence of definite figures there was a disposition on the part of the enthusiastic supporters of the system and the representatives of the masters who had been "despoiled of their property" to overestimate the number of runaway slaves who gained their freedom. A prominent citizen of Maryland declared that the loss to that state in a single year from escaping slaves was $80,000 and to Virginia for  1 - The number of underground workers in Ohio was 1,540; in all other states 1,670. Siebert, "Underground Railroad," p. 351. 216 - HISTORY OF OHIO the same period $100,000 while an eminent Kentuckian asserted that the loss from his state amounted to "hundreds of thousands of dollars annually." Senator Polk of Missouri fixed more definitely the yearly loss to Kentucky at $200,000 and declared that of his own state proportionately larger. The United States census shows that only 1,011 slaves escaped from their masters in 1850, and 803 in 1860. However, a very large decrease in the slave population of the states bordering on the free states is shown for those years. This is believed to indicate that the number escaping was much larger than reported to the census enumerator. This decrease is probably also partly due to the insecurity of this species of property, which led owners in these states to sell their slaves to masters farther south. A conservative estimate of the number of slaves that escaped through Ohio prior to the Civil war places the total at not less than 40,000. It was probably much larger. The property loss to the South was greater, however, than the value of the slaves escaping from their masters. The insecurity of such property lowered the money value of slaves who made no effort to escape. Especially was this true in the border states, where the loss thus occasioned was very great. The moral influence of the Underground Railroad can not be estimated in dollars and cents. It was a source of continual agitation in Ohio. Peaceable, law abiding citizens, who had no sympathy with slavery or abolitionists,- were not infrequently reminded right at home of the sad lot of the slave making a desperate effort to escape from bondage in a land dedicated to the proposition that all men are created free and equal. Such citizens were rudely brought face to face with the fact that while they might let slavery alone slavery would not let them alone. Every rescue case made converts to the anti-slavery cause. The suggestion that the Underground Railroad was "a safety valve for slavery," that it helped to rid the South of the spirited and insubordinate slaves who were a source of trouble to their masters and potential leaders of servile insurrections, is perhaps worthy of consideration, but it certainly never appealed to slaveholders. The feeling of the South toward those who were aiding slaves to escape can readily be understood. Believing that they had a right to this species of property, they regarded the systematic efforts of those who would deprive them of this right without due process of law as rascals and thieves. The law was with them. From the foundation of the government constitutions and laws had provided for the return of slaves to their masters. The directors of the Underground Railroad were violators of the law of the land and nullifiers of the constitutional mandates. Their answer to the charge was an appeal to the Declaration of Independence and the "higher law" that requires all men "to remember those in bonds as bound with them." Had it been possible to enforce an absolutely effective fugitive slave law, the attempted secession of the Southern states would have been long postponed. The Underground Railroad was the chief agency that prevented the rigid enforcement of such a law, that precipitated secession and the Civil war. Ohio's part.in its operation is therefore a matter of historic interest- and national importance. The nondescript vehicles that went lumbering over this network thoroughfare with their sable passengers ultimately opened up the way for the rebirth of the Nation and were a dominant influence in the final deliverance of four million slaves from a "debasing thralldom." The thrilling experiences of the operators of the Underground Railroad were numerous and exciting. Many of them that were locally recorded have been forgotten. Some that found their way into newspapers beyond the limits of the state have not been noticed in volumes generally accessible. A goodly number, however, are rescued from oblivion and give a somewhat adequate view of the dangers and diffi- ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 217 culties of this traffic prior to the year 1860. The most famous case o f all is that of Eliza Harris, immortalized in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The most trustworthy account of her dramatic escape has been recorded by Levi Coffin, "the Reputed President of the Underground Railroad," in his "Reminiscences." It is here quoted verbatim : THE STORY OF ELIZA HARRIS Eliza Harris, of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" notoriety, the slave woman who crossed the Ohio River near Ripley, on the drifting ice with her child in her arms, was sheltered under our roof and fed at our table for several days. This was while we lived at Newport, Indiana, which is six miles west of the state line of Ohio. To elude the pursuers, who were following closely on her track, she was sent across to our line of the Underground Railroad. The story of this slave woman, so graphically told by Harriet Beecher Stowe in "Uncle Tom's Cabin," will, no doubt, be remembered by every reader of that deeply interesting book. The cruelties of slavery depicted in that remarkable work are not overdrawn. The stories are founded on facts that really occurred, real names being wisely withheld, and fictitious names and imaginary conversations often inserted. From the fact that Eliza Harris was sheltered at our house several days, it was generally believed among those acquainted with the circumstances that I and my wife were the veritable Simeon and Rachel Halliday, the Quaker couple alluded to in "Uncle Tom's Cabin." I will give a short sketch of the fugitive's story, as she related it. She said she was a slave from Kentucky, the property of a man who lived a few miles back from the Ohio River below Ripley, Ohio. Her master and mistress were kind to her and she had a comfortable home, but her master got into some pecuniary difficulty, and she found that she and her only child were to be separated. She had buried two children and was doubly attached to the one she had left, a bright, promising child over two years old. When she found that it was to be taken from her, she was filled with grief and dismay and resolved to make her escape that night if possible. She watched her opportunity and when darkness had settled down and all the family had retired to sleep, she started with her child in her arms and walked straight toward the Ohio River. She knew that it was frozen over at that season of the year and hoped to cross without difficulty on the ice, but when she reached its banks at daylight, she found that the ice had broken up and was slowly drifting in large cakes. She ventured to go to a house near by, where she was kindly received and permitted to remain through the day. She hoped to find some way to cross the river the next night, but there seemed little prospect of anyone being able to cross in safety, for during the day the ice became more broken and dangerous to cross. In the evening she discovered pursuers nearing the house, and with desperate courage she determined to cross the river or perish in the attempt. Clasping her child in her arms she darted out of the back door and ran toward the river, followed by her pursuers, who had just dismounted from their horses, when they caught sight of her. No fear or thought of personal danger entered Eliza's mind, for she felt that she had rather be drowned than to be captured and separated from her child. Clasping her babe to her bosom with her left arm, she sprang on the first cake of ice, then from that to another and another. Sometimes the cake she was on would sink beneath her weight, then she would slide her child on to the next cake, pull herself on with her hand and so continue her hazardous journey. She became wet to the waist with ice water and her hands were benumbed with cold, but as she made her way from one cake of ice to another, she felt that surely the Lord was preserving and upholding her and that nothing could harm her. When she reached the Ohio side near Ripley, she was completely 218 - HISTORY OF OHIO exhausted and almost breathless. A man who had been standing on the bank watching her progress with amazement and expecting every moment to see her go down, assisted her up the bank. After she had recovered her strength a little he directed her to a house on the hill, in the outskirts of town. She made her way to the place and was kindly received and cared for. It was not considered safe for her to remain there during the night, so, after resting awhile and being provided with food and dry clothing, she was conducted to a station on the Underground Railroad a few miles farther from the river. The next night she was forwarded on from station to station to our home in Newport, where she arrived safely and remained several days. Other fugitives arrived in the meantime and Eliza and her child were sent with them, by the Greenville branch of the Underground Railroad to Sandusky, Ohio. They reached that place in safety and crossed the lake to Canada, locating finally at Chatham, Canada West. In the summer of 1854 I was on a visit to Canada, accompanied by my wife and daughter and Laura S. Haviland of Michigan. At the close of a meeting which we attended, at one of the colored churches, a woman came up to my wife, seized her hand and exclaimed : "How are you Aunt Katie ? God bless you !" etc. My wife did not recognize her, but she soon called herself to our remembrance by referring to the time she was at our house in the days of her distress, when my wife gave her the name of Eliza Harris, and by relating other particulars. We visited her at her house while at Chatham and found her comfortable and contented. 2 This is a very satisfactory report from an authoritative source and leaves no doubt that Eliza Harris was a real person and that the simple relation of her thrilling escape across the Ohio can gain little by the most spirited narration. Levi Coffin, as in his other stories of escaping slaves, has given us no specific dates. Incidentally he has stated the year of his visit to Canada when he and his wife again met Eliza Harris. THE CASE OF THOMAS MITCHELL Early in 1832, the City of Dayton was startled by the appearance of the agent of a slaveholder from Kentucky who laid claim to a negro who, under the name of Thomas Mitchell, had lived there for more than two years. He was taken before the justice of the peace on the charge that he was a slave who had escaped from his master. The evidence against him was not sufficiently strong to satisfy the court and he was discharged. 2 - One of the earliest and most successful "conductors" of the "road" was John Rankin. * * * He was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Ripley for thirty-three years. His house was situated on a hill three hundred feet high, overlooking the Ohio river, and could be seen for a great distance from the Kentucky side. The light which every night shone from the windows became- the beacon light for thousands of fugitives pursuing their journey to the northland of freedom. Rankin's home was one of the first and most frequented "depots" along the route. George Harris and Eliza of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" fame stopped here and after receiving food and dry clothing were hurried on to the Underground Railroad.—Charles T. Hickok, in "The Negro in Ohio," pp. 161-162. In the autumn of 1850 a party of three came by the Underground to Sandusky, the story of whose escape has brought tears to the eyes of multitudes, not only in this country but in Europe; yes, in every home where "Uncle Tom's Cabin" has been read and where the story of Eliza Harris and her little boy crossing the Ohio River on the ice is known. George Harris, her husband, escaped some time after his wife, Eliza, had fled with her little boy, and they all, after several months, safely reached Sandusky, where for two days they were secreted; Eliza cutting short her hair and dressing as a man, her little boy dressed as a girl and claimed by a kind-hearted white woman as her own, for Eliza and her boy were almost white. This was the party that on a beautiful day boarded the steamer Arrow at Sandusky at a time when Eliza's master was on the wharf, and after a few hours all were safely landed at Malden on the free soil of Canada.—Judge Rush R. Sloane in The Firelands Pioneer, July, 1888, p. 46. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 219 Scarcely had he settled down to his usual mode of life and recovered from the fright occasioned by his arrest, when the agent returned with a number of armed men and, seizing Mitchell on the street, hurried him out of town where they had planned to carry him off in a sleigh. The negro set up loud and pitiful cries, imploring a number of citizens on the street, whom he recognized, not to permit them to take him away. The agent and his armed assistants were soon surrounded and compelled to appear with the negro before the justice of the peace again. New evidence was produced and there appeared to be no doubt that he had been the property of the claimant, and that under the fugitive slave law in force the agent was entitled to carry him away. It appears that he was an industrious, inoffensive man and that during his brief residence in Dayton he had made many friends who were distressed at his unhappy fate. They proposed to the agent to raise money and purchase the freedom of Mitchell. This seemed to satisfy the agent and he consulted with the master to arrange for the sale. The master was obdurate, however, and absolutely refused to become a party to such an agreement. He finally came himself to claim and carry away his property. The negro and his master first met in the upper story of a house. Mitchell grew desperate at the thought of being taken back to slavery and, rushing to the window, made a wild effort to leap through it. He was prevented and his master proceeded with him to the City of Cincinnati. On the evening of January 22 Mitchell was taken to a hotel in the city where his master stopped for the night. The slave was placed in a room on the fourth story and a guard stationed to prevent his escape. All was thought to be safe for the night, but the slave did not sleep. At about one o'clock he leaped out of the window to the pavement fifty feet below—and to liberty. His dead body was taken by his master who promised to give it a decent burial. This case, resulting in suicide, appealed to the sympathy of those who knew Tom, as he was familiarly called in Dayton, and to a much larger circle who read the story of his tragic escape from slavery. Someone has said that, so far as sentiment was concerned, the Ohio River did not mark the boundary between the North and the South prior to the Civil war ; that the dividing line was farther north ; that the river tier of counties belonged really to the South. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, in his "Memoirs," recorded some very definite statements in regard to the pro-slavery sentiment of Brown County and Georgetown in particular. It is not true, however, that this sentiment predominated throughout the entire number of river counties. Commencing with Washington County the river counties to the north, with a single exception, were strong in their northern sympathy. In Cincinnati, as has already been stated, the sentiment almost up to the Civil war was strongly pro-slavery. A number of tragic experiences growing out of the efforts of slaves to escape had occurred in the Queen City of the West, but it took more than a "Matilda case" or the suicide of Thomas Mitchell to sway the opinion of the good people of that city. They blamed all these tragic occurrences upon the abolitionists who were encouraging slaves to flee from their masters in open violation of the laws of the land. THE MARGARET GARNER CASE Soon after the election of Samuel P. Chase to the governorship of Ohio a slave hunt in the vicinity of Cincinnati led to a tragedy that horrified the state. The account here presented is for the most part paraphrased from a letter written ten years afterward by Chase. On the night of January 27, 1856, a party of slaves escaped from Kentucky and took refuge in the house of a colored man living near 20 - HISTORY OF OHIO Cincinnati. Among the fugitives were an aged man named Simon Garner, his wife, Mary, a son also named Simon, Margaret, the wife of this son, and their four children. They were tracked by slave hunters and warrants for their arrest were granted on the day following. The United States marshal with a party of deputies and men claiming the slaves hastened to the house where the fugitives had taken refuge. Their entrance was disputed by the younger Simon, who fired four shots at the party from a revolver before he and his companions were captured. While the struggle was in progress Margaret, the wife of Simon, became greatly excited and temporarily crazed at the thought that she and her children were to be carried back to slavery. Brandishing a butcher knife she cried aloud that she would kill her children before they should be taken. Before anyone could stay her desperate hand she succeeded in killing one of the children, a little girl ten year, of age. The slaves were finally overpowered and conveyed by police to prison. When the facts of the capture and the slaying of the child became publicly known, the city was horror struck at the deed. Here was another demonstration of the dread in which negroes held slavery. Once escaping, they preferred death for themselves and their children rather than a return to bondage. In the presence of such a tragedy as this, it was futile to talk of the benevolent ministrations of the institution of slavery. Citizens who were interested in the fate of these slaves took steps at once to prevent their return to Kentucky. A writ of habeus corpus, returnable to the probate judge of the county, was issued and the slaves were taken into custody by the sheriff and lodged in the county jail where they were held for a hearing. The purpose, of course, was to prevent their arrest and trial by the United States authorities who would doubtless return them promptly to Kentucky. The probate judge proceeded at once to Columbus to confer with Governor Chase in regard to the proper course of procedure. The governor, whose residence had been for years in Cincinnati before he was elected, understood very well the pro-slavery sentiment of that city. In the election he received in Hamilton County only 4,518 votes out of 23,280. The opposition to him was divided between the democratic and know-nothing candidates and represented the combined opposition to his anti-slavery principles. He hesitated to advise the judge, not because he feared the hostile sentiment in Cincinnati, which he had faced on more than one occasion, but because he doubted the propriety of advising a judge in regard to a decision that he should render. But he gave the information that was really desired, when he stated "that the process of the state courts should be enforced in every part of the state, whether in Hamilton or any other county" ; and authorized the judge "to say to the sheriff that in the performance of his duty he would be sustained by the whole power at the command of the governor." The case was delayed and the captives were alternately, by writs of habeus corpus, brought before the local court and the United States District Court. The final hearing was before the latter. Five hundred deputies were employed to carry out the decree of the United States district judge and the prisoners were taken from the Hamilton County jail and hurried across the river to Kentucky where they were soon claimed by their masters and returned to slavery. Thus ended another fugitive slave tragedy in the City of Cincinnati. RUSH R. SLOANE FINED $3,000 FOR AIDING FUGITIVES Sandusky was a very important port of debarkation for fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. Many efforts were made at this point prior to the Civil war to prevent their progress to the land of freedom. ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 221 The case of Rush R. Sloane, later a judge and one of the most prominent citizens of Erie County, has frequently been told. It is here presented as he related it himself in a paper read before the Firelands Historical Society, February 22, 1888: "I will now give as briefly as consistent with accuracy an account of the first fugitive slave prosecution and excitement which occurred under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ; not only in the Firelands, but in the United States, and with which the speaker was somewhat prominently connected. This case resulted in my being convicted under said act, the defense of which occupied my time quite a portion of two years, and I was finally compelled to pay $3,000 in damages, $330.30 in court costs and $1,000 attorney fees. My neighbors at Sandusky, incensed at the results of the case, organized a committee consisting of Capt. T. C. McGee, W. F. Stone and George Anderson, to solicit funds for the purpose of assisting me to defray the costs and expenses I had been adjudged to pay. These gentlemen collected $393 which paid the court and marshal's costs ; I insisted that I should pay the judgment without regret, which I did ; and that I must have the honor and satisfaction of handing it down as an heirloom to my children. * * * "But to proceed with my story. On the afternoon of the twentieth day of October, 1852, the City of Sandusky was the scene of very great excitement growing out of the arrest of two men, two women, and three children by some Kentuckians aided by 0. Rice, then city marshal. Three of the slaves were claimed by one Lewis F. Weimer, and four by Charles M. Gibbons. The slaves had arrived by the afternoon train, and were going on board the steamer Arrow at the time of her departure for Detroit. "The negroes were forcibly dragged ashore and taken at once to the mayor's office. The citizens were told by the marshal, as he flourished his cane, that it was a legal arrest, and the fugitives would be discharged should the mayor so decide. It was only on this understanding that he was suffered to take the negroes through the streets to the mayor's office, a distance of over half a mile, without molestation. Meanwhile Mr. S. E. Hitchcock, John Irvine and John B. Lott came hurriedly into my law office and requested me to appear before the mayor and learn if the negroes were properly arrested and legally detained. Upon reaching the mayors office we found the negroes there, and the room filled with excited people ; pistols and bowie knives were in the hands of many. After waiting a short time I asked by what authority were these persons held in custody ? There was no reply. 'Are there any papers or writs to show why they are held ?' There was no reply. I then said, speaking to the men who sought my services, 'I see no authority for detaining these prisoners,' and at this John B. Lott, a colored man, cried out in an excited voice, 'Hustle them out.' Immediately the people carrying the negroes along crowded out of the office, and as they started one of the Kentuckians, all of whom had been standing near during the whole proceedings, turned to me and said, 'Here are the papers, I own the negroes ; I'll hold you individually responsible for their escape.' I gave him the consoling reply that I was 'good for them.' The above facts substantially were published in the Sandusky Register at that time. "The negroes were that same night placed in a sail boat in charge of trusty conductors, and were received from the small boat the next day by Capt. James Nugent, a nobleman, now dead, then living at Sandusky, and secreted on board the vessel he commanded, and on the second day after were safely landed in Canada. Soon after two suits were commenced against me in the District Court of the United States, at which time the whole state constituted the district and Columbus the place where the courts were held. At the October term, 1854, the cases came on for trial. In the case of Charles M. Gibbons, who claimed to own four of the slaves, against Rush R. Sloane, the court instructed 222 - HISTORY OF OHIO the jury that the power of attorney was defective and to find a verdict in favor of the defendant. In the case of Lewis F. Weimer, the man who owned three of the slaves, against Rush R. Sloane, the plaintiff obtained judgment for $3,000 and costs, which on motion the court refused to set aside. Hon. Henry Stanbery and one Coffin were the attorneys for the plaintiff. Hon. Thomas Ewing, the father of the present Hon. Thomas Ewing, H. H. Hunter and S. F. Vinton were attorneys for the defendant. Judge Levitt presided." THE RESCUE OF ABBY KELLEY SALEM On Monday, August 28, 1854, occurred the rescue of a slave girl in Salem, Ohio, under circumstances that entitle it to a place in this record. The story of this rescue has been briefly related in print with varied and conflicting details. Fortunately it is now possible to tell it from the testimony of eye witnesses, written at the time and worthy of all confidence. The newspapers are now at hand which give in very satisfactory form the contemporaneous accounts. On the above mentioned date the Western Anti-Slavery Society was holding in Salem the concluding session of its annual convention. This was the afternoon of the third day. The previous sessions were held in a large tent not far from the railroad station. The final session, it seems, was held in the Hicksite Quaker Church, still standing on Ellsworth Street. Such is the testimony of a few persons still living who were present at this memorable session. A contributor to the Liberator, who was present and sent an account to that paper, states that the meeting was in progress "about a quarter of a mile from the railroad station," and that accords with the location of the church. At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon a telegram was received in Salem stating that a train bearing a slaveholder, his wife and a girl slave, had left Pittsburg for the West and would pass through the town at 6 o'clock that afternoon. This telegram was taken to the convention, the speaker on the floor was interrupted and the message was read. This stirred the audience. The speaker asked if they believed their professed principles and were ready to march to the station to rescue the slave. With one impulse the assembly rose to their feet and were soon on their way to meet the incoming train. In the meantime the news had spread through the town and many citizens joined the convention delegates. They reached the station before the train was due, improvised a speaker's stand and were addressed by Charles C. Burleigh of Massachusetts, Rev. Griffing of Connecticut and others. A committee was appointed to board the train when it arrived. On this committee were Henry B. Blackwell, of Cincinnati, and a colored man of Salem. The latter was chosen because it was assumed that the slave girl would be frightened and that she would have confidence in one of her own color. The crowd at the depot had been growing and excitement had reached a high pitch when the 6 o'clock train pulled in. Some of the citizens engaged the conductor in conversation while the committee entered the coach and soon located the slave. She was a child, evidently about twelve years of age. In answer to a direct question from a member of the committee, "Do you desire to be free ?" the child answered "Yes." The girl's master and mistress objected to any interference with their property, insisting that she belonged to them and was on her way to Tennessee. Thereupon Mr. Blackwell informed them that the child was legally free, lifted her bodily from the seat, carried her out of the car and joined the crowd which sent up a great cheer. The girl was soon taken to a place of safety. She was much frightened at the large ANTI-SLAVERY AND OTHER MOVEMENTS - 223 crowd and strange surroundings. As they were taking her from the train she said : "Oh don't pull me to jail." "No, no," said one of the rescuers, "we'll not put you to jail, we have no jails here." "What, have you no jails ?" she said. "No," was the answer, "but why do you ask ?" "Because," said she, "they take us to the jail when we are sold. Have you no watch-house either ?" "Oh no, why should we have a watch-house ?" "Why, they take us to the watch-house to be whipped." The west bound train that brought the slave girl was delayed at Salem half an hour to pass the east bound train which was late. The crowd did not leave the depot but used a large store box as a speaker's platform from which Charles C. Burleigh regaled them with one of his most eloquent addresses. When finally the train bearing the slave-holder and wife started westward, a great meeting in the town hall for that evening was announced and with another triumphant cheer the rescuers left the railroad station. That evening there was a great ringing of bells, calling the people to the meeting in the town hall, "Liberty Hall," the "Faneuil Hall of the West," as it has been called, and the people came in numbers that exceeded its capacity. The slave girl was brought to the rostrum. An eye witness stated to the writer that she was led forth by a white girl about her own age. There was cheering and someone in the audience called out "Which is the slave ?" and then there was more applause and an appropriate song. The meeting was addressed by Henry B. Blackwell of Cincinnati, Reverend Griffing of Connecticut, Charles C. Burleigh of Massachusetts, and Marius Robinson and Henry Ambler of Salem. Burleigh, as usual, spoke in his scholarly, serious and eloquent vein ; Ambler swayed the audience with alternate sallies of humor and stirring appeals. The meeting reached its appropriate climax when the little girl was again brought forward and named "Abby Kelley Salem," after the famous Quaker woman whose oratory had done so much to advance the antislavery cause in the West and the town which organized and successfully carried out the rescue. The following resolution was unanimously adopted : "Resolved, That in tendering our thanks to those our friends who were actively engaged in this day's rescue of a living soul from the fate of a chattel, Salem sends greetings to her elder cities, Cincinnati, Pittsburg and Boston, inviting them 'to go and do likewise.' " The meeting then "adjourned to meet again at the depot or elsewhere when a similar occasion might call them together." This incident illustrates the spirit of Salem in the interesting decade before the Civil war. The citizens there and in many communities in Northeastern Ohio found genuine enjoyment in the advocacy of their favorite reform. Anti-slavery meetings and conventions were fountains of enthusiasm from which they freely drank. The anathemas and showers of eggs with which they were assailed in earlier years no longer marred their gatherings. The tide of popular favor was at last turning strongly in their direction. They rejoiced in the controversy and the prospect of the fruition of their labors. The rescued slave girl lived many years in Salem, at first in the family of Joel McMillan. She attended the public schools and grew up with many of the advantages of white children. In disposition, however, she did not exhibit the traits that some enthusiastic anti-slavery workers were wont to ascribe rather indiscriminately to the colored people. Mrs. McMillan late in life said that some of the characteristics of Mrs. Stowe's Topsy were manifest in Abby Kelley Salem. 3 3 -Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society Publications, Vol. XXX, pp. 380-385. 224 - HISTORY OF OHIO THE OBERLIN-WELLINGTON RESCUE In the month of January, 1856, John Price, a negro lad aged eighteen years, escaped from his master, John G. Bacon, a citizen of Mason County, Kentucky. He found his way to Oberlin, the seat of Oberlin College, from a very early date a center of anti-slavery influence, a station on the Underground Railroad and a "city of refuge" to fugitives from the land of bondage. Finding the atmosphere of Oberlin congenial, John, like other sons of Ham, concluded that he would tarry here and extend his sojourn indefinitely. Here he remained unmolested until late in August, 1858. At that time a man by the name of Anderson Jennings, a neighbor of John G. Bacon, was in Oberlin looking for some slaves who had escaped from his uncle's estate. While here he learned that the fugitive, John Price, was in the town and so notified his friend Bacon by letter. Armed with a power of attorney and accompanied by agents of the United States Government, Jennings proceeded to plan the capture of John, a rather delicate undertaking in the Town of Oberlin, where almost every citizen was an anti-slavery warrior and the entire body of college students were political or actual crusaders for the rescue of the bondsman. "Almost every citizen," not everyone, as we shall see. A farmer near Oberlin by the name of Boynton consented, for a consideration, to aid in the capture and restoration of the colored property and sent his son, Shakespeare Boynton, to inveigle John Price into the country to get work and then turn him over to the slave hunters. The ruse succeeded and John was arrested September 13th and hurried to the Village of Wellington about eight miles distant, where he was taken to a hotel by his captors to await the arrival of the south-bound train. The citizens of Oberlin, a portion of whom were colored, were continually on their guard against slave hunters. They soon discovered that John was missing and that he had been spirited away in the direction of Wellington. The alarm spread rapidly. Horses and vehicles were requisitioned without formality. Merchants, bankers, doctors and lawyers rushed to the street and joined the flying expedition to Wellington. Class rooms were unceremoniously emptied and students and their professors, with one intent, hatless and heedless of everything except to circumvent the "minions of the slave power," vied with each other in their efforts to shorten the distance between themselves and the captive. "On to Wellington" was the one impelling thought that inspired and directed all. Who first reached the destination is not known, but there is no doubt that the expedition covered the distance in record time, for that early day. John was still in the hotel, guarded by his captors. Earlier in the day there had been in the village a fire that had attracted many people who were still on the street. When the vanguard from Oberlin arrived they joined and made it indeed an "Oberlin-Wellington" enterprise. The hotel was promptly surrounded by a great crowd of people. The room in which John was confined was soon located. While some were discussing how he should be liberated "a big black man who had himself been a slave, dashed the door off its hinges, * * * picked John up on his shoulders, rushed down the street, hustled him into a wagon and with break-neck speed drove him somewhere into the country, no one knew where." The rescue was complete. Oberlin had made good her boast that a slave should never be taken from that town. The would-be captors were glad to get away without bodily injury ; and the citizens of Oberlin quietly returned to their homes, well satisfied with the work of the day. Thus ended the first chapter of the "Oberlin-Wellington Rescue." John Price had escaped. From this time forward he disappeared from the history of the notable rescue so far as his personal presence