The African-American Experience in Ohio
1850-1920
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/S?ammem/aaeo:@field(SUBJ+@od1(Underground+railroad))
“If you come to us and are hungry, we will
feed you; if thirsty, we will give you drink; if
sick, we will minister to your necessities; if
in prison, we will visit you; if you need a
hiding place from the pursuer, we will
provide one that even bloodhounds will not
scent out.”
-Credo of the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1843
Slavery is a Hard Foe to Battle
Written by Judson, 1855
I looked to the South and I looked to the West
And I saw old Slavery a-coming
With four Northern dough faces hitched up in front
Driving freedom to the other side of Jordan
Then take off coats and roll up sleeves
Slavery is a hard foe to battle;
Then take off coats and roll up sleeves
O’ Slavery is a hard foe to battle I believe.
Am I not a man and a brother?
Date Created/Published: 1837.
Summary:
The large, bold woodcut image
of a male slave in chains
appears on the 1837 broadside
publication of John Greenleaf
Whittier's antislavery poem, "Our
Countrymen in Chains." The
design was originally adopted as
the seal of the Society for the
Abolition of Slavery in England
in the 1780s, and appeared on
several medallions for the
society made by Josiah
Wedgwood as early as 1787.
Reynolds Political Map of the United States, designed to exhibit the
comparative Area of the free and slave states New York and
Chicago, 1856 Map
The underground railroad / Chas. T. Webber. c1893.
African Americans in wagon and on foot, escaping from slavery.
Ashtabula Harbor
Ashtabula Harbor, from which fugitive slaves were sent across Lake Erie to Canada.
The warehouse on the left was a hiding place for the fugitives.
Aaron L. Bendict's House and Barn
Photograph of Aaron L. Benedict's house and barn, Underground Railroad station,
Alum Creek Friends' Settlement (Marengo), Morrow County, Ohio.
Barn of Seth Marshall
Photograph of the barn on the Seth Marshall homestead in Painesville, Lake
County, Ohio. The barn was a hiding place for fugitive slaves.
John Parker
1827 - 1900
Born enslaved in Virginia, Parker was sold away from his mother at age eight and
forced to walk in a line of chained slaves from Virginia to Alabama. After several
unsuccessful attempts, he finally bought his freedom with the money he earned doing
extra work as a skilled craftsman.
Parker moved to Cincinnati and then to Ripley, where he became one of the most
daring slave rescuers of the period. Not content to wait for runaways to make their
way to the Ohio side of the river, Parker actually "invaded" Kentucky farms at night
and brought over to Ripley hundreds of slaves. He kept records of those he had
guided towards freedom, but he destroyed the notes in 1850 after realizing how the
Fugitive Slave Law threatened his home, his business, and his family's future.
John Rankin (1793-1886) Ripley, Ohio, was a
minister and abolitionist. His first congregation
recoiled from his anti-slavery doctrine and drove him
off. Rankin and his large family moved to Ripley
where they lived as public abolitionists who enlisted
several hundred Ohio residents against slavery.
Bust of John Rankin
by Ellen Rankin Copp
John Rankin House (Ripley, Ohio)
Photograph of the restored John Rankin House in Ripley, Ohio. The Rankin House is
one of the sites operated by the Ohio Historical Society.
"Freedom Stairway"
Photograph of the "freedom stairway", the steps leading from the Ohio River to the
John Rankin House, Ripley, Ohio.
View of the Ohio River and downtown Ripley, Ohio from the John Rankin House.
Photograph by Richard Cooper
Alfred Murphy, an ex-slave
Photograph of Alfred Murphy, an ex-slave who lived in Columbus, Franklin
County, Ohio. "Never Too Old to Learn!" That's the slogan of this 105 year old
ex-slave who was a pupil in a literacy class conducted by the WPA in Columbus,
Ohio.
David Wilborn, an ex-slave
Photograph of David Wilborn, an ex-slave who lived at 220 Fair Street in Springfield,
Clark County, Ohio.
Charles Green, an ex-slave
Photograph of Charles Green, an ex-slave who lived at 231 Buxton Avenue in
Springfield, Clark County, Ohio, District 1.
Life In Slavery:
Sarah Ashley, 93, was born in Mississippi
I used to have to pick cotton and sometimes I pick 300
pound and tote it a mile to the cotton house. Some pick
300 to 800 pound cotton and have to tote the bag the
whole mile to the gin. If they didn’t do they work they
get whip till they have blister on them. Then if they
didn’t do it, the man on a horse goes gown the rows
and whip with a paddle make with holes in it and bust
the blisters. I never get whip, because I always get my
300 pound. Us have to go early to do that, when the
horn goes early, before daylight. Us have to take the
victuals in the bucket to the field.
Us never got enough to eat, so us keeps stealing stuff.
Us has to. They give us the pack of meal to last the
week and two, three pound back on in chunk. Us never
have flour or sugar, just cornmeal and the meat and
potatoes. The [slaves] have the big box under the
fireplace, where they keep all the pick and chicken
what they steal, down in salt.
Sarah Ashley
Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
Angelina Lester, an ex-slave
Photograph of Angeline Lester, an ex-slave who lived Youngstown, Mahoning
County, Ohio, District 5.
In 1834, Jermain Loguen
(circa 1813-1868), a Tennessee
slave (otherwise known as Jarm
Logue), boldly rode out of
Tennessee and slavery, and
continued to ride until he
reached Canada and freedom.
Loguen and his wife received
fugitives ceaselessly, at all
hours of the night and day, and
even while their daughter lay
fatally ill. Loguen agitated for
jobs for blacks. Loguen
established a school and a
church wherever he could for
emancipated slaves.
Elsie Ross, an ex-slave
Photograph of Elsie Ross, an ex-slave who lived at 300 Sprague Street in
Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, District 2.
Punishment:
Walter Calloway, Birmingham, Alabama
Master John had a big plantation and lots of
slaves. They treated us pretty good, but we had
to work hard. Time I was ten years old I was
making a regular hand behind the plow. Oh, yes
Sir, Master John good enough to us and we get
plenty to eat, but he had a overseer name Green
Bush what sure whip us if we don’t do to suit him.
Yes Sir, he mighty rough with us but he didn’t do
the whipping himself. He had a big black boy
name Mose, mean as the devil and strong as a
ox, and the overseer let him do all the whipping.
And, man, he could sure lay on that rawhide
lash.
Walter Calloway
Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
Sarah Frances Shaw Graves
Age 87
"I was born March 23, 1850 in Kentucky,
somewhere near Louisville. I am goin'
on 88 years right now. (1937). I was
brought to Missouri when I was six
months old, along with my mama, who
was a slave owned by a man named
Shaw, who had allotted her to a man
named Jimmie Graves, who came to
Missouri to live with his daughter Emily
Graves Crowdes. I always lived with
Emily Crowdes."
Harriet Tubman
1822 - 1913
When, as a young child on a plantation in Eastern
Maryland, Tubman tried to protect another slave,
she suffered a head injury that led to sudden
blackouts throughout her life. On her first escape,
Tubman trekked through the woods at night, found
shelter and aid from free Blacks and Quakers, and
eventually reached freedom in Philadelphia to align
with William Still and the Vigilance Committee.
After hearing that her niece and children would soon
be sold, Tubman arranged to meet them in
Baltimore and usher them North to freedom. It was
the first of some thirteen trips during which Tubman
guided approximately 50 to 70 people to freedom.
Tubman spoke often before antislavery gatherings
detailing her experiences. She was never captured,
and went on to serve as a spy, scout, and nurse for
the Union Army. When the government refused to
give her a pension for her wartime service, Tubman
sold vegetables and fruit door-to-door and lived on
the proceeds from her biography.
(Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division,
Broadside Collection, portfolio 65, no. 16).
BETSEY ESCAPES TENNESSEE
Arkansas Gazette October 4, 1825 (October 11, 1825)
$30 REWARD RANAWAY from the subscriber, living near Lawrenceburg,
Lawrence county (Ten) about the first of August last, a black NEGRO
WOMAN named BETSEY, about 15 years of age, spare made stammers
a little in her speech at times, and when walking makes long steps--no
particular mark recollected. The above reward of Thirty Dollars will be
given if taken out of the State, and confined so I get her, and Twenty
Dollars if taken in the state and confined so I get her.
PETER WINN September 3d, 1825
ESCAPE OF JACK
Arkansas Gazette December 2, 1820 (January 6, 1821)
$150 Reward RAN away from my plantation, Lincoln county, Tennessee, on
the first day of August last, a Negro man named JACK. He is about 6 feet
high, a dark mulatto, broad shoulders, rather inclined to be round, high cheek
bones, thin jawed, thin lips, large hands and feet, and rather an impediment in
his speech, dejected countenance when spoken to, and very fond of
spirituous liquors, a large scar on his breast, on the left side, and under the
left nipple, and has been passing by the name of DAVE; he is a tolerable
good shoemaker, and an excellent hand at the whip-saw. Any person
apprehending said fellow and confining him in any jail in Tennessee or
Kentucky, shall have the above reward, or one hundred dollars, if confined to
any jail in the United States, so that I get him again; or the above reward for
the delivery of said fellow to me, at Bradshaws Creek, Giles county,
Tennessee, with common expenses. Any person taking up said Negro, will
direct their letters to Pulaski, Giles county, Tennessee.
JOHN HOLCOMB November 4, 1820
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/undergrou
nd_railroad/plantation.htm
Click this link for an interactive story about
the journey of Walter, a slave in Kentucky.
Emancipation: Katie Rowe, Age 88, Tulsa, OK
Page 1 of 3
I never forget the day we was set free!
That morning we all go to the cotton field early, and
then a house [slave] come out from old Mistress on
a horse and say she want the overseer to come
into town, and he leave and go in. After while the
old horn blow up at the overseer’s house, and we
all stop and listen, ’cause it the wrong time of day
for the horn.
We start chopping again, and there go the horn
again.
The lead row [slave] holler “Hold up!” And we all
stop again. “We better go on in. That our horn,” he
holler at the head [slave], and the head [slave] think
so too, but he say he afraid we catch the devil from
the overseer if we quit without him there, and the
lead row man say maybe he back from town and
blowing the horn himself, so we line up and go in.
Katie Rowe
Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington
Page 2 of 3
When we get to the quarters we see all the old ones and the children up in the
overseer’s yard, so we go on up there. The overseer setting on the end of the
gallery with a paper in his hand, and when we all come up he say come and stand
close to the gallery. Den he call off everybody’s name and see we all there.
Setting on the gallery in a hide-bottom chair was a man we never see before. He
had on a big broad black hat like the Yankees wore but it didn’t have no yellow
string on it like most the Yankees had, and he was in store clothes that wasn’t
homespun or jeans, and they was black. His hair was plumb gray and so was his
beard, and it come way down here on his chest, but he didn’t look like he was very
old, ’cause his face was kind of flashy and healthy looking. I think we all be sold off
in a bunch, and I notice some kind of smiling, and I think they sure glad of it.
The man say, “You darkies know what day dis is?” He talk kind, and smile.
We all don’t know of course, and we just stand there and grin. Pretty soon he ask
again and the head man say, No, we don’t know.
“Well this the fourth day of June, and this is 1865, and I want you all to ’member
the date, ’cause you always going ’member the day. Today you is free, Just like I is,
and Mr. Saunders and your Mistress and all us white people,” the man say.
3 of 3
“I come to tell you,” he say, “and I wants to be sure you all understand, ’cause Page
you
don’t have to get up and go by the horn no more. You is your own bosses now, and
you don’t have to have no passes to go and come.”
We never did have no passes, no how, but we knowed lots of other [slaves] on other
plantations got them.
“I want to bless you and hope you always is happy, and tell you got all the right and
life that any white people got,” the man say, and den he get on his horse and ride off.
We all just watch him go on down the road, and den we go up to Mr. Saunders and
ask him what he want us to do. He just grunt and say do like we dam please, he
reckon, but get off that place to do it, unless any of us wants to stay and make the
crop for half of what we make.
None of us know where to go, so we all stay, and he split up the fields and show us
which part we got to work in, and we go on like we was, and make the crop and get it
in, but there ain’t no more horn after that day. Some the [slaves] lazy and don’t get in
the field early, and they get it took away from ’em, but they plead around and get it
back and work better the rest of that year.
But we all gets fooled on that first go-out! When the crop all in we don’t get half! Old
Mistress sick in town, and the overseer was still on the place and he charge us half
the crop for the quarters and the mules and tools and grub!
Runaway slaves usually hid during the day and travelled at night. Some of
those involved notified runaways of their stations by brightly lit candles in a
window or by lanterns positioned in the front yard.
The resting spots where the runaways could sleep and eat were given the
code names "stations" and "depots" which were held by "station masters."
There were also those known as "stockholders" who gave money or supplies
for assistance. There were the "conductors" who ultimately moved the
runaways from station to station. The "conductor" would sometimes act as if
he were a slave and enter a plantation. Once a part of a plantation the
"conductor" would direct the fugitives to the North. During the night the slaves
would move, traveling on about 10-20 miles (15-30 km) per night. They would
stop at the so-called "stations" or "depots" during the day and rest. While
resting at one station, a message was sent to the next station to let the station
master know the runaways were on their way. Sometimes boats or trains
would be used for transportation. Money was donated by many people to help
buy tickets and even clothing for the fugitives so they would remain
unnoticeable.
Underground Railroad Code Phrases
People who helped slaves find the railroad were "agents" (or
"shepherds")
Guides were known as "conductors"
Hiding places were "stations"
"Stationmasters" would hide slaves in their homes
Escaped slaves were referred to as "passengers" or "cargo"
Slaves would obtain a "ticket"
Financiers of the Railroad were known as "stockholders".
As well, the big dipper asterism, whose 'bowl' points to the north star,
was known as the drinkin' gourd, and immortalized in a contemporary
code tune. The Railroad itself was often known as the "Freedom train" or
"Gospel train", which headed towards "Heaven" or "the Promised Land"
- Canada.
“The wind blows from the south today” = warning of slave bounty
hunters nearby
“A friend of a friend” = a password used to signal the arrival of fugitives
with an Underground Railroad conductor
“The friend of a friend sent me” = a password used by fugitives traveling
alone to indicate they were sent by the Underground Railroad network
"Load of Potatoes," "Parcel," "Bundles of Wood," or "Freight" = fugitives
to be expected
"A friend with friends" = a password used by railroad conductors to
signal to the listener that they were in fact a conductor.
http://www.freedomcenter.org/underground-railroad/
Click this link for a photograph of an exhibit at the National Underground
Railroad Freedom Center museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Florence Lee, Ex-Slave
Narrative
Sallah White, Ex-Slave Narrative
Cleveland Gazette
From Slave to President
Volume: 09
Issue Number: 07
Page Number: 02
Date: 09/26/1891
Cleveland Gazette
Children of Slaves Deemed Illegitimate
Volume: 05
Issue Number: 39
Page Number: 02
Date: 05/12/1888
Palladium Of Liberty
Form of a Petition
Volume: 01
Issue Number: 01
Page Number: 03
Date: 12/27/1843