Tom Calarco - The Search for the Underground Railroad in South-Central Ohio

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2018 by Tom Calarco

All rights reserved

E-Book year 2021

First published 2018

ISBN 978.1.4396.7353.9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947022

Print Edition ISBN 978.1.4671.4010.2

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

It is surprising that a book focusing on the Underground Railroad (UGRR) in south-central Ohio has not been written. The UGRR is a weighty subject that covers a period of sixty years involving thousands of persons and events that deserve further study, and even this relatively small geographic area supplies enough material for many books. This slim volume makes no pretense at full coverage of such a huge topic covering many years. It simply will lift the essence of its memories and provide highlights. Its significance is that it will show through them the truth of the UGRR. I hope that it will encourage others to pick up where it has left off, to enlighten us with the huge chunk of history yet to be told. Posterity compels the deeds of these good country people to live on. It should entice scholars, genealogists, history buffs, teachers and students.

The author often quotes contemporary accounts or those of witnesses to the history. For the sake of euphony and clarity, he has taken the liberty of correcting punctuation and spelling and sometimes omitting needless words and phrases.

INTRODUCTION

There are many forsaken tracks of historysome that will never be recovered and others whose trail can be at least partially restored. One of them is the neglected story of the UGRR so active in the communities stretching north of the Ohio River to northwest and northeast of Columbus. Recent books like Ann Hagedorns Beyond the River, Keith Grifflers Frontline of Freedom, Nikki Taylors Frontiers of Freedom and Gary Knepps Freedoms Struggle have provided good coverage of activities along the river towns from Cincinnati to Ripley. But no major work, aside from the 1951 Ohios Mysteries of the Underground Railroad by Wilbur Siebert, has been written of the netherworld between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, the final destination before reaching the Promised Land of Canada.

Siebert has lost some credibility over the years due to revisionist theories that began with Larry Garas Liberty Line, published in 1961. The most substantial statewide coverage since then is the Ohio Underground Railroad Associations survey of sites coordinated by Cathy Nelson and published in 2004. Other contributions advancing our knowledge of the states UGRR have been made by Henry Burke of southeastern Ohio; Cheryl Janifer LaRoche and her work on selected African American communities in the Midwest; Beverly J. Gray, whose blogs feature African American contributions; Karen S. Campbells research detailing Quaker participation; Wayne L. Sniders collection of African American oral tradition in southeastern Ohio; Paul Larues Washington Court House High School research of Fayette County; the Mary S. Cook Library review of Warren County; and the Greenfield Historical Societys detailed analysis of Highland County, as well as efforts by local historians in Cincinnati, Sandusky, Hudson and Mount Pleasant, Ohio, among others. This book shall integrate these works and provide a more unified picture of the UGRR in the south-central region of Ohio.

As the Ohio River formed the borderline between slavery and freedom, fugitives from slavery sought to cross it. Naturally, once across, they were going to need help to get to Canada or to live in the North as free persons. The river towns played an important role as destinations and centers where help could be found. But who helped those thousands once they left to journey farther north? Their story will be told here, sometimes in their own words, and rely on antebellum documents and primary sources.

Chapter 1

THE SO-CALLED ROMANTIC ADVENTURE STORY OF ADDISON WHITE AND UDNEY HYDE

History cannot be rewritten with a view to popular opinion or judged by todays standards. This distorts the true understanding of the people and the events. To experience it, we need to walk in the shoes of those of the pastto hear their words, to feel their emotions.

On May 19, 1857, Udney Hyde, a UGRR veteran in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, a village in Champaign County situated between Columbus and Dayton, was recuperating from a broken ankle. He also was harboring a fugitive slave from Kentucky, thirty-five-year-old Addison White, a powerfully built man known for his prodigious strength. It was daybreak, and the roosters were crowing and the sun peeking over the horizon. It was cold, and there was a drizzle of rain. A posse of six slave catchers led by U.S. Deputies Ben P. Churchill and John C. Elliott of Cincinnati and Champaign County sheriff John Puffinbarger approached the Hyde log cabin in two carriages. They were about a mile or so outside the town.

Whites whereabouts had been pinpointed thanks to the interception of letters between White and his family in Kentucky by Springfield, Ohio postmaster W.G. Boggs. For weeks, Puffinbarger had been scoping out the area and had a sent a spy to apply for temporary work with Hyde. He confirmed the presence of White.

There are numerous stories about what happened. One was provided by Hydes daughter, Amanda, who was fourteen at the time and was an eyewitness. What follows is taken from her account and others, notably the newspaper transcripts of the trials that followed and which were reported in great detail in the newspapers of that time. A great deal of conflicting testimony was given and this writer has made some reasonable conclusions as to the turn of events, but generally they present a fair likelihood of what happened. Perhaps as many as one hundred reports were published in various newspapers of the time, including the New York Tribune.

Udney Hyde. Courtesy Ohio History Center.

White was already up and stoking the fireplace that morning, next to the bed of Hyde, who was still asleep. The sound of hoofbeats preceded the posse, and he was the first to hear the commotion outside. He peered out and saw the men and carriages. In his bedroom, the sleep of Hyde was stirred. White jumped into the loft, where he slept, carrying a revolver.

The marshals knocked, but there was no answer. They shouted and banged, but still no answer. They started kicking at the door and kept at it until the door crashed open. Hyde now was wide awake. A few others were trying to get in through the back door; Hyde pushed his bed against it. He demanded that they leave, that they had no right to break into his home. They asked Hyde about White, but he didnt answer. Then they heard movement above. Elliott called up to Add. Hyde warned him that Add was fully prepared to defend himself. The marshals looked at one another with concern; they knew of Adds reputation as a kind of modern-day Samson. Elliott fired his double-barreled shotgun up through the ceiling. The blast dissipated into silence. It seemed to grow thicker. Elliott hesitated and then slowly proceeded up the ladder to the loft, holding his gun up around his head. He peeked over the edge of the ceiling and met with a shot from Adds revolver that careened off Elliotts shotgun and grazed his cheek and ear. He fell back and cried out, Im a dead man.