History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 86

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 86

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While in Crawford county there were prob- ably 20 to 30 people at that time who were more or less engaged in assisting slaves to es- cape, there were many others who took 110 hand in the matter but favored the escaping slave. But it is also probable that while there were a number who would gladly have assisted in capturing an escaped slave, to secure the reward, yet the large majority at the start treated the matter with indifference and in the thirty years from 1830 to 1860 no record can be found of any slave that was ever captured in this county and returned to his master. And yet, it is safe to say that in those same years at least 500 men found their way to freedom through Crawford county. Nothing is known of the exact route of Black Bill after he left his hiding place in the swamp near Marion. He may have gone north at night over the San- dusky pike, and found refuge during the day

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at Benjamin Warner's, who kept a tavern four miles south of Bucyrus. He was a Quaker, and this sect were the strongest in the state on the side of the fleeing negroes. He may have reached New Winchester, where at that time Peter Wert had a mill just north of the town which was a station on the Underground Road. At any rate, McClanahan, his master, never saw him again. In October, 1839, the Bucyrus Democrat published a full account of the trial and escape of Black Bill.

The escaping slaves entered this county in the eastern part from Iberia where there was a prominent underground station, this little village being filled with sympathizers of the fleeing fugitives. It was this town which furnished almost the last incident in regard to punishment of men for assisting slaves in making their escape. A professor in the college at Iberia had been arrested for assist- ing an escaping slave and had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment and one of the first acts of President Lincoln was the pardon of this man. The most prominent man in this county connected with the Underground Road was perhaps Peter Wert, first of Leesville and later of New Winchester. He was known as Black Pete, not on account of his friendship for the slaves, but on account of his com- plexion, as he was very dark. He was a man of strong determination. He had a wheel shop at Leesville and here the slaves came to him after night. They generally arrived just before daylight, a signal was given by them which was recognized by him and they were brought into the house, given food and a place of shelter during the next day, and when night again came, they were given explicit directions to their next stopping-place which was prob- ably the Robinson mill on the Sandusky river, near the old Luke tavern. Near the mill was the residence of James Robinson, and just back of the house was a small building known as the "mill house." The building had only one door, and was originally but one room. A par- tition was built across one end, the only en- trance to this closet being a low door, which was concealed by piling sacks of grain and meal in front of it. In case pursuing masters were in the neighborhood the escaping slaves were hidden in this closet until all danger was over.

George Dean who still lives in Bucyrus and is today an old man, states that in his boyhood days ( 1840 to 1850) he has gone over to the mill which was owned by his uncles, James and William Robinson, and has seen negroes in the yard, men, women and children and a few days afterward they were gone. Of course, the neighbors knew of this, and while they would not assist an escaping negro, they were not so bitter at that time as to prevent anyone else from doing so. About three miles north of the Robinson Mill was Henry Kaler's resi- dence in Sandusky township. He was a shoe- maker and to his house the negroes were piloted. Occasionally when the people showed symptoms of objection to this violation of the law, Robinson himself took the men to the next station. He had a spring wagon used for hauling grain, and on this he had a covered top so that nobody could see the contents of the wagon, but it was generally known that when this wagon went north after night, there were escaping slaves inside. This wagon was mostly used when there were women and children in the party. The men generally walked. The wagon held from six to eight people. Kaler, the shoemaker, in the early days traveled over the country making shoes for the settlers. He was not well to do and made his rounds from house to house on foot, and knew every hiding place in that section. For while, as previously stated, no slaves were ever known to be re- captured in this county, yet there were fre- quently men watching all roads to the north to capture an escaping slave in order to secure the reward. It was therefore necessary for the slave to be hurriedly hid, sometimes in a well, sometimes in an old hollow tree, or in some abandoned outbuildings or barn. Frequently they were placed in some barn with hay loosely sprinkled over them, and here they remained two or three days, fed by the keeper of the station until all danger of pursuit had shifted to some other locality. North of Kaler, was the celebrated Bear marsh, which was an ex- cellent hiding place, and near this lived John McIntyre another station on the Underground Road. He was an old Scotch Presbyterian. From here it is difficult to trace the route. Seibert in his book states that Tiro was an important station on the Underground Road. It no doubt was, as the settlers there were New

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Englanders and such men as Rudolphus Morse, Resolved White, Samuel Hanna, and others were the men who would be strongly in sym- pathy with the underground movement, but no record can be found of anyone in Auburn township who kept a station on the road and it is absolutely certain there were a dozen. The objective point was Sandusky on the lake. Five or six routes passing through the state converged at that point, and, as stated, two of these were through Crawford county.

Near the Portland road, running north and south through Vernon township, were several houses where the fugitives were cared for. The house of John McCaskey was supposed to be one. The road was traveled by dark men on dark nights, and many a happy African who reached Canada, remembered with gratitude until the day of his death the hospitality and humanity of several citizens of Vernon. David and Samuel Anderson often entertained ebony runaways aiming for the north star. These were guided to the dwellings under cover of the night, and if brought there near morning, were kept concealed, and fed during the day and then conveyed to some station near Canada and freedom. Concealment was necessary, because in harboring runaway slaves, the law was vio- lated, and after 1850 there were many whose sympathies were with the slaveholder, and they would not have scrupled to reveal the name of the law-breaker. This resulted in concealment and the nocturnal pilgrimages of the runaways.

William Robinson who still lives in Crestline lived with his father when a boy at North Robinson (1840 to 1850), and remembers times when colored people after night stopped at their door and asked to be cared for. Rob- inson's place was not an underground station but like most others in the county at that time he would not interfere with any one else as- sisting them, and the fugitive was directed to the proper Robinson at the mill several miles north. Both Peter Wert and William and James Robinson were Scotch Presbyterians, in fact Covenanters, and these with the Quakers were the most open opponents of human slavery.

Along the Sandusky pike four miles south of Bucyrus, was the tavern of Benjamin War- ner, one of those worthy men who was raised in the society of Friends and like that

taciturn and sagacious sect, kept his own coun- sel, but his neighbors were certain that his hos- pitable home was one of the stations on the Underground Road. In keeping his tavern, all people were welcome, and the poorer settlers coming into the country looking for land were entertained over night, given their breakfast in the morning and sent on their way rejoic- ing. And if they were very poor, never charged for their accommodation. To the op- pressed and fleeing slave, seeking a haven of freedom in Canada his lines were cast in pleas- ant places when he reached the tavern of that good old Quaker, Benjamin Warner. North of Bucyrus was the Quaker settlement and it is astonishing the number of visits that Warner made to his friends living there. And it is certain many of his friends must have been aware when he drove through the streets of Bucyrus with a large wagon drawn by two horses and containing nothing but loose straw, that many a trembling slave was concealed be- neath the straw, and yet he made these trips in broad daylight. Here is an extract from his obituary notice, published after his death which occurred May 8, 1870. After speaking of his generosity to poor travelers, it said : "Nor is this all. The worthy man was raised as one of the Society of Friends, and like that sagacious sect kept his own counsel, and it was more than surmised that his hospitable home was one of the safest stations for those op- pressed victims who were seeking the north star; and many a time has he, on pretense of visiting his brethren north of Bucyrus, hauled trembling chattels, concealed in his wagon, boldly and bravely in open daylight through Bucyrus."

On the Tiffin road Fisher Quaintance set- tled about 1829 and his home was a station on the Underground Road: Here the escaping slave sometimes worked about the farm, and in case anyone was seen coming along the road he was hidden in some secret place until all danger was passed. Joseph Quaintance, still living, remembers that at one time one of the slaves who stopped at the farm had learned the carpenter business, and while hiding on his father's place built a cradle for the cutting of grain. Mr. Quaintance remembered the incident, although he was a boy, from the fact that they had a very savage dog who became

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very friendly with the colored man and when he left, the dog followed him, much to the sat- isfaction of the family. Just west of the Tiffin road was a family by the name of Jackson, a father and several sons, Stephen, Isaac and Abraham. This house was back in the woods and a slave once reaching there was safe. The slaves were always brought to Jackson's cabin during the night, usually after 10 o'clock. The Columbus and Sandusky pike was extensively traveled by slaves without guides, as the road was so plain that no mistake could be made. But the traveling was usually done between ten o'clock at night and daylight the next morning. Isaac Jackson and his son Stephen have been seen to carry sled-loads of them north into Seneca county. At one time, about 1853, they were seen to have six or eight negro women and children in a sled, which was driven rapidly north, while five or six negro men, unable to get into the sled, ran at the side or behind, and the smoothness of the snow-covered road enabled him to get them far on their way be- fore daylight to some station much nearer Can- ada and freedom under the British flag. The night was bitterly cold, though the moon shone brightly on the scene, revealing the runaways to the people along the road, who were willing to jump from their beds in the cold, and look from the window or door.

Almost every citizen who lived on the Colum- bus and Sandusky pike half a century ago could remember of seeing many a dusky run- away skulking along the road under the cover of the night, or being driven rapidly north by some assisting friend. It occasionally hap- pened that pursuing masters traveled over the road; but none of these residents remembered that any runaway slave was ever captured by his master while escaping through the county. It was not customary for slaves to stop at houses directly on the road, even though the owner was a known friend. As morning ap- proached they left the road, and stopped at dwellings several miles from its course. It thus occurred that Quaintance on the Tiffin road and the Jacksons were used as hiding places, and several citizens in and near the village of Lykens were known to harbor the black man, and to convey him farther on his way to Canada and freedom. On one occa- sion one of the citizens was seen with a wagon

load of dusky women and children, heading for the house of some friend in southern Sen- eca county. And, at another time, a half-dozen or more of half-starved, half-clothed negro men were seen in a barn in Lykens township.

Another station was that of Eli Odell. He was a cabinet-maker and at one time a miller. He lived at what was afterwards known as Odell's Corners four miles east of Bucyrus. He was very pronounced in his views on slavery and held that it was a moral duty of every man to assist the runaway slaves, and that he would pay no attention to any iniqui- tous law which required a citizen to assist in capturing the slave and returning him to his owner; that no law could give to one man the right to own another human being, and there- fore it was no crime to break any law which in itself was against the law of God. Slaves were brought to him by Peter Wert and from his place they were either piloted across to Kaler or McIntyre in Sandusky township, or more directly north, for there must have been some station at or around Sulphur Springs, although no trace can be found of one there. The fact is, the danger that some neighbor, through vindictiveness or for the greed of gain, might give evidence against them made them cautious, and many of these places that were underground stations can never be known; and toward the last, after 1850, this county became more bitter against those as- sisting escaping slaves, and the greatest caution was necessary, slaves being transferred from station to station after night, without being seen by anyone except those belonging to the underground road.

No record can be found of those in Bucyrus who kept stations on the Underground Road with the exception of Capt. John Wert. That Rev. John Pettitt kept a station there is no doubt, but there is no proof. Neither do older inhabitants who knew him remember of any word he ever let drop to indicate that his house was a haven of refuge for the fleeing slaves. He lived for a while on what is now the Magee farm south of Oakwood cemetery. He was always opposed to slavery and said so at any and all times. Yet there is no proof that he was connected with the Underground Road. Neither is there any proof that John Anderson kept a station on the road. Yet he kept the

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American house, and in the upstairs room was where an abolition speech was made and an anti-abolition demonstration occurred in Bucy- rus in 1839. The meeting was being held on the second floor southeast room, the corner room fronting on Warren and Sandusky. It was addressed by the Rev. Mr. Streater a Protestant Methodist minister, and it became known that he would deliver an abolition ad- dress. During the evening a crowd collected in front of the hotel and for a time contented itself with hooting and jeering, but later stones and brick bats were thrown and the windows broken in, and a rush was made inside the building, the crowd demanding the speaker, but he was secretly removed from the house, and made his escape. Daniel Fralic of Brok- ensword was present at the time and said that for a while things were pretty lively. He crowded himself into a corner until the storm was over and then quietly left the building. After the mob reached the room stones and brick bats were still freely thrown and some of the furniture broken.

After Anderson had quit the hotel business he had a frame building just north where he ran a tin shop, and here the anti-slavery men held frequent meetings, but as far as can be learned they were never disturbed. In the rear room of the tin shop one night some 15 per- sons gathered to hear a colored slave give an account of his flight to freedom. The slave was a carpenter and lived in one of the Gulf states. By some means he had learned to read and write. He made his escape to New Or- leans, where he forged his master's name to a pass and secured a job on a steamboat as a car- penter and thus worked his passage up the Mississippi and the Ohio, and on reaching Cincinnati he had been piloted over the under- ground road and had now reached Bucyrus. A collection was taken up and he was cared for that night and the next day, and after dark the next evening he was directed to the farm of Jesse Quaintance in Holmes township. The meeting was very quiet and orderly, and although he was in the town 24 hours, no at- tempt was made to prevent his escape.

About this same time Capt. John Wert lived near the southeast corner of Mansfield and Spring streets. He had a wheel-wright shop on the same lot and did work at this and car-

pentering. He had several sons and all were strong abolitionists. One night a slave owner came to Bucyrus with two of his followers, having been given private information that his slave would be found secreted at the house of Capt. Wert. He had closely followed him from the Ohio river, and he went immediately to the house of Captain Wert and demanded the slave. Being refused he threatened to enter the place by force and make a search. Mr. Wert seized a gun and stated that his house could not be searched without the proper pa- pers, issued by the proper authorities in Bucy- rus. The sons also had their guns, and the man with his two slave-catchers came back up town to secure the necessary papers. The news soon spread, and in half an hour when the slave owner returned there was quite an ex- cited crowd with them. The captain still warned them off with his gun and parlied with the officials. Stones were thrown and brick bats, some of the windows were broken, but the grim old man, gun in hand, stood firmly by his position, but after half an hour he yielded and the house was searched but no slave found. It was freely stated by some in the crowd that a negro had been seen there early in the evening. He may or may not have been seen, but whether he had or not, two of the sons were missing when the house was searched, and later it was learned that while the man had gone up street to secure his papers the sons had taken the slave to a safer abiding place farther north, and the parley of the old man had been simply a pretense to gain time.

After the C. C. & C. road was built through Galion, it was sometimes used to send slaves north to Cleveland. On one occasion an es- caping slave who was on the train, happened to look out of the window and saw his master get on the rear car. He sat with fear and trembling until the conducter came by; he had been told beforehand that in case of emergency the conductor would do what he could to protect him, for only those trains were generally used where the conductor was in sympathy with the movement. The con- ductor, hearing his story, pulled the bell cord, and the train slackened speed, and the negro jumped off, and the signal was given to go ahead. The master was also looking out of the window, and saw his property in full flight

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across the field. He appealed to the conductor, but he refused to slacken the speed of the train, and the man was compelled to stay on board until Galion was reached. The negro got in touch with the underground road, was piloted through Crawford county, and found freedom in Canada.

Bucyrus, through Judge Scott, was con- nected with one of the important slave cases which made history. Two slave-owners with a United States Marshal and his deputy, on Sept. 13, 1858, seized John Price a fugitive slave, at Oberlin, and drove across the coun- try eight miles to Wellington, to take the train south. A crowd from Oberlin followed and joined by Wellington people, the negro was rescued. The United States Court indicted 37 of the rescuers, and they were mostly given small fines and a day in jail. Two from Oberlin, Simon Bushnell and Charles H. Langston, were given 60 days and 20 days' imprisonment. Writs of habeas corpus were gotten out and the case came before the Supreme Court of Ohio. On the bench were Joseph R. Swan, chief justice; Josiah Scott, William V. Peck, Jacob Brinkerhoff, Milton Sutliff. The ma- jority of the people of Ohio believed the fu- gitive slave act was so utterly at variance with the law of God as to be unconstitutional, and the true doctrine was the British one that Ohio being a free State, a slave once setting his foot on Ohio soil was free. This was the view of

Gov. Chase and every member of the court. But the question at issue was: "Shall a United States law be enforced when contrary to the views of the people and laws of a state?" On this question Joseph R. Swan, Josiah Scott, and William V. Peck held the United States law was superior to the State and refused the writ of habeas corpus, Brinkerhoff and Sutliff dis- senting. Justice Swan was a candidate for re- nomination for judge of the Supreme Court, but he was defeated on account of his decision. In his "Swan's Treatise," compiled by him, he states that it is idle to speculate upon the pos- sible results if a single judge had held a dif- ferent opinion. Salmon P. Chase was gov- ernor at that time and it was well understood that he would sustain a decision releasing the prisoners by all the power at his command; and the United States government was as fully committed to the execution of the fugi- tive slave law. This would have placed Ohio in conflict with the General Government in de- fense of state rights, and if the party of free- dom throughout the north had rallied, as seemed probable, the war might have come in 1859, instead of 1861, with a secession of the northern instead of the southern states. A single vote apparently turned the scale, and after a little delay the party of freedom took possession of the government, and the party of slavery became the seceders.

CHAPTER XXXII

MISCELLANEOUS

Dead Man's Hollow-Ancient Land Marks-Hidden Treasure-The Bucyrus Mastodon- Johnny Appleseed-The Bad Indian-Population Statistics-The Hermits-Agricul- tural Fairs-The Canal Crawford Did Not Get-The Name of Bucyrus-Early Valu- ation and Expenses-Early Marriage Licenses.

A chiel's amang you taking notes, And, faith, he'll prent it. -ROBERT BURNS.

DEAD MAN'S HOLLOW.

Near Olentangy along the Galion road a place has been pointed out as Dead Man's Hollow, a site where a murder was committed many years ago. In the summer of 1836, two men, named Bender and Hammer from the east came west to buy land. At Wooster they were observed when they changed their eastern money for western, and were followed. After leaving Mansfield they were joined by two men, who stated they were also coming west look- ing up land. The four traveled together to Ga- lion, and at the latter place spent the night. The next morning the four started for Bucy- rus, Hammer and Bender walking in front, and the two strangers behind. All had canes cut from the woods to assist them in walking. Soon after leaving Galion, the strangers cut themselves still heavier canes; in fact, so heavy, as to be clubs. Being questioned as to the reason for such heavy canes, they turned it off by remarking their other canes were too light and they threw them away, but perhaps . the new ones were a little large, but if so, later they would get smaller. The four proceeded until they reached where Olentangy now is, when they came to a little streain that emptied into the Whetstone. Over this was a log, ne- cessitating crossing single file. As the men separated to cross the stream, one drew a pistol and shot Bender, while the other with

his heavy club brought it down with all its force on the head of Hammer, knocking him to the ground unconscious. An eighth of a mile south of where the attack was made was the Eberhardt saw-mill, and the robbers hear- ing the sound of voices, and believing some one was approaching, hurriedly sought safety in flight, without stopping to rob their victims, which would have taken time, as the men car- ried their money in a leather belt, around their waist, underneath their clothing. Some time passed before Hammer regained consciousness, and when he did he was horrified to find the dead body of his brother-in-law. He screamed for help, but received no answer. He was in a dazed condition, but managed to stagger to the saw mill where he appeared covered with blood, to the astonishment of the Eberhardts. He had difficulty in explaining to them what was the matter, but they were finally convinced something serious had occurred, and they fol- lowed him to the scene of the murder, where they found the dead body of Bender. What few neighbors there were were aroused and Hammer explained in detail what had occurred and the woods were searched but no trace of the murderers was found. The absence of any clue, pointed suspicion to Hammer, but a thorough examination showed his story was true, as it was easily shown two suspicious characters had been with them at Galion, and further that the proprietor of the tavern at Galion had told the men they did not like the looks or the actions of their companions, and

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 86

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302