Austinburg in Ashtabula County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The Underground Railroad in Austinburg

Photographed By Craig Doda, January 10, 2023

1. The Underground Railroad in Austinburg Marker

Inscription.

The Underground Railroad in Austinburg. . , Ashtabula County and The Western Reserve , Ashtabula County was part of the New Connecticut (or Western) Reserve, which spanned northeastern Ohio. Nearly two thirds of the early settlers in Ashtabula County came from Connecticut. Many took part in the Underground Railroad. By the start of the Civil War, Ashtabula County was one of the leading centers of anti-slavery fervor and dissent., Abolitionists, Anti-Slavery, and Colonization , Abolitionist a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution. Applied to the Underground Railroad, "abolitionist" is a broad term covering three different positions.,

1. Ardent abolitionists, such as John Brown, held the following views.
A. The Constitution obliged slavery; the Linion harbored it. , B. The Constitution was essentially a pro-slavery instrument. , C The powerful Union obstructed peaceful change.
2. The anti-slavery adherents, which included Joshua Giddings and Benjamin Wade, believed a doctrine that:
A. Distinguished between the Constitution and the institution. , B. Distinguished between slavery and the Union as a whole. , C. Sought to fight slavery without harm to the Constitution or Union.
3. The colonization group would buy slaves with money acquired by charitable activities, then settle them in Africa, Haiti, or elsewhere within the United States.

, What was the Underground Railroad? , Not a railroad and not under the ground, it was a secret network of safe places connected by routes used to hide and move escaped slaves into the free states and Canada. Years before the Civil War, as early as 1813, escaped slaves were being guided through the Western Reserve via Ashtabula County's four north-south main roads (known today as State Routes 45, 46, 193 and 7) to Lake Erie., How The Underground Railroad Worked , Common railroad terms were used to maintain secrecy. An agent was owner of a house or safe haven; the house itself (often given a code name, like "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard") was called a station. Escaped staves were called freight or passengers, and conductors guided the slaves from station to station. A train was an escorted group of slaves. Messengers kept alert for slave catchers and delivered messages along the railroad lines. These lines ended at terminals, such as Ashtabula Harbor and Conneaut Harbor, where slaves awaited transportation across Lake Erie to Canada. If in hot pursuit, trains would detour on a sidetrack or switch to other lines or stations. Freight solicitors were people who persuaded slaves to escape; the slaves themselves devised a way to communicate those plans., It has been estimated that over 100,000 slaves were led to freedom of more than 4 million held in slavery., About These Underground Railroad Panels , This panel is one of twelve tutal that focus on areas around Ashtabula, Conneaut, Andover, Jefferson, Grand Valley and Austinburg. They serve to inform you about the role of Ashtabula County in the Underground Railroad. Months of research on this project assure historical accuracy. We hope you enjoy reading about this part of Ashtabuis County's rich heritage., Above: The original First Congregational Church of Austinburg., Inset: A charcoal portrait of the Rev. Giles Hooker Cowles, the first Congregational minister to settle in Connecticut (Western) Reserve., Connecticut Missionary Society , At least two thirds of the population in Ashtabula County was directly from Connecticut. Since the New Englanders were highly religious, it was only natural for the Connecticut churches to feel concerned for the spiritual welfare of the migrants to the county. Into this new land of promise the Connecticut Missionary Society sent the Rev. Joseph Badger. He alone was responsible, through his missionary efforts, for establishing the organized churches in the Connecticut Reserve. The First Congregational Church was established in Austinburg in 1801. The first settled minister was the Rev. Giles Hooker Cowles (rhymes with "coals") from Farmington, Connecticut. He came to Austinburg in 1811. Mr. Cowles and his abolitionist family helped many slaves escape to freedom., Austinburg , Betsey Cowles was born in Bristol, Connecticut. She moved to Austinburg at a very early age as part of her father's abolitionist family. Miss Cowles was a teacher and principal at the Grand River Institute. She was probably the greatest influence in Ashtabula County against slavery. As a militant member of the anti-slavery society, she dared to defy the authorities in Washington. She arranged for nationally known anti-slavery people-such as William Lloyd Garrison, Lucretia Lott, Sojourner Truth, and Stephen S. Foster-to come to Ashtabula, Ohio, in order to aid the anti-slavery movement and make Ohio more aggressive against slavery. She warned the slave catchers who came here to recapture slaves: "You might as well attempt to get a saint out of Heaven as a slave out of Austinburg." When federal agents were hunting John Brown, Jr. after his father's plan to free slaves failed in 1859 (at Harper's Ferry), Betsey hid him in her home., Above: Sojourner Truth, a former slave, visited Ashtabula County at the invitation of Betsey Cowles and Joshua Giddings. She traveled the country lecturing on behalf of abolitionism and women's rights.,

Austinburg Area Abolitionists , 1. Aaron C. Austin, Austinburg , 2. Judge Eliphalet and Sihette Austin, Austinburg , 3. Joab Austin , 4. L. B. Austin, Austinburg , 5. George Beckwith, Austinburg , 6. Lucretius Bissell, Austinburg , 7. Henry Coel , 8. The Rev. Gitles Hooker Cowles , 9. Miss Betsey Cowles, Austinburg , 10. Miss Martha Cowles, Austinburg , 11. Harvey R. Gaylord, Geneva , 12. Dr Orestes K. Hawley, Austinburg , 13 Captain Miller, Austinburg , 36 Plati Rogers Spencer, Gerin, "You might as well attempt to get a saint out of Heaven as a slave out of Austinburg." , Betsey Cowles

, Left: Betsey Cowles. , Right: Cornelia Cowles., Above: The home of Betsey Cowles as it looks today., Left: The historical marker visible in the front yard of the residence., Betsey Mix Cowles (1810-1876) , Betsey Mix Cowles dedicated her life to fighting slavery and improving the status of women. Her desire for a formal educationed led her to Oberlin College, where she completed two years Venudy, in 1840. An advocate of immediate abolition, Cowles lectured on the moral depravity of slavery, opened her home, at this site, to fugitive slaves. Opposed to expansion of slavery into the West, Cowles protested the Mexican War, Cowles served as president of Ohio's first women's rights convention (in Salem) in 1850. and the following year wrote a treatise on equal pay for working urban women She served as the first dean of women at Grand River Institute and later became one of the first women public school superintendents in Ohio., Right: Reenactors Daisy Baskerville, Margaret Ticknor and Ralph Bacon in Betsey Cowles' parlor. The wallpaper dates from the 1830s!, Sycamore Hall on Route 45 was so named for the large sycamore tree that still stands on the property. Legend has it that it was planted by Eliphalet Austin himself. A closet off the dining room had a false floor: three boards slide into wall recesses, exposing a tunnel leading to a secret room, where fugitives were hidden., Sycamore Hall , In 1815 Eliphalet and Sihette Austin, originally from Connecticut, built Sycamore Hall of bricks formed and kilned on the banks of Coffee Creek. This sixteen-room house was a station on the Underground Railroad., A closet off the dining room had a false floor: three boards slid into wall recesses exposing a tunnel leading to a secret room. The fugitives were hidden in the secret room. Some articles left behind by slaves were found in it., Many Underground Railroad stories come from the Austin home. One is that the residence was the safe harbor for Milton Clarke, who was rescued from slave catchers in Madison. Another is the story of Jerry, an escaped slave who was pursued by his owner into the hostile territory of Austinburg, where the pursuer would absolutely not be helped. Mr. Austin let Jerry hide under Mrs. Austin's bed. The slave owner was admitted to the Austin residence in order to search the home but was told to be careful not to wake his wife and children. He searched the house from top to bottom but couldn't find Jerry. Mr. Austin told him to peek in his wife's room. Her things were scattered about. The owner said n Southern "gentleman” would go into a lady's room. He retreated, it was invited to hear a fiery anti-slavery sermon by the Rev. Giles. The owner was finally persuaded to take $350.00 for Jerry.he money was raised locally and in Jefferson. Some of the donors we Eliphalet, Aaron, Joab and other Austins, Amos Fisk, Daniel Hubard, Dr. A. Hawley, Dr. Orestes Hawley, Joshua Giddings and Beninin Wade., Austinburg , Abolitionist Stronghold, Background: The map in the background is Wilbur H. Siebert's 1948 map of the Underground Railroad in Ohio. It shows the various towns that had stations, plus the directional routes., Below: An 1870s map of the county. Austinburg, Harpersfield and Geneva are in the northwest quadrant. Unionville lies on the county-line.,

Balm In Gilead , There is a Balm in Gilead, , To make the wounded whole. , There is a Balm in Gilead, , To heal the sin-sick soul. , Sometimes I feel discouraged, , And think my work's in vain, , But the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.

, Time Line ,

Ashtabula County's Response To The Progress Of Slavery , This abridged time line lists some early national events relative to slavery and reactions of citizens in Ashtabula County, it includes county events, as well. This will enhance one's understanding of early Ashtabula County citizens and their roles in the Underground Railroad., 1787 - US Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance. It prohibited slavery within those Northwest territories north of the Ohio River seeking statehood, although it did allow for fugitive slaves to be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service. , 1789 - The Constitution of the United States was adopted. It states, in effect, that no person who is "legally owned by someone else may lawfully seek refuge in another state of the Union, and must be returned to the owner." , 1803 - Ohio statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories). , 1812 - Louisiana statehood-slave state. , 1816 - Indiana statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories). , 1817 - Mississippi statehood-slave state. , 1818 - Illinois statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories). , 1819 - Alabama statehood-slave state. , 1819 - The Missouri Compromise adopted by U, S. Congress allowed admission of Maine as a free state in 1820 followed by Missouri as a slave state in 1821. , 1826 - Joshua Giddings of Jefferson, elected to the Ohio State House of Representatives. , 1831 - Tice Davids, fugitive slave, escaped across the Ohio River. His master, in pursuit, could find no trace of him and was said to have exclaimed that the slave "must have gone off on an underground railroad." , 1831 - Joshua Giddings, Benjamin Wade become law partners in Jefferson, Ohio. , 1832 - The Ashtabula County Anti-slavery Society was formed. , 1834 - The Ashtabula County Female Anti-slavery Society was formed. , 1834 - Jerry escaped slavery and arrived in Austinburg hidden under the bed in Mrs. Eliphalet Austin's bedroom, he eluded his master who searched the house. , 1835 - The Ashtabula County Female Anti-Slavery Society, held in Austinburg, protested "slavery as a sin of the darkest hue; and…declare our utter detestation of the system." , 1836 - Arkansas statehood-slave state. , 1837 - Michigan statehood-free state. , 1837 - On January 12, the Ashtabula (City) Anti-Slavery Society was formed and declared "to abolish slavery in the United States as its purpose." , 1837 - Benjamin Wade, of Jefferson, elected to Ohio's Senate. , 1838 - The Jefferson Anti-Slavery Society met on January 15th to protest the murder of newspaperman E. P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois. He was shot and killed by a mob because of his anti-slavery views. , 1838 - Joshua Giddings elected to the United States House of Representatives. , 1839 - The Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society in Geneva, Ohio, supported a resolution, relative to the Right of Petition and Constitutional violation, in response to one passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 12, 1838. , 1839 - Ohio Senator Benjamin Wade presented a resolution to the Ohio Senate on January 10th, seeking repeal of laws that fostered racial discrimination. , 1839 - The Kentucky Legislature passed resolutions to help slave dealers recover slaves who escaped into Ohio, Benjamin Wade responded by saying "You cannot deprive a man of his liberty, however weak and humble he may be, without endangering your own." He continued, "Every slave in the South has an unalienable right to his liberty, and a right to defend that liberty." , 1839 - At its fifth anniversary meeting the Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society resolved that any man traveling through Ohio "without a chain about his neck, and a man hold of the end of it is free and entitled to our respect, confidence and benevolence. 1841 The Liberty Party was formed at Akron, Ohio, on January 23. , 1811 - George Gray escaped slavery and was conducted by Thribble X through Lindenville, Andover, and Jefferson in Ohio; then to Erie, Pennsylvania, from where the stearner Thomas Jefferson took him to Canada. , 1842 - Joshua Giddings was censured by the U. 5. House of Representatives on March 21 for expressing his views in relation to the case of the Creole (a slave ship). , 1842 - Milton Clarke, escaped slave, was captured by Kentuckians near Unionville, Ohio, but freed when a posse of Ashtabula County anti-slavery men arrived. In October, Clarke addressed a mass local anti-slavery meeting regarding that experience. , 1843 - The colony of blacks at Amherstburg, Canada, were aided with boxes of clothes and bedding by citizens from Wayne. Andover and Lenox in Ashtabula County. , 1845 - Florida statehood-slave state. , 1845 - Texas statehood-slave state. , 1846 - Iowa statehood-free state. , 1848 - Joshua R. Giddings deserted the Whig Party and joined the Free Soil Party. , 1850 - The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. It imposed a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for selling or giving a meal to a runaway slave, thus making it a federal crime to help fugitive slaves. , 1850 - December 9, Joshua R. Giddings spoke out against the Fugitive Slave Law. , 1851 - Benjamin Wade elected to United States Senate. , 1853 - Jack Watson escaped slavery and was conducted by Mose Bishop (code name the "Lightning Conductor") of Linesville, Pennsylvania, to Andover, Ohio. Met by the Elder Shipman (code name "Thribble X of Station 1001) at Gustavus, Ohio, taken to Pennsylvania and then to New York State. , 1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act formed the territories of Kansas (pro-slavery) and Nebraska (free). It also nullified the Missouri Compromise. , 1856 - Joshua R. Giddings wrote resolution for platform of newly formed national Republican Party. , 1856 - John Brown wrote to Joshua Giddings pleading with him for the means to drive border ruffians from Kansas and seeking his influence with the federal government to prevent aid to the ruffians. , 1859 - John Brown made a speech at the First Congregational Church in Jefferson on May 27. He also met with Joshua Goddings in private, but no one knows whether or not Brown mentioned his plan to raid Harpers Ferry. , 1859 - The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case. Joshua Giddings led 2,000 abolitionists to Cleveland to protest the arrest of the citizens of Oberlin, including Ralph Plumb (from Cherry Valley, in Ashtabula County), for trying to rescue a slave. , 1859 - John Brown led his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on October 17. He was captured and hanged for treason on December 2, 1859, in Charles Town, Virginia. , 1859 - The safest places to hide for John Brown Jr., son of the John Brown, were New York state, Boston, and Ashtabula County, said authorities after the Harpers Ferry raid. Although not at Harpers Ferry, he was still hunted. The Black Strings, an ultra secret organization, was started in Andover to protect confederates of John Brown after the Harpers Ferry raid. The county became an armed camp, with armed sentries protecting John Jr.'s house. Various parties helped hide him, and church bells warned of federal marshals. , 1973 - The U.S. Department of the Interior lists the Hubbard House on the National Register of Historic Places.

Ashtabula County and The Western Reserve
Ashtabula County was part of the New Connecticut (or Western) Reserve, which spanned northeastern Ohio. Nearly two thirds of the early settlers in Ashtabula County came from Connecticut. Many took part in the Underground Railroad. By the start of the Civil War, Ashtabula County was one of the leading centers of anti-slavery fervor and dissent.

Abolitionists, Anti-Slavery, & Colonization
Abolitionist a person who favors the abolition of a practice or institution. Applied to the Underground Railroad, "abolitionist" is a broad term covering three different positions.

1. Ardent abolitionists, such as John Brown, held the following views.
A. The Constitution obliged slavery; the Linion harbored it.
B. The Constitution was essentially a pro-slavery instrument.
C The powerful Union obstructed peaceful change.
2. The anti-slavery adherents, which included Joshua Giddings and Benjamin Wade, believed a doctrine that:
A. Distinguished between the Constitution and the institution.
B. Distinguished between slavery and the Union as a whole.
C. Sought to fight slavery without harm to the Constitution or Union.
3. The colonization group would buy slaves with money acquired
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by charitable activities, then settle them in Africa, Haiti, or elsewhere within the United States.

What was the Underground Railroad?
Not a railroad and not under the ground, it was a secret network of safe places connected by routes used to hide and move escaped slaves into the free states and Canada. Years before the Civil War, as early as 1813, escaped slaves were being guided through the Western Reserve via Ashtabula County's four north-south main roads (known today as State Routes 45, 46, 193 and 7) to Lake Erie.

How The Underground Railroad Worked
Common railroad terms were used to maintain secrecy. An agent was owner of a house or safe haven; the house itself (often given a code name, like "Mother Hubbard's Cupboard") was called a station. Escaped staves were called freight or passengers, and conductors guided the slaves from station to station. A train was an escorted group of slaves. Messengers kept alert for slave catchers and delivered messages along the railroad lines. These lines ended at terminals, such as Ashtabula Harbor and Conneaut Harbor, where slaves awaited transportation across Lake Erie to Canada. If in hot pursuit, trains would detour on a sidetrack or switch to other lines or stations. Freight solicitors were people who persuaded slaves to escape; the slaves themselves devised a way to communicate

Photographed By Craig Doda, January 10, 2023

2. The Underground Railroad in Austinburg Marker

those plans.

It has been estimated that over 100,000 slaves were led to freedom of more than 4 million held in slavery.

About These Underground Railroad Panels
This panel is one of twelve tutal that focus on areas around Ashtabula, Conneaut, Andover, Jefferson, Grand Valley and Austinburg. They serve to inform you about the role of Ashtabula County in the Underground Railroad. Months of research on this project assure historical accuracy. We hope you enjoy reading about this part of Ashtabuis County's rich heritage.

Above: The original First Congregational Church of Austinburg.

Inset: A charcoal portrait of the Rev. Giles Hooker Cowles, the first Congregational minister to settle in Connecticut (Western) Reserve.

Connecticut Missionary Society
At least two thirds of the population in Ashtabula County was directly from Connecticut. Since the New Englanders were highly religious, it was only natural for the Connecticut churches to feel concerned for the spiritual welfare of the migrants to the county. Into this new land of promise the Connecticut Missionary Society sent the Rev. Joseph Badger. He alone was responsible, through his missionary efforts, for establishing the organized churches in the Connecticut Reserve. The First Congregational Church was established in Austinburg in 1801. The first settled

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minister was the Rev. Giles Hooker Cowles (rhymes with "coals") from Farmington, Connecticut. He came to Austinburg in 1811. Mr. Cowles and his abolitionist family helped many slaves escape to freedom.

Austinburg
Betsey Cowles was born in Bristol, Connecticut. She moved to Austinburg at a very early age as part of her father's abolitionist family. Miss Cowles was a teacher and principal at the Grand River Institute. She was probably the greatest influence in Ashtabula County against slavery. As a militant member of the anti-slavery society, she dared to defy the authorities in Washington. She arranged for nationally known anti-slavery people-such as William Lloyd Garrison, Lucretia Lott, Sojourner Truth, and Stephen S. Foster-to come to Ashtabula, Ohio, in order to aid the anti-slavery movement and make Ohio more aggressive against slavery. She warned the slave catchers who came here to recapture slaves: "You might as well attempt to get a saint out of Heaven as a slave out of Austinburg." When federal agents were hunting John Brown, Jr. after his father's plan to free slaves failed in 1859 (at Harper's Ferry), Betsey hid him in her home.

Above: Sojourner Truth, a former slave, visited Ashtabula County at the invitation of Betsey Cowles and Joshua Giddings. She traveled the country lecturing on behalf of abolitionism and women's rights.

Austinburg Area Abolitionists
1. Aaron C. Austin, Austinburg
2. Judge Eliphalet and Sihette Austin, Austinburg
3. Joab Austin
4. L. B. Austin, Austinburg
5. George Beckwith, Austinburg
6. Lucretius Bissell, Austinburg
7. Henry Coel
8. The Rev. Gitles Hooker Cowles
9. Miss Betsey Cowles, Austinburg
10. Miss Martha Cowles, Austinburg
11. Harvey R. Gaylord, Geneva
12. Dr Orestes K. Hawley, Austinburg
13 Captain Miller, Austinburg
36 Plati Rogers Spencer, Gerin

"You might as well attempt to get a saint out of Heaven as a slave out of Austinburg."
Betsey Cowles

Left: Betsey Cowles.
Right: Cornelia Cowles.

Above: The home of Betsey Cowles as it looks today.

Left: The historical marker visible in the front yard of the residence.

Betsey Mix Cowles (1810-1876)
Betsey Mix Cowles dedicated her life to fighting slavery and improving the status of women. Her desire for a formal educationed led her to Oberlin College, where she completed two years Venudy, in 1840. An advocate of immediate abolition, Cowles lectured on the moral depravity of slavery, opened her home, at this site, to fugitive slaves. Opposed to expansion of slavery into the West, Cowles protested the Mexican War, Cowles served as president of Ohio's first women's rights convention (in Salem) in 1850. and the following year wrote a treatise on equal pay for working urban women She served as the first dean of women at Grand River Institute and later became one of the first women public school superintendents in Ohio.

Right: Reenactors Daisy Baskerville, Margaret Ticknor and Ralph Bacon in Betsey Cowles' parlor. The wallpaper dates from the 1830s!

Sycamore Hall on Route 45 was so named for the large sycamore tree that still stands on the property. Legend has it that it was planted by Eliphalet Austin himself. A closet off the dining room had a false floor: three boards slide into wall recesses, exposing a tunnel leading to a secret room, where fugitives were hidden.

Sycamore Hall
In 1815 Eliphalet and Sihette Austin, originally from Connecticut, built Sycamore Hall of bricks formed and kilned on the banks of Coffee Creek. This sixteen-room house was a station on the Underground Railroad.

A closet off the dining room had a false floor: three boards slid into wall recesses exposing a tunnel leading to a secret room. The fugitives were hidden in the secret room. Some articles left behind by slaves were found in it.

Many Underground Railroad stories come from the Austin home. One is that the residence was the safe harbor for Milton Clarke, who was rescued from slave catchers in Madison. Another is the story of Jerry, an escaped slave who was pursued by his owner into the hostile territory of Austinburg, where the pursuer would absolutely not be helped. Mr. Austin let Jerry hide under Mrs. Austin's bed. The slave owner was admitted to the Austin residence in order to search the home but was told to be careful not to wake his wife and children. He searched the house from top to bottom but couldn't find Jerry. Mr. Austin told him to peek in his wife's room. Her things were scattered about. The owner said n Southern "gentleman” would go into a lady's room. He retreated, it was invited to hear a fiery anti-slavery sermon by the Rev. Giles. The owner was finally persuaded to take $350.00 for Jerry.he money was raised locally and in Jefferson. Some of the donors we Eliphalet, Aaron, Joab and other Austins, Amos Fisk, Daniel Hubard, Dr. A. Hawley, Dr. Orestes Hawley, Joshua Giddings and Beninin Wade.

Austinburg
Abolitionist Stronghold

Background: The map in the background is Wilbur H. Siebert's 1948 map of the Underground Railroad in Ohio. It shows the various towns that had stations, plus the directional routes.

Below: An 1870s map of the county. Austinburg, Harpersfield and Geneva are in the northwest quadrant. Unionville lies on the county-line.

Balm In Gilead
There is a Balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole.
There is a Balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And think my work's in vain,
But the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.

Time Line

Ashtabula County's Response To The Progress Of Slavery
This abridged time line lists some early national events relative to slavery and reactions of citizens in Ashtabula County, it includes county events, as well. This will enhance one's understanding of early Ashtabula County citizens and their roles in the Underground Railroad.

1787 - US Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance. It prohibited slavery within those Northwest territories north of the Ohio River seeking statehood, although it did allow for fugitive slaves to be lawfully reclaimed and conveyed to the person claiming his or her labor or service.
1789 - The Constitution of the United States was adopted. It states, in effect, that no person who is "legally owned by someone else may lawfully seek refuge in another state of the Union, and must be returned to the owner."
1803 - Ohio statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories).
1812 - Louisiana statehood-slave state.
1816 - Indiana statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories).
1817 - Mississippi statehood-slave state.
1818 - Illinois statehood-free state (and part of the Northwest Territories).
1819 - Alabama statehood-slave state.
1819 - The Missouri Compromise adopted by U, S. Congress allowed admission of Maine as a free state in 1820 followed by Missouri as a slave state in 1821.
1826 - Joshua Giddings of Jefferson, elected to the Ohio State House of Representatives.
1831 - Tice Davids, fugitive slave, escaped across the Ohio River. His master, in pursuit, could find no trace of him and was said to have exclaimed that the slave "must have gone off on an underground railroad."
1831 - Joshua Giddings, Benjamin Wade become law partners in Jefferson, Ohio.
1832 - The Ashtabula County Anti-slavery Society was formed.
1834 - The Ashtabula County Female Anti-slavery Society was formed.
1834 - Jerry escaped slavery and arrived in Austinburg hidden under the bed in Mrs. Eliphalet Austin's bedroom, he eluded his master who searched the house.
1835 - The Ashtabula County Female Anti-Slavery Society, held in Austinburg, protested "slavery as a sin of the darkest hue; and…declare our utter detestation of the system."
1836 - Arkansas statehood-slave state.
1837 - Michigan statehood-free state.
1837 - On January 12, the Ashtabula (City) Anti-Slavery Society was formed and declared "to abolish slavery in the United States as its purpose."
1837 - Benjamin Wade, of Jefferson, elected to Ohio's Senate.
1838 - The Jefferson Anti-Slavery Society met on January 15th to protest the murder of newspaperman E. P. Lovejoy in Alton, Illinois. He was shot and killed by a mob because of his anti-slavery views.
1838 - Joshua Giddings elected to the United States House of Representatives.
1839 - The Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society in Geneva, Ohio, supported a resolution, relative to the Right of Petition and Constitutional violation, in response to one passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 12, 1838.
1839 - Ohio Senator Benjamin Wade presented a resolution to the Ohio Senate on January 10th, seeking repeal of laws that fostered racial discrimination.
1839 - The Kentucky Legislature passed resolutions to help slave dealers recover slaves who escaped into Ohio, Benjamin Wade responded by saying "You cannot deprive a man of his liberty, however weak and humble he may be, without endangering your own." He continued, "Every slave in the South has an unalienable right to his liberty, and a right to defend that liberty."
1839 - At its fifth anniversary meeting the Ashtabula County Anti-Slavery Society resolved that any man traveling through Ohio "without a chain about his neck, and a man hold of the end of it is free and entitled to our respect, confidence and benevolence. 1841 The Liberty Party was formed at Akron, Ohio, on January 23.
1811 - George Gray escaped slavery and was conducted by Thribble X through Lindenville, Andover, and Jefferson in Ohio; then to Erie, Pennsylvania, from where the stearner Thomas Jefferson took him to Canada.
1842 - Joshua Giddings was censured by the U. 5. House of Representatives on March 21 for expressing his views in relation to the case of the Creole (a slave ship).
1842 - Milton Clarke, escaped slave, was captured by Kentuckians near Unionville, Ohio, but freed when a posse of Ashtabula County anti-slavery men arrived. In October, Clarke addressed a mass local anti-slavery meeting regarding that experience.
1843 - The colony of blacks at Amherstburg, Canada, were aided with boxes of clothes and bedding by citizens from Wayne. Andover and Lenox in Ashtabula County.
1845 - Florida statehood-slave state.
1845 - Texas statehood-slave state.
1846 - Iowa statehood-free state.
1848 - Joshua R. Giddings deserted the Whig Party and joined the Free Soil Party.
1850 - The Fugitive Slave Law was passed by Congress. It imposed a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for selling or giving a meal to a runaway slave, thus making it a federal crime to help fugitive slaves.
1850 - December 9, Joshua R. Giddings spoke out against the Fugitive Slave Law.
1851 - Benjamin Wade elected to United States Senate.
1853 - Jack Watson escaped slavery and was conducted by Mose Bishop (code name the "Lightning Conductor") of Linesville, Pennsylvania, to Andover, Ohio. Met by the Elder Shipman (code name "Thribble X of Station 1001) at Gustavus, Ohio, taken to Pennsylvania and then to New York State.
1854 - Kansas-Nebraska Act formed the territories of Kansas (pro-slavery) and Nebraska (free). It also nullified the Missouri Compromise.
1856 - Joshua R. Giddings wrote resolution for platform of newly formed national Republican Party.
1856 - John Brown wrote to Joshua Giddings pleading with him for the means to drive border ruffians from Kansas and seeking his influence with the federal government to prevent aid to the ruffians.
1859 - John Brown made a speech at the First Congregational Church in Jefferson on May 27. He also met with Joshua Goddings in private, but no one knows whether or not Brown mentioned his plan to raid Harpers Ferry.
1859 - The Oberlin-Wellington Rescue Case. Joshua Giddings led 2,000 abolitionists to Cleveland to protest the arrest of the citizens of Oberlin, including Ralph Plumb (from Cherry Valley, in Ashtabula County), for trying to rescue a slave.
1859 - John Brown led his raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia, on October 17. He was captured and hanged for treason on December 2, 1859, in Charles Town, Virginia.
1859 - The safest places to hide for John Brown Jr., son of the John Brown, were New York state, Boston, and Ashtabula County, said authorities after the Harpers Ferry raid. Although not at Harpers Ferry, he was still hunted. The Black Strings, an ultra secret organization, was started in Andover to protect confederates of John Brown after the Harpers Ferry raid. The county became an armed camp, with armed sentries protecting John Jr.'s house. Various parties helped hide him, and church bells warned of federal marshals.
1973 - The U.S. Department of the Interior lists the Hubbard House on the National Register of Historic Places.

(Marker Number 8.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Abolition & Underground RR. A significant historical date for this entry is January 12, 1813.

Location. 41° 46.327′ N, 80° 51.115′ W. Marker is in Austinburg, Ohio, in Ashtabula County. Marker is on Western Reserve Greenway north of Ohio Route 307, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2773 Rte 307, Austinburg OH 44010, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Betsey Mix Cowles (approx. 1.3 miles away); Ashtabula County Courthouse (approx. 4.8 miles away); Owen Brown, Son of John Brown (approx. 4.8 miles away); Bicentennial of the United States of America (approx. 4.8 miles away); Ashtabula County Korea War Memorial (approx. 4.9 miles away); Jefferson Village & Township World War II Honor Roll (approx. 4.9 miles away); Ashtabula County Vietnam War Memorial (approx. 4.9 miles away); Harpersfield Covered Bridge (approx. 4.9 miles away).

Credits. This page was last revised on January 22, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 15, 2023, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. This page has been viewed 354 times since then and 125 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 15, 2023, by Craig Doda of Napoleon, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.