To Risk

To Risk. . , For freedom seekers, escaping slavery was a treacherous and uncertain journey. They traveled from the known to the unknown, across hundreds of miles through an ever-changing landscape. It was a test of who and what to trust. For those who might help them, fugitive slave laws set increasingly harsh penalties., Perhaps the most dangerous part of the journey was its beginning. While the territory might be familiar, it was in the slaveholding South. How far could freedom seekers travel before someone began searching for them? What could they eat, where would they sleep? Crossing into the free North involved its own risks. Who could be trusted? Ohio was a mainline of the Underground Railroad with more activity than any other state. Still, many Ohioans upheld the law and recognized the rights of slaveholders to retrieve their "property." State boundaries could not stop someone from collecting $50 ($1,500 today) or more for the capture and return of a runaway., There were fewer risks in this area then called East Cleveland Township - because it was remote and local sentiment against slavery was strong. From here, those seeking a free life in Canada needed to travel five miles to board a ship in Cleveland to cross Lake Erie. Often the last stop before freedom, Cleveland was code-named Hope. But risks were higher in Cleveland, a growing city with many strangers, including slave catchers. At this part of the journey, a free African-American barber, John Brown, often took escaping slaves to a boat bound for freedom. Those who helped freedom seekers risked significant fines, loss of property, or jail time.