Cozad-Bates House

Cozad-Bates House. "Hope" To Many. , The Italianate house in front of you has a piece of history behind it. The original portion is the only remaining structure in University Circle that pre-dates the Civil War. Andrew Cozad built the 1853 portion of what is known today as the Cozad-Bates House as a home for his son Justus. The house recalls an era in which abolitionists and runaway slaves knew Cleveland by the code name "Hope.", With slave states to the south and Canada to the north, Ohio's location made it a pivotal link in the Underground Railroad. Runaway slaves crossed the Ohio River into southwestern Ohio. Aided by Quakers and other abolitionists, many headed to Cleveland, where boats ferried them across Lake Erie, beyond the reach of slave catchers., Brave and impassioned citizens of East Cleveland Township (including today's University Circle) helped bring runaway slaves to freedom by sheltering them as they awaited their final flight into Canada. Justus's uncle, Samuel Cozad III, along with the neighboring and related Ford family, played an active role in the anti-slavery movement., The Cozads, one of University Circle's pioneering families, arrived in 1807., 40,000 slaves crossed through 3,000 miles of Underground Railroad trails in Ohio on their way to freedom in Canada., At least seven Ohio cities in addition to Cleveland served as points of departure for former slaves en route to freedom in Canada: Ashtabula, Painesville, Sandusky, Toledo, Huron, Lorain and Conneaut., Harriet Beecher Stowe based her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin on stories she heard about runaway slaves and conductors on the Underground Railroad during the years she lived in Ohio., "...It was a hazardous business to those more immediately engaged in it, in as much as the laws of the national government made it a criminal ofense, punishable by fine and imprisonment, to give a panting fugitive a piece of bread or point him to the free soil of Canada." , Cleveland abolitionist Horace , Ford, church newsletter, n.d., Justus L. Cozad (1833-1910). , Cozad worked as a civil engineer for railroad companies constructing new lines throughout the Midwest, and spent later years in the real estate title business in Cleveland., "The Runaway," a fugitive slave image that typically appeared on handbills of southern slave owners offering rewards for the capture of runaways. Northern newspapers published the image to highlight the evils of slavery., Schooner at the wharf on Superior Street, Cleveland. Runaway slaves hidden onboard boats like this crossed Lake Erie to Windsor, Canada., A station on the Underground Railroad from The Story of Ohio by Alexander Black, 1888. Ohio had more than 700 safe houses and depots to shelter and move escaped slaves from one station to the next. [Captions:] , Above: Italianate facade of the Cozad-Bates House, built in 1872, facing Mayfield Road., Background Image (Left): Map showing the location of Justus Cozad's residence, 1858. The Fords were cousins of the Cozads and known conductors of the Underground Railroad. They lived in homes along Euclid Avenue to the west of Cozad's house.