Ironton in Lawrence County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)
John Campbell
Iron Master with Links to the Underground Railroad
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 28, 2021
1. John Campbell Marker
John Campbell (1808-1891), founder of Ironton, was an ironmaster and president of the Ohio Iron & Coal Company. This company purchased the land and laid out the city of Ironton.
Of Scotch-Irish descent, Campbell married Elizabeth Caldwell Clark in 1837. They raised six children.
Campbell began working on steamboats before going to work driving oxen at the Pinegrove Furnace. In 1833, he helped build the old Hanging Rock Forge. Over his life, he was to build 11 iron furnaces and owned controlling interest in 8 of 14 of his company's furnaces. He also founded the Iron Bank of Ironton and the Star Nail Mill. Campbell was the prime mover behind the Iron Railroad which carried iron from remote areas to the Ohio River for shipment all over the country.
Campbell was also a staunch abolitionist. He grew up seeing Reverend John Rankin helping slaves cross the river from Kentucky to freedom. Campbell's home, barn, and the 14 furnaces he managed became stops on the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping across the Ohio River. He was able to conceal the escaped slaves and transport them northward in his furnace wagons.
Although in 1872 he was a man of immense wealth, worth over a million dollars, he has a simple grave at Woodland Cemetery.
Areas African American Heritage:
The Burlington 37 monument honors 37 slaves freed in 1849 by James Twyman, a Virginia plantation owner. He purchased land for them in Burlington, Ohio (southeast of Ironton along the Ohio River). The monument was funded in part by proceeds from a book called The Promised Land by Earl Pratt, an attorney from Ironton. The monument, cemetery, and church are on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church is located on County Road 144 and County Road 120, near South Point, OH. Built in 1849 by the Burlington 37 and
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Union Baptist Church, organized 1819. Photo taken in 1879. The present church, rebuilt in 1919, still stands today, all that remains of the former community of Pokepatch. The area is now largely owned by the Forest Service, however the church and cemetery are on private land.
Pokepatch and Blackfork, Ohio
Pokepatch and Blackfork were primarily African American communities north of Ironton. These were not towns, but rather a loosely-knit system of farmsteads.
The men found employment as farmers or in the booming iron industry. Many of these people aided fugitive slaves on their journey to freedom.
During the Civil War, some of the men enlisted in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) to fight for freedom. Henry Hutchinson was one of these men. Henry was an escaped slave from a plantation in West Virginia who fled north and settled in Pokepatch. Here, according to legend, he was recaptured and returned to slavery only to escape again and join the fight for freedom with the USCT. Henry is buried
Lawrence County Historical Society
2. Marker detail: John Campbell
By the early 1900s, most residents of Pokepatch and Blackfork had moved on.
[photo captions]
Albert and Charles Campbell, two of Johns sons, and a daughter in an undated photograph.
John Campbells extravagant 22-room home was built with bricks fired on site. Fugitive slaves were hidden in the house and in the carriage home nearby.
Olive Furnace was built by John Campbell and John Peters in 1846. The furnace ruins can easily be seen along SR 93 just north of Buckhorn. The lower part of this furnace is cut from solid rock.
John Campbells grave at Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, OH.
Henry Hutchinson
Erected by Ohio River Scenic Byways & Federal Highway Administration.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Abolition & Underground RR • African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1808.
Location. 38° 32.209′ N, 82° 40.621′ W. Marker is in Ironton, Ohio, in Lawrence County. It can be reached from the intersection of South 9th Street and Washington Street, on the right when traveling north. The marker is
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, August 28, 2021
3. John Campbell Marker
This marker is the fourth panel from the right on the north side of the Ohio River Scenic Byway interpretive kiosk.
Regionally, this marker is in Ohio’s Kyova Tri-State Region. It is also in the American Midwest, in the Ohio River Valley, in Appalachia, and specifically in Northern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, and the Northwest Territory.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Hanging Rock Iron Furnace Region (here, next to this marker); Tourism Along the Byway (here, next to this marker); Getting Products to Market (here, next to this marker); There is Much to See on the Ohio River Scenic Byway (here, next to this marker); Ironton and the Ohio River (here, next to this marker); Did You Know? (here, next to this marker); The Wayne National Forest (here, next to this marker); Commerce on the Big River (here, next to this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Ironton.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . . Campbell, John and Elizabeth (BriggsLibrary.org).
Excerpt: John Campbell helped build eleven furnaces, including: Greenup Furnace with Campbell, Peters, and Culbertson in 1844, Olive Furnace with John Peters in 1846, Gallia Furnace in 1847, Keystone Furnace in Jackson City in 1849, Howard Furnace in Scioto County in 1853, Washington Furnace with John Peters & Others in 1853, Madison Furnace in 1854, and Monroe Furnace in Jackson City in 1856. Monroe Furnace upon completion was the largest coal furnace in the region.(Submitted on September 7, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)Furnaces were not the only businesses with which Mr. Campbell was associated. He was the prime stock holder and president of the Ohio Iron & Coal Company in 1849. In 1850, Campbell, Ellison & Co. built a stove foundry. Campbell founded the Iron Bank of Ironton in 1851. In 1853, he became the largest stock holder of Kentucky, Iron, Coal, and Manufacturing Company. Lastly, he was a stockholder in the erection of the Star Nail Mill, also known as Bellefont Iron Works.
But there was another side to John Campbell. He had a humanitarian side. Campbell was a strong abolitionist which probably can be traced back to an early association with Reverend John Rankin. Campbell went on to help fugitive slaves and his house and one of his furnaces was a stop on the underground railroad.
Credits. This page was last revised on September 8, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 6, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 10 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 7, 2026, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
