The Underground Railroad
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The Marion County Trial of Bill Anderson

The Underground Railroad, also, The Marion County Trial of Bill Anderson. Historic Underground Railroad Site. , The Underground Railroad , The Underground Railroad was neither underground nor a railroad, but a system of loosely connected safe havens where those escaping the brutal conditions of slavery were sheltered, fed, clothed, nursed, concealed, disguised, and instructed during their journey to freedom. Although this movement was one of America’s greatest social. moral, and humanitarian endeavors, the details about it were often cloaked in secrecy to protect those involved from retribution of civil law and slave catchers. Ohio’s history has been permanently shaped by the thousands of runaway slaves passing through or finding permanent residence in this state. , The Marion County Trail of Bill Anderson , Runaways sheltered by friendly abolitionist communities often believed that slave-catchers could not touch them in the heart of Ohio, but they were wrong. , Such was the case in 1838 in Marion County. A black man by the name of “Bill Anderson” or “Bill Mitchell” fled bondage in a Virginia salt works and settled near Marion but he was soon recognized there. A mail dispatch sent to Virginia caused the alleged slaveholder to demand Bill’s incarceration by local authorities. , Forty days after his capture, six strangers appeared in Marion claiming ownership of Bill and brandishing bowie knives, pistols, and clubs. During the trial, the men, one identified as “Smith” produced notes of sale showing that three of them had purchased “Bill” at different times with “John Smith” the most recent buyer. After lengthy preamble, local UGRR stationmaster Judge Ozies Bowen rocked the courtroom by announcing, “Mr. Smith and John Smith might be two different persons, therefore I shall decide in favor of the prisoner.” , Pandemonium erupted in the courtroom after the ruling was announced and the Virginians refused to accept the verdict. They drew weapons; Bill was jerked back and forth in a vicious tug-of-war, while clubs and pistols pummeled bodies. Several Quakers gave as good as they got. A local black man helped Bill escape, and Quakers escorted them both to the Rueben Benedict home near Marengo, Morrow County. After a long and anxious night, Bill was on his way north to Oberlin, a noted Lorain abolitionist stronghold, and then to freedom in Canada.