John Parker
Former slave John Parker led a dual life-by day working as an iron molder in his foundry and machine shop, by night he was an Underground Railroad conductor, ferrying fugitive slaves across the Ohio River. Parker worked secretly . . . — — Map (db m273151) HM
Battery F, 1st Ohio Light Artillery, was organized in Ripley by Major Daniel T. Cockerill. It was heavily engaged at the Battle of Stone River, Tennessee, January 1, 1863. Aiding in the repulse of repeated attacks “with great slaughter,” Major . . . — — Map (db m135379) HM
With news of hostilities at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, Ripley men formed one of Ohio’s first military units and established Camp Ripley on what was the 12-acre Ripley Fairgrounds. Chosen as Captain was West Point graduate Jacob Ammen. His unit . . . — — Map (db m135348) HM
In the 1800s, during periods of low rainfall or while frozen, some sections of the Ohio River could be crossed without a boat.
Today, the river is about twice the width and much deeper than during the time the Rankin family lived here. Dams . . . — — Map (db m273152) HM
Charles Young in RipleyUpon his death in 1922, Colonel Charles Young was the highest ranking African American officer in the United States Army. Born into slavery in Kentucky in 1864, Young moved to Ripley with his parents Gabriel and . . . — — Map (db m180613) HM
This tablet marks the site of the residence of Doctor Beasley, anti-slavery sympathizer and advocate.
In a night encounter at the ferry landing, both a master and a slave were severely wounded. The slave escaped but lay in the barn of Theodore . . . — — Map (db m135540) HM
In the winter of 1838 a slave woman and her baby began their journey to freedom. To avoid capture in Kentucky she crossed the ice floes in the Ohio River to the safety of the Ripley Shore. The story of Eliza in Uncle Tom’s Cabin was based on . . . — — Map (db m135537) HM
This three-family dwelling was the first permanent home of famed Underground Railroad Conductor Rev. John Rankin. Rev. Rankin, wife Jean, and their young family settled in Ripley, Ohio, in 1822 when he accepted the call to become the minister of . . . — — Map (db m135533) HM
John Rankin was born in Jefferson County, Tennessee, and lived in the state through college, his marriage, and his beginning as a minister. He was often opposed by congregations for frequently sharing his anti-slavery beliefs from the pulpit. In . . . — — Map (db m273122) HM
SPS William Seth Blevins
December 22, 1989-May 23, 2011
Let us never forget our military
forces and their sacrifices for us
God bless America — — Map (db m273038) WM
John Parker came to Ripley in 1847 and networked with other established conductors on Ripley’s Underground Railroad: Rev. John Rankin; Thomas, Eli & Theodore Collins, & Rev. James Gilliland.
Before and during the Civil War, John Parker led a . . . — — Map (db m135454) HM
Parker and Hood Foundry was owned by John P. Parker and William Hood. They manufactured many farm and household items. They produced 3 sizes of sugar mills. The sugar mills crushed sugar cane or sorghum. The juice extracted could be made into . . . — — Map (db m135471) HM
John and Miranda had seven children.
1. John P. Parker, Jr. (1849–1871), Oberlin College. Died while in college.
2. Hale Giddings Parker (1851–1925), Oberlin College and Law School. Was Superintendent & Lawyer.
3. Cassius Clay . . . — — Map (db m135474) HM
John P. Parker (1827–1900). Born into slavery. Bought his freedom at the age of 18. Underground Railroad Conductor. He helped hundreds of freedom seekers. Mentor to Colonel Charles Young.
There is quiet symbolism built into this 1 . . . — — Map (db m135477) HM
• Born into slavery 1827
• First sold at age 8
• Forced to march from Norfolk Virginia to Mobile Alabama
• Bought by a doctor
• The doctor’s sons taught him to read and write
• Learned the trade of iron moulding
• Bought his freedom at . . . — — Map (db m135475) HM
“I knew him (John Parker) as a boy, as the man who was afraid to walk on the sidewalk. Winter and summer, rain or shine, he invariably walked in the middle of the street. He did so because Ripley was an old town with many narrow alleys, out of . . . — — Map (db m135452) HM
The men who wrought for Liberty were the forerunners of the Abolition Movement culminating in the Civil War. • They were the intermediaries between the anti-slavery men of the American Revolution and the anti-slavery . . . — — Map (db m272716) HM
In 1838 Mr. Thomas Kirker resided in this house, with whom General U. S. Grant boarded, while attending the Whittmore private school, his parents living in Georgetown. — — Map (db m135536) HM
While attending Washington College, John Rankin rented a room from the Lowry family where he met Jean Lowry. They were married on January, 2, 1816, a few months before he graduated. He became an ordained Presbyterian minister in 1817.
Jean . . . — — Map (db m273121) HM
In 1829, Reverend John Rankin and his wife, Jean, moved into this home that sits high above the village of Ripley and the banks of the Ohio River.
While they lived here, the Rankins' home became an important station along the Underground . . . — — Map (db m273118) HM
This tablet is erected to Rear Admiral Joseph Fyffe. On Jan. 25th, 1865, as commander of a wooden gun boat The Hunchback, he attacked alone two Confederate Iron Clads which retreated up the James.
Admiral Fyffe always held that day in . . . — — Map (db m135479) HM
This tablet marks the residence of General Granville Moody, ‘The Fighting Parson,’ preacher and soldier. At the laying of the cornerstone of the Methodist Church, like Elijah of old, he prayed that an impending storm be stayed, and the clouds hung . . . — — Map (db m135503) HM
Reverend John Rankin
House
has been designated a
National Historic Landmark
This house was the home of an Abolitionist family and conductor of the Underground Railroad immortalized in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Toms Cabin and . . . — — Map (db m273150) HM
Ripley was incorporated as the village of Staunton in 1812. Its name
was changed in 1816 to honor General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley, a hero
of the War of 1812. In the years before railroads. Ripley was
principal Ohio River shipping center. Also . . . — — Map (db m135431) HM
A part of the Virginia Military District, Ripley was founded in 1812 by Colonel James Poage, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. Originally named Staunton, after Poage’s home town in Virginia, the village comprised 1,000 acres along the Ohio river. . . . — — Map (db m272717) HM
Ripley First Presbyterian Church
In 1822, Rev. John Rankin began serving as minister of the Presbyterian Church in Ripley. After 24 years, conflicts and division within the church caused Rankin to resign his position and leave, with 74 . . . — — Map (db m273149) HM
This tablet marks the site of the home of Senator Alexander, doctor, merchant, and early anti-slavery leader. A Virginian by birth, he moved to Ohio in 1803, freeing his slaves. U.S. Senator from 1809 to 1813. At the burning of the Capitol by the . . . — — Map (db m135720) HM
Alfred Bartley • Chauncey Brafford • Oliver Carr • John Derstide • Thomas Evans • John Butts • John Dawson • Oliver Evros • Daniel Fox
Harvey McNish • Hiram Palmer • Robert Reith • Henry Sacker • John McNish • Harry Patterson • A. M. Ridgeway . . . — — Map (db m273158) WM
The American Civil War was in its second year, and Confederate forces were advancing in the east and in the west. Confederates led by General Edward Kirby Smith had defeated a Union Force at Richmond, Kentucky on August 30, 1862. Word was received . . . — — Map (db m135372) HM
This church was erected by the contributions of freemen and slaves who crossed the river to worship. Stirring scenes have been enacted here within its walls. More than once congregation was stirred to action by the cry. "The slave hunters are on the . . . — — Map (db m273039) HM
Englishman, cabinet-maker, chief conductor on the Underground Railroad. Its portals were always open, through this door stole refugees innumerable. The night was never too dark, nor the journey too long for its owner to issue forth, leading the . . . — — Map (db m273116) HM
The Underground Railroad was a system of safe houses and secret routes that helped runaway slaves escape to freedom in Canada, Mexico, and elsewhere outside of the United States. Before the Civil War, abolitionists, free blacks, and other allies . . . — — Map (db m273119) HM
This Witness Tree commonly called hedge apple, is not native to Ohio. The common folklore is that the fruit was placed in homes to repel spiders. This tree witnessed the changes to the Ohio River including the locks and dams this allowed for . . . — — Map (db m273154) HM
This pecan tree was planted by our forefathers for the food and shade it provide and has witnessed much of Ripley's history. It has seen the tobacco markets thrive and then disappear. It has witnessed a time when the Maplewood Cemetery was a farm . . . — — Map (db m273155) HM
