The Underground Railroad / Ross County 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 the 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. Ross County was recorded in 1815, when local residents assisted a slave to safety in Franklin County. Quakers, the Presbyterians and African Americans were the principal participants who assisted in the movement of runaway slaves through Ross County on their way to Canada and to freedom. The people of Ross County aided fugitives in many ways. Some conductors maintained stations or had safe houses for short-term safety, while others provided horses and wagons for carrying fugitives from place to place. Several conductors forged “free papers” and arranged for disguises to make the journey safer. The Quakers of Londonderry raised money to help defray costs while Presbyterian ministers openly preached the gospel of abolitionism and African Americans traveled long distances taking fugitives to safety. A number of conductors operated over course of many years. John Harmon of South Salem, Harrison Valentine and Joseph Stillguess of Frankfort, Robert I. Robertson of Bourneville, the Claypools east of Chillicothe, the Steel family_west of town and, Albert Douglas, the Renicks, Chancellors of Chillicothe were just a few of these courageous people.