Notes

The Underground Railroad (UGRR) was a system of safe houses, hiding places and backwoods paths that helped fugitive slaves escape to freedom in the northern United States or Canada. It remains unclear when the Underground Railroad began, but Quakers in Ohio were actively assisting fugitive slaves as early as the 1780s.

Additional Ohio residents were helping fugitive slaves by the 1810s. Participants only knew about a few connecting stations along the route. Escaped slaves moved north from one station to the next. Conductors on the railroad came from various backgrounds and included free-born blacks, white abolitionists and former slaves.

Owning slaves had been illegal in Ohio since the constitution of 1802, but some Ohioans still supported slavery. They feared that former slaves would move into the state, take jobs away from the white population, and demand equal rights with whites. These activists vehemently opposed the Underground Railroad; some attacked conductors; others tried to return fugitives to their owners in hopes of collecting rewards.

The Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 permitted slave owners to reclaim fugitive slaves, even if they had moved to a free state. This law increased the danger that free blacks would be kidnapped and forced into slavery. Therefore, many African Americans believed that to truly gain their freedom they had to leave the United States.

On the last leg of their journey to Canada, runaway slaves were led by conductors to the northernmost part of the state of Ohio – the last stop before they were ferried across Lake Erie to freedom in Canada. Several towns along the lake were commonly used as exit points, including Toledo, Cleveland, Sandusky, Ashtabula Harbor and Lorain.

Blacks Ran the Underground Railroad
While white abolitionists played an important part in their escape, the role of free blacks in the activities of the UGRR cannot be overstated. Without the presence and support of free blacks, there would have been almost no chance for fugitive slaves to pass into freedom unmolested. They rarely trusted even well known abolitionists with news that a new group of slaves was passing through.