The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom.

Wilbur H. Siebert, The Macmillan Company, New York City. 1898.

In 1898, OSU Professor Siebert wrote an excellent history of the underground railroad in Ohio. The following seventy-plus pages are source documents, largely from Springboro-area residents and were used to support Professor Siebert’s findings. These pages were retrieved from the Ohio Historical Center, Archives Library in Columbus.

Professor Siebert’s research included solicitations of people and institutions for information on the UGRR. Below is an solicitation he sent to the Postmaster of Madison County, New York, between Syracuse and Utica.

Also, see the Wilbur H. Siebert Underground Collection consisting of over 5,000 digitized items at <ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/siebert> a site of the Ohio History Connection.

Below are results of Prof. Siebert’s research from Warren and Clinton Counties, Ohio.

The recollections of William S. Bedford as told by his daughter, Mrs Florence Bedford Wright, includes a history of the UGRR in Warren County and a detailed telling of the 1839, incident just outside Springboro when Bennett Raines brought four slaves from Virginia and a number of local residents liberated them and sent them on their way north to Canada and their freedom. Much of the story is detailed from the court records.

Jane Wales Butterworth of Fosters Crossing, recounts some very good, first-hand experiences on the UGRR. Fosters Crossing was one stop south of Springboro on the UGRR - on the Little Miami River (now under the I-71 bridge.)

Henry Thomas Butterworth gives a broader account of aiding fugitives from slavery in Central Warren County. Sometimes, “depending on which way the wind was blowing,” fugitives were shuttled to Springboro, or Waynesville or Oakland (just east of I-71 on SR-73.) Butterworth recommends to Prof. Siebert a good book about Isaac T. Hopper, and speaks highly of Turner Welch of Harveysburg, Robert Way and James Foster.

Robert W. Carroll provides an interesting account of his experiences with the UGRR in Warren County.

Robert G. Corwin writes about the origins and growth of his anti-slavery sentiments.Then he describes two main routes through Warren County and mentions two local conductors who became quite prominent.

William F. Harvey - “The whole town of Harveysburg was a depot.”

John J. Janney never professed to be a conductor, but his extensive knowledge and intimate recollections leave little doubt as to the magnitude of his efforts and of his influence.

Job Mullin’s recollections are told by his son-in-law, William H. Newport. His father Isaac Mullin, came to the Clear Creek Settlement by 1800, and was an adamant abolitionist and conductor from Virginia.

Miss Elizabeth Nicholson writes about assisting her father, Valentine Nicholson and her mother, Jane Nicholson in their extensive efforts to support the flight of slaves from their oppressors. They lived near Harveysburg. A long letter from Mrs. Jane Nicholson. “Just the facts,” from Valentine Nicholson.

Thomas Hopkins’ son-in-law D. Stanley, relates his and his wife, Mary’s stories about the UGRR in the Springboro area.

Due to age and infirmity, Jonah Thomas enlisted Jesse Wright to correspond with Wilbur Siebert, and together they told a succinct but compelling story of abolitionist efforts in this area.

In 1831, Frederick Stover wrote a letter to two of the leading abolitionists in Southwest Ohio, Springboro area residents James Stanton and John Bateman, reporting on the progress in resettling near Norwich, Ontario, Canada, those who had escaped slavery in the South. The news was good!

Dallas Bogen has written a number of very good tracts on Warren County history. His informative page on the Underground Railroad in Warren County can be found here.

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