Traveling Underground in Ohio

Friday, May 29
Miles Traveled: 61
Average Speed: 11.6 mph
Elevation Gain: 3,800 feet
Maximum Speed: 38 mph
Cumulative Miles: 1,188
Miles To Go: 882

Mike had his most exciting day of the trip on Friday as he came to one of the most active stations in the Underground Railroad. Not only did he finally have beautiful weather in Kentucky, but he crossed the Ohio River, the landmark that brought escaped slaves into the free North.



"Free at last!" Mike crossed the Ohio River on Friday.

Just as the escaped slaves did, Mike traveled on to Ripley, Ohio, where he stopped to tour various historic sites related to the Underground Railroad. He stayed the night with Sonja Cropper, the tourism director for Brown County, Ohio, and a member of the Adventure Cycling Association's advisory board for the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route. She gave him a personal tour of some of the sites in Ripley.

While Ohio was in the free North, slave catchers were still authorized by law to catch escaped slaves and return them for rewards of $50 to $100. As Ohio was just past the border, it was a convenient place to catch escaped slaves, so the network of friends on the Underground Railroad still had to operate in secrecy. Cropper showed Mike the riverside Rankin House, a large house owned by John Rankin, one of the leading "conductors" of the Underground Railroad, that escaped slaves could recognize because it had three front doors. The Rankin family was large and everyone was involved in shuttling the escaped slaves from safe house to safe house in Brown County in the middle of the night.



Here is a description of Ripley and the Rankin House from the Brown County Tourism Department's Website:

"The village of Ripley was an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Situated on the banks of the Ohio River, a dividing line between slavery and freedom, this borderland community had some of the most active stations in Ohio. The geography helped shape its role; creek beds threw off tracking dogs, and hills and valleys provided excellent hiding places and escape routes.

"It as in this setting that Rev. John Rankin crossed the Ohio River on December 31, 1821, to begin his new life in a free state. An active abolitionist and Methodist minister, Rankin and his entire family became well known by both freedom seekers and slave holders alike for their role in the Underground Railroad. The Rankin House, located on Liberty Hill, overlooks the Ohio River and the town of Ripley and is one of the most recognized sites on the Underground Railroad. Rankin said, 'My house has been the door of freedom to many human beings but while there was a hazard of life and property, there was much happiness in giving safety to the trembling fugitives.'"

Mike also toured the Parker House in Ripley. Here's more from the tourism department Website.

The Parker House, owned by John Parker, advanced his status from former slave to successful patented inventor and businessman in Ripley before the Civil War. He is credited with assisting hundreds of slaves as they made their way north to freedom. According to Parker’s recorded journals, the real warfare against slavery in the borderlands along the Ohio River was waged around the few houses at the top of the riverbank on Front Street in Ripley.

Mike also visited a church in Ripley, and guess who was buried in the cemetary? Aunt Jemima!