-
1864--Miss Mandana Tileston Marries to Man in Prison
Mandana Tileston marries Rev. Calvin Fairbanks after a 13-year engagement. Fairbanks had been imprisoned 12.5 years prior in Kentucky for helping the escape of enslaved people.
-
1865--Rev. Calvin Fairbank Imprisoned
Rev. Calvin Fairbank gives his account of the physical punishments he endured while in prison for assisting in an enslaved person's escape.
-
1855--Warrant for Mr. McCormick
Mr. McCormick, former minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, has a warrant for his arrest by the state of Kentucky. Kentucky required the state of Indiana to return McCormick to KY to stand trial for helping enslaved people to freedom. McCormick was removed from his position in his church for these acts. He does not object to the claims.
-
1861--Sago Lawsuit
Lawsuit between Kentucky against Ohio for refusing to issue a warrant against Sago who was charged in KY for helping an enslaved person escape. Sago took refuge in Ohio.
-
unknown, Rose [17]
-
Phinney, Jerry
Jerry Phinney was the center of a 15-year-long escape-turned-trial event. His mother, Rose, was enslaved by Sarah Long and her first husband. After his death, Sarah remarried to Hezekiah Brown in 1786. That same year, Rose gave birth to Jerry.
-
The Fugitive Slave Case at Cincinnati
Details the betrayal of a group of freedom seekers by another African American man.
-
Herald of the Times (Newport, R.I.), 1849-1856
Publication frequency: Weekly
-
Escape of Slaves
Mentions Kentucky freedom seekers traveling through Rhode Island on their way to Canada.
-
Gov. Medill
Describes the case in which Ohio governor allowed a man to be extradited to Kentucky, and the anticipated public outrage against the governor.
-
A Struggle for Freedom
Describes a mass escape from Kentucky across the Ohio River to Ripley, Ohio.
-
A Sequal [sic] to a Tragedy
Details an unsuccessful escape attempt and the charges being brought against the man who aided the freedom seekers.
-
Letter from Cincinnati
The section on J.G Birney's pamphlet is one long paragraph out of the entire article. It begins at the bottom of the first column.
-
Alleged Slave Discharged by Judge Denning
Describes the release of an alleged freedom seeker who was arrested in Ohio.
-
Jerry Phinney
Details the case of freedom seeker Jerry Phinney.
-
The State of Ohio Vs. Forbes and Armitage
-
1857 – Four Arrested in Mechanicsburg for Aiding Freedom Seeker
Around August 21, 1856, four men aided freedom seeker, Add White by hiding him in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. White had originally fled enslavement in Flemingsburg, Kentucky, where he was enslaved by Daniel G. White. While travelling through Ohio in the Underground Railroad, White was aided by Russel Hyde, Hiram Guttridge, and two brothers, Charles and Edward Taylor. It is not known what happened to White after his stay in Mechanicsburg, but almost a year later, a warrant was issued by Commissioner Newhall for the arrest of the four men who aided him. The charge against them was only for sheltering and protecting a “fugitive” rather than aiding in an escape. The penalty for such a charge was a $1,000 fine and imprisonment. On Tuesday, June 2, 1857, United States Deputy Marshall Churchill left Cincinnati with eleven others to Urbana. The following Wednesday morning they continued to Mechanicsburg to carry out the arrest. Though the arrest was successful, many of the local public were reported to have protested, referring to Marshall Churchill and his posse as “Boarder Ruffians” who wanted to take the four men over to Kentucky and lynch them. Like Add White’s ultimate fate, the proceedings and outcome of the ensuing trial are unknown.
-
1866-- Freedman Assaulted by Eight Armed Men
Late in the night on Sunday, February 25, 1866, eight armed men reported to be “Rebel Rangers” ordered Harrison Griggs to come out of his home. Under threat, Harrison complied. Near his home, seven of the eight men whipped him with the branch of a white thorn tree for an hour. They assaulted him in turns until they were exhausted, witnessed by his own family and the family of Edmund Baker. Though he was not stripped, the assault left Harrison bloodied and bruised with thorns stuck all over his body, including the head and face. After the flogging, the assailants threatened to kill him unless he left the state immediately. Harrison left the following morning. The following Wednesday he made a statement in front of Captain Oyler of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Covington. It is unknown if the Rebel Rangers of Boone County faced any repercussions for the assault.
-
1853-- Twenty-Five Enslaved Seek Freedom after Reading Uncle Tom's Cabin
Twenty-five enslaved persons fled slavery in Boone County, Kentucky, allegedly after one of them read Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin to the group of them. A month later it was reported that none of them had been captured.
-
1854-- Twenty-Three Freedom Seekers Escape Enslavement via the Licking River
On Wednesday, June 15, 1854, 23 freedom seekers traveled down the Licking River in disguise from Grant County, KY. They crossed the Ohio and reportedly headed straight for Canada. Their identities and the ultimate outcome of their escape are unknown.
-
1854-- Escape of Nine Freedom Seekers from Kentucky
Nine enslaved persons from Kentucky fled enslavement on Sunday, September 3, 1854. They were believed to be hiding in Cincinnati the following Tuesday. The freedom seekers' identities are unknown, as is the success of their flight.
-
1854-- Examination for Trial of Eight Freedom Seekers in Cincinnati
-
Malone, Patsy
-
Scruggs, George
George was sent to Clintonville, Kentucky, to work for Finch Scruggs, a doctor in Lexington, for one year and returned to Vol Finch. Finch then sent George to his nephew, who worked at a grocery business in Paducah.
-
unknown, female [123]
Though there is no name given to her, former Kentucky Judge George Robertson mentioned a girl who had been born and raised enslaved by him in a letter to Abraham Lincoln. In this letter, Robertson complained to Lincoln about those enslaved in Kentucky seeking freedom among Union military regiments and those regiments refusing to return them to their enslavers. Robertson claimed the girl had been "seduced" and "forced" into prostitution among the 18th Michigan Infantry Regiment. The regiment refused to send the girl back to Robertson, and Robertson stated in the letter to Lincoln that he had "forborn to sue." As to the claims of prostitution, other sources claim Robertson was rather cruel to those enslaved by him. In this letter, he declared his slaves were "happier with [him] than they could be if free." His assertion that the girl was being forced into prostitution may not necessarily be trustworthy.