THE OHIO FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW
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By G. T. Stewart, Esq., of Norwalk, Ohio
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     The escape of fugitive slaves from Kentucky across the Ohio river into the free states north of it, was a subject of constant alarm to the slaveholders, and appeals were incessantly made to the legislative authorities of these free states, to array their governments and people against the fugitives.  The following preamble and resolutions adopted by the Ohio Legislature, on the 27th of January, 1823, evince the reciprocal policy then pursued in that direction:

     “Whereas, the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Kentucky, by their resolution laid before this General Assembly, have requested the Governor of that state to correspond with the Governors of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, on the subject of slaves that may escape from their owners, and may be found in either of the aforesaid non-slaveholding states; and also in relation to the people of color, and the laws of those states in regard to them; and that one or more commissioners may be appointed on the part of each state, to meet at such time and place as may be agreed upon, in order to consult on the subjects aforesaid, and recommend to their respective states, such laws on those subjects, that may be calculated to promote interest, and be applicable to the condition of the different states, secure the rights of citizens and perpetuate that harmony, which is so desirable between the different states.—Therefore,
     Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That the resolution of the General Assembly of the commonwealth of Ken-

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tucky, on the subject aforesaid is hereby approved of and concurred in, and that the Governor of this state is hereby authorized and requested to appoint two commissioners, on the part of this state, to meet such commissioner as may be appointed on the part of the state of-Kentucky, agreeably to the resolution of that state.
     Resolved further, That the Governor of this state be requested to transmit to the Governors of the states of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois copies of the foregoing resolution.”
     Sixteen years of similar talks and handshakings over the subject, between the pohtical authorities, north and south of the liquid line which divided the lands of Freedom and Slavery, finally resulted in the production of a fugitive slave code designed to make all courts and police officers of Ohio, the truculent and swift servitors of the slave power, and to bind with legal chains, the hands and hearts of its philanthropic citizens.
     The act of February 26, 1839, provided that on affidavit of the claimant, his agent or attorney, any justice of the peace, judge of court of records, or mayor of any city or town corporate, should issue his warrant to the sheriff or constable of any county in the State, to arrest the person claimed as a fugitive slave and take him before some judge of a court of record, who, on satisfactory proof, was required to give a certificate of the fact to the claimant, which should be sufficient authority for removing the fugitive to the State from which he or she fled.  Armed with this certificate, the statute protected the claimant from all attempts to obstruct him or rescue the fugitive by penalty of fine not exceeding $50O or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding 60 days, and a civil action for damages by the claimant.  The sixth section of this act was in these words;
     “SECTION VI. If any person or persons in this State shall
“counsel, advise, or entice any other person, who, by the laws of
“any other State, shall owe labor or service to any other person or
“persons, to leave, abandon, abscond or escape from the person
“or persons to whom such labor or service, according to the laws of
“such other State, is or may be due, or shall furnish money or
“conveyance of any kind, or any other facility, with intent and for
“the purpose of enabling such person, owing labor or service as
“aforesaid, to escape from or elude the claimant of such person,
“owing labor or service as aforesaid, knowing such person or per-

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“sons to owe labor or service as aforesaid, every person so of
“fending shall, upon conviction thereof by indictment, be fined in
“any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or be impris-
“oned in the jail of the county not exceeding sixty days, at the
“discretion of the court; and shall moreover be liable in an action
“at the suit of the party injured.”
     Section seven of this act extended the same penalties to any who should
“harbor or conceal any such person owing labor or
“service as aforesaid, who may come into this State without the
“consent of the persons, to whom such labor or service may be due,
“knowing such person to owe labor or service as aforesaid.”
     Section nine provided: “It shall be the duty of all oflicers,
“proceeding under this act, to recognize without proof, the exist-
“ence of slavery or involuntary servitude, in the several States of
“this Union, in which the same may exist or be recognized by
“law.”
     This act was entitled “An act relating to fugitives from labor or service from other States,” and contained a preamble and four teen sections.  The preamble was in these words, expressing the animus of the law:

“WHEREAS, the second section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States declares, that “no person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping
into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered upon claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.  And
WHEREAS, the laws, now in force within the State of Ohio, are wholly inadequate to the protection pledged by this provision of the Constitution to the Southern States of this Union.  And
WHEREAS, it is the duty of those who reap the largest measure of benefits, conferred by the constitution, to recognize, to their full extent, the obligations which that instrument imposes.  And
WHEREAS, it is the deliberate conviction of this General Assembly that the Constitution can only be sustained as it was framed, by a spirit of just compromise; therefore, be it enacted,” &c.
     It prescribed the form of the warrant and details of the proceeding for the arrest and rendition of the fugitives, and remained in force nearly four years.
     On the death of General Harrison and the accession of John

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Tyler to the Presidency of the United States, the slavery propogandists of the South began an aggressive movement to suppress the anti-slavery sentiment of the northwestern states and territories and to extend the slave system over them.  Violent measures were resorted to for this purpose.
     On September 4th, 1881, a mob headed by Kentuckians, at tacked the negroes in Cincinnati, who defended themselves with muskets, killing one white man and wounding several.  The office of the Philanthropist was broken up and its presses were sunk in the Ohio River.  The houses and stores of several Abolitionists there were attacked and their contents were destroyed.  The negroes were generally arrested and thrown into jail, by the police, under pretext of protecting them from the mob.
     The political elements were beginning to be disturbed on the question, but the party leaders were generally averse to taking sides on the issue.  Now and then however, it produced an amusing episode in local politics.  In 1841, Edward E. Husted was elected sheriff of Huron county on the Whig ticket.  Before election some questions were propounded to him by E. M. Barnum, a prominent Democrat, through the Experiment, one of which was this:
     “You have heretofore held that Abolitionists were justifiable in violating that law of the state of Ohio, passed February 26, 1839, entitled, “An act relating to fugitives from labor or service from other states.”  Do you now believe that any person would be justifiable in violating any part of that act?”
     To this Mr. Husted replied:

                                                                  CLARKSFIELD, O., Oct. 4, 1841.
     DEAR SIR—I regard the communication you handed me some days since as designed for no good purpose, nor prompted by any good intent and shall pay no further attention to it.
                                                                  E. E. HUSTED.

     E. M. BARNUM, ESQ.
     P. S.  If you wish to have my private opinion on the subject referred to in your letter or any other, you may call upon me in person                       E. E. H."

     The Democratic candidate opposed to Mr. Husted was David Johnson, then Sheriff of the county.  A few years after this, the Democrat and Free Soilers of Huron county coalesced under the name of The Free Democracy, and elected their county ticket, on

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which were both these gentlemen, David Johnson for Sheriff and Edward E. Husted for Treasurer, then equally pronounced against all fugitive slave laws.
     Through the year 1841 and 1842, under the pressure of this act of 1839, and the influence of the national administration, the anti-slavery sentiment of Ohio was evidently at a low ebb.
     The Liberty party State Convention held at Mount Vernon, in June, 1842, was attacked by a mob with rotten eggs, when its candidate for Governor, Leicester King, was delivering an address.
     At the following election he received 5,403 votes, and as the result, Thomas Corwin, the Whig Governor was defeated as a candidate for reelection, and Wilson Shannon, the Democratic candidate was elected.  At that election, Huron county gave 80 votes for King for Governor; 85 votes for Frank D. Parish of Sandusky for Senator, and 87 votes for Reuben Fox of Fitchville, for Representative in the Legislature.  Erie county gave 33 votes for King, 30 for Parish, and 30 for Fox.
     The excitement of the election had hardly subsided, thus produced by the effect of the Liberty party movement, when public feeling was again aroused by the arrest of twelve fugitive slaves in Fitchville, under this act of 1839, who were brought to Norwalk and there were judicially surrendered to their claimants.
     On a quiet Sabbath morning, these twelve men, women and children, were placed in the public stage coach, chained, and with armed guards, and while all the church bells rang “Amen!”, they were driven through the Main street of Norwalk to Monroeville, and were taken thence to Kentucky, without any attempt of rescue or resistance.
     We add the following graphic account of this Fugitive Slave case from the pen of C. H. Gallup, Esq., in his valuable History of Norwalk Township.
     “In October, 1842, five men, three women and four children, all but one members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and residents of Campbell county, Kentucky, concluded to emigrate to Canada.  They crossed the Ohio river and took passage on the “Underground Railroad,” the earliest, most economical and efficiently managed railroad in the State of Ohio, and had progressed on their journey so far as Fitchville, in this county,—a station on that road, R. Palmer, agent,—when they were arrested by virtue of a warrant, issued by Samuel Pennewell, Esq., a justice of the

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peace, of Norwalk township, under what was then called the “Black Law,” and brought to Norwalk, November 2d, charged with being fugitive slaves.  Mr. Pennewell was not in sympathy with the “Black Law,” and had publicly stated that he would require the most conclusive evidence of not only ownership, but birth in slavery; and that, before he would issue an order for their rendition, the testimony would have to be so conclusive that it would suffice to establish the legitimacy of a royal heir to his throne.
     In consequence of Mr. Pennewell’s expressed views, no doubt, a writ of habeas corpus was taken out, and the examination removed from before Esquire Pennewell and brought before A. G. Sutton, then an Associate Judge of the Common Pleas Court, and resulted in five of the fugitives being remanded back to slavery; but, for technical insufficiency in the testimony, no order was given against the others, and they were held to await the procuring of further evidence from Kentucky.
     Discouraged by the order against five of their party, the other seven then gave up the contest and consented to be taken back.
     Two of them were claimed by one party, three by another, and seven by a third.
     The owners were represented here by an agent, or “slave hunter,” who, it appears, was assisted by parties living in Ohio, of whom the citizens of Fitchville say, in one of many resolutions adopted by them November 9, 1842, and signed “Stephen Pomeroy, moderator, and E. A. Pray, secretary.
     “Be it therefore resolved *  *  * that a large majority of our worthy citizens feel grieved that a Kentucky slaveholder, with a number of bought up (what is called here) Ohio blood hounds, or slave-catchers, should be secretly quartered among us, for the purpose of carrying their nefarious purposes into operation.”
     At that time Edward E. Husted was sheriff of Huron county, and he refused to have the fugitives confined in the jail.  They were consequently kept at the old “Goff House,” (which stood where the Congregational church now is,) under an armed guard, for about one week, and until the close of the examination.
     On Sunday morning, after the order of rendition had been given, they were ironed, loaded on to a four-horse stage and taken through Main street on their way back to—no one here knows what.
     Hallet Gallup then lived next west of the old “Golf House,”

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which had an upper and lower veranda across its whole front; the negroes were permitted frequently to exercise upon the upper one, and a son of Mr. Gallup, a little lad, took advantage of those occasions to throw apples up to them, and for such favors received as hearty thanks as has ever been tendered to him since, and by those acts probably won the confidence of the slaves; at all events, on the Sunday before they were taken away, he was engaged in throwing them apples again, when one of them, a large and powerful man, stepped near the railing and threw something which sparkled and flashed in the sunlight as it came through the air and fell into the tall grass at the lad’s feet.  The guards were near, and a crowd of boisterous men were gathered on the lower porch.  Fearing detection, the boy took no notice of what had been thrown him, but soon went and informed his father of what had occurred.  That night Mr. Gallup went, and, searching through the grass, found a large silver-handled double-edged “bowie knife,” with a silver-trimmed leather sheath.  About one year afterwards, a constable of Norwalk called on Mr. Gallup. and demanded the knife, saying he had a search warrant for it.  Mr. Gallup stepped to the large old-fashioned “fire-place,” and picking up an iron poker, turned and asked the constable if that want the knife he was looking for; but the vallant officer at once became anxious to go back to the justice that issued the warrant so as to return it “not found.”  Suit was then commenced before a justice against Mr. Gallup for the value of the knife; but upon his demanding a jury trial, it was withdrawn, and nothing further was done about it.  That cruel, blood-stained knife is now in possession of a son of Hallet Gallup.”
     We have vainly searched the court records at' Norwalk, to find some official note of this transaction, but there was none made.  The action of Judge Sutton in various habeas corpus and other special proceedings, about that time, appear, but not a word was suffered to go on the public records to testify of this important event.  Political leaders in the Whig and Democratic parties endeavored to suppress all public mention of it, and only the anti-slavery speakers and papers brought the facts to the people.
     The following notice appeared in the Democratic organ, the Norwalk Experiment, of November 16, 1842:
     “At a meeting held at the Court House, in this town, on Monday, the 7th inst., to consider the subject of attempting to liberate the twelve slaves lately captured at Fitchville, in this coun-

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ty, and taken back to Kentucky, Rev. Thompson, George G. Baker and E. M. Stone were appointed a committee to correspond with the owners for their purchase, and Samuel T. Worcester, A. G. Sutton, Ezra M. Stone, E. E. Husted, Henry Buckingham and Hallet Gallup of Norwalk, and F. D. Parish of Sandusky City, Rundell-Palmer and UnioGn WGhite of Fitchville, a committee to obtain by subscription the fund necessary to purchase them.  The meeting then adjourned to meet again in this place on Monday, the 28th inst., at which time a full attendance is requested. Norwalk, Nov. 7, 1842.”

     Nothing more of this committee was seen in the Norwalk papers, and their effort was soon abandoned.
     The proceedings of an indignation meeting held in Fitchville condemning the surrender of the fugitives, having been published without comment, in the Whig organ, the Norwalk Reflector, an anonymous communication from Fitchville appeared in the Experiment of December 7, 1842, in which the writer said:
     “It is evident from the statements of Abolitionists themselves, that there exist some eighteen or nineteen thoroughly organized thoroughfares through the State of Ohio for the transportation of runaway and, stolen slaves, one of which passes through Fitchville, and which to my certain knowledge has done a land office business.’ ”
     “Out of about 230 voters in this township, there were not to exceed 28, I think, who voted the Abolition ticket at the late election, and these were nearly all who were present at the great indignation meeting.”
     He stated that the Abolitionists of Fitchville refused to contribute to the purchase back of the negroes who had been taken back to Kentucky and in appointing one of them on the committee the Norwalk people had “calculated without their host.”
     The only editorial notice by the Experiment, of the article, was very brief, saying: “This is a subject in which neither we nor our readers feel much interest, and to the general uninteresting discussion of which we neither design nor intend to open our columns.”
     In fact this notice of the appointment of the committee to raise a redemption fund, and this Fitchville communication, are all that appeared in that paper on the subject.  Not a word was' published as to the transactions of the arrest, examination or surrender of the fugitives in either the Experiment or Reflector.  Both

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were either afraid to give the facts to the public, or regarded them as “uninteresting” news.

     “SECTION I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the
“State of Ohio, That the Act entitled “an Act relating to fugitives
“from labor or service from other states,” passed February 26, 1839,
“be and the same is hereby repealed, provided that nothing herein
“contained shall in any manner affect any prosecution, or proceed
“ing in court, instituted and now pending under the provisions of
“said Act, for which purposes the same shall continue and remain
“in force.
     “SEC. II. That the second section of the Act entitled “an
“Act to prevent kidnapping,” passed February 15, 1831, be and the
“same is hereby revived.”
     This act of the Legislature repealing the Fugitive Slave law of 1339 and reviving the provisions of the law of 1831 to prevent the kidnapping of colored citizens, brought the state into quick conflict with the federal law as defined by the Supreme Court of the United States.  In the year 1846 the Supreme Court of Ohio under the old constitution, was required to hold one annual session in each county of the state.  Chief Justice Reuben Wood and Justice Matthew Birchard held the session of that Court in Cuyahoga
county, that year.  James A. Briggs, a prominent anti-slavery citizen of Cleveland, made oath before a justice of the peace and caused to be arrested, William R. Richardson, charging him with knowingly aiding to carry out of the state, one Alfred Berry, a black man, residing in Cuyahoga county, without taking him before any judge or justice of the peace in that county and without establishing his right of property in Berry according to law.  A mittimus was issued by the justice requiring Richardson to give bail in the sum of one thousand dollars which he failed to do; but a writ of habeas corpus was taken out against the sheriff holding Richardson in custody, which promptly brought the case before, the Supreme Court.  The decision of Chief Justice Wood we copy from Volume III of the Western Law Journal, pages 564-5.  It
shows how completely slavery had become national and freedom

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sectional; and how hopelessly prostrate the state of Ohio lay, in the year 1846, at the feet of the slaveholders.
     Chief Justice Wood then said:
     “The statute on which this prosecution is based, is the second section of an act, entitled “An act to prevent kidnapping,” found in Swan’s Statutes, p. 600, which provides, “that no person or persons shall, in any manner, attempt to carry out of this State, or knowingly be aiding in carrying out of this State, any black or mulatto person, without first taking such black or mulatto person before some Judge or Justice of Peace, in the county where such black or mulatto person was taken, and there, agreeably to the laws of the United States, establish by proof his or their property in such black or mulatto person.”
     This section of the statute was designed to be applied exclusively to that unfortunate class of persons who owed service in one State, and escaped into another, and to those by whom they were arrested or seized.  The Constitution and laws of the United States recognize slavery, and protect the owner in the enjoyment of this species of property.  This prosecution was set on foot, as shown by the mittimus, on the ground that Berry was a slave, and was seized and taken out of the State without a right of property in him being first established.  In the case of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Prigg, the Supreme Court have decided, that the owner of a slave, either by himself, or agent, may pursue, arrest, and return him to the State from whence he fled, without the aid of the State authority, and that all State legislation which interferes with or embarrasses such arrest, is unconstitutional and void, and that all legislation on the subject is exclusively vested in Congress.
     Every mittimus must, substantially, show the accused is charged with some definite offence, or it cannot be sustained.  No man should be deprived of his liberty, unless his caption and detention are authorized by law.  Upon the face of this mittimus, what has Richardson done?  He has arrested a slave, and taken him out of the State, without proving his right before the State authority, and this State legislation, in such a case, is absolutely null and void, under the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.
     It was said, on the hearing, that it did not appear but what Berry was a freeman, from the mittimus before the Court, and that Richardson was therefore properly charged with kidnapping, under the first section of the act.  It was, however, successfully answered, that it is not averred that Berry was a freeman, and the offence is charged to be the not proving property before removal.  Unless property may, therefore, exist in a freeman, the mittimus itself, shows that Berry was a slave, and the prosecution instituted on that ground.  I am, therefore, of the opinion, that the arrest and
detention of Richardson are illegal, and direct him to be discharged.
     BIRCHARD, J. concurred.”

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     To further illustrate the legislation of Congress on the subject as enforced by the federal courts in Ohio, we take a well known case arising in the Firelands, which we copy from the 5th Volume of the Western Law Journal, pages 206-208, its Editor says: “The following condensed report of this case, was prepared for the Cincinnati Gazette, by one of the learned counsel, and may be relied upon as accurate.”

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FUGITIVE SLAVES - HARBORING - OBSTRUCTING
CLAIMANT.
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Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Ohio: November Term, 1847.  Driskell vs. Parish
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     The action was brought by Peter Driskell, of Mason county, Kentucky, against Francis D. Parish, a highly respectable lawyer of Sandusky, in this State, to recover several penalties, under the act of Congress, of February 12th, 1793, for harboring certain alleged slaves of the plaintiff, and obstructing their arrest.
     The testimony was conflicting.  For the plaintiff, two men, Mitchell and Driskell, the latter a son of the plaintiff, testified that in October, 1844, a woman and her five children, slaves of the plaintiff, escaped from his service in Kentucky, and that the witnesses were despatched in pursuit; that on the 28th of February, 1845, they arrested two of the boys in Sandusky, and then called at the house of Mr. Parish, with whom they had learned that the woman and her youngest boy, a lad of four years old, were living; that an interview took place in front of the house, between them and Mr. Parish and the woman and little boy; that the woman and boy attempted to approach them, but were prevented by Parish; that Mitchell told Parish he had a warrant of attorney to take them; but Parish replied that it would not do—he must have judicial authority; that Mitchell then demanded the privilege of arresting them there, but Parish refused it, and directed or waived the servants into the house, and shut the door.  This was the state ment of Mitchell.  Driskell concurred, except that the said Mitchell attempted to enter the gate to arrest the servants, whereupon

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Parish pushed them into the house.  Mitchell said he had made no statement or admissions variant from this at the Court House in Sandusky, where he was examined on a charge of riot committed in arresting the two boys, nor at any other time.
     On the other hand, Judge Sadler, the President Judge of the 13th Circuit, Justice Barker, the examing Magistrate, Mr. Beecher, the lawyer for the prosecution on the riot charge, Col. Sloane, the lawyer who defended Mitchell on that charge, and Messrs. Barber and Mackey, two respectable citizens, all concurred in testifying, that on the 1st of March, 1845, the day after the transaction at Parish’s gate, during the examination of Mitchell and Driskell on the charge for riot, Parish was called to the stand as a witness for the defendants, and was called upon to state the circumstances which transpired in front of his house, and did, accordingly, make a full statement, to which, after being corrected in some trifling particulars, Mitchell gave his full assent, and repeated, himself, the entire statement.  In this statement, there was no pretence, on the part of Mitchell, that Parish made any demand of judicial authority, or interfered in any way to prevent either of the servants from approaching Mitchell and Driskell; or that Mitchell made any attempt to arrest them; or that Parish refused to permit such arrest, or directed or pushed the servants into the house; on the contrary, both Mitchell and Parish then agreed in saying, that when Mitchell stated he had come for the slaves, Parish said he should see that they had a fair trial, but would oppose no obstruction to the execution of the law, and they separated, after some conversation as to the Justice of the Peace before whom the trial of the claim to the servants should take place.
     Miss Dastin, a witness for the defendant, who was present at the interview between Mitchell and Parish, also testified that there was no demand for arrest, no pushing of the servants into the house, no attempt by Mitchell to seize, and no prevention of seizure by Parish.
     The Court charged the jury at length, recapitulating fully all the evidence, with great ability.  The leading points of the charge are these:
     The act under which the suit was brought has been held to be  constitutional; but it is a penal statute, and must be construed strictly.
     Harboring and concealing, in the acts are synonymous, and to

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make out a case of harboring there must be proof of concealment, with intent to defeat the claims of the master.
     Obstruction and hindrance, under the act, are also synonymous; and to make out a case of obstruction, there must be proof of an attempt to seize, and an interposition by the defendant in a way calculated and intended to prevent the seizure.
     To see that persons claimed as fugitives from justice have fair trials, and to insist upon their having such trials, is laudable, but these must be in good faith towards the claimant.
     The same act of harboring or obstruction can subject the party charged to but one penalty, whatever may be the number of the alleged fugitives, subjects of the act; and so the same act cannot constitute both harboring and obstruction, so as to subject the actor to two penalties. To subject the defendant in the present case, there must be proof of separate acts of harboring and obstruction.
     In the present case, the plaintiff must make out his right to recover by strict proof; but if this proof is furnished, he is entitled to a verdict.
     The jury, after being out seven hours, found a verdict for the plaintiff on the two counts in the declaration, which charged the defendant with harboring Jane Garrison, and obstructing her arrest, and for the defendant on the other two counts, which charged the harboring and obstruction to the arrest of her son.
     A motion for new trial was made and argued, but we are not advised what disposition has been made of it.
     Messrs. Henry Stanbery and J. Thompson appeared for the plaintiff; Messrs. S. P. Chase and J. W. Andrews for the defendant.”
     The repeal of the oppressive act of 1839, did not very much relieve the condition of the colored people of Ohio, or of the fugitives seeking asylum in its borders.  Ever since the law of Congress of February 12, 1793 was enacted, the master or his agent, pursuing the fugitives, was authorized by the national government to arrest them wherever found, and to bring them before any judge of the circuit or district court of the United States, or local magistrate where the seizure was made, and on satisfactory proof of property, to receive a certificate operating as a full warrant to remove them back to the state from which their escape was claimed.  No jury trial or legal counsel, accorded to every criminal, was permitted for the poor slave.  The free colored people of Ohio, by the State Act of January 5, 1804, were required to pro-

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duce certificates of their freedom from some court in or out of the State, or they were denied all legal protection.  Thus the whole question of freedom or slavery was solved by the form of certificate held in the hands of the negro or the negro-hunter.

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THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

     These unjust and cruel enactments met their natural and spontaneous resistance in the hearts of humane citizens; and from the Ohio river to the south shore of Lake Erie, lines of helping hands were secretly extended to aid the fugitives in their flight to Canada.  These increased in numbers and activity, in proportion to the vindictive efforts of the public authorities to detect and suppress them.  They took an organized form under the name of "The Underground Railroad."
     Several lines of this extended through the Firelands to Sandusky, or to Oberlin and from the latter to Cleveland; and by reliable vessels across the lake to the Canada shore.  Among the religious organizations, the Society of Friends was especially enlisted in this philanthropic enterprise.  At Cincinnati, a wealthy member of that church, Elijah Coffin, devoted most of his long life and a large share of his pecuniary means to establishing the depots and operating the lines of this mysterious highway from a slave holding republic to' a free monarchy.  These several lines had their means of intercommunication.  When the slave hunters appeared on one of them, word was quickly passed along that line, and the fugitives were soon transfered to the other lines.

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GREENWICH STATION U. G. R.

     The long established and flourishing branch of the Society of Friends in Greenwich township and vicinity, had a number of active participants in this benevolent work.  Willis R. Smith, who moved into that township May 26, 1824, and resided there until his death in 1870, was an intelligent and influential member of this church, and until slavery was abolished, his home was an open asylum for the slave.  At one time he was attending the yearly
meeting of Friends, at Allen Creek, in Delaware county.  A slave mother and her children had been pursued and arrested in that vicinity.  No sooner was the fact known at the meeting-house than

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there was a speedy adjournment, and the whole congregation suddenly appeared, surrounding the slave hunters and their captives.  Mr. Smith demanded an inspection of their papers, and while he was loudly picking out flaws in them, the captives were quietly picked out, hurried into a carriage and driven away.  They appeared again at Mr. Smith’s house, from which he took them in his carriage by night to Sandusky.  The appearance of the crowd was so sudden, that the scared hunters swore they came up out of the ground.  His son, William T. Smith, who was an infant of a few months when his father moved into Greenwich, and who is now 65 years old, from his earliest recollection, recalls the forms of the dusky visitors, who came at all hours, but especially at night, to his father’s house; and many of whom, when he was old enough to be entrusted with his father’s team, were conveyed by him at night to Fitchville, or other appointed places.  When he was married, his own house also became another point in the line of freedom; and with his team he carried many of the fugitives for ward to their destination by night.  After the O., C. & C. Railroad was constructed through Greenwich, often fugitives came to that point secreted in the freight cars, and were there received by
the Station Agent, Hiram Townsend, who had them safely consigned to the Friends.
     Mr. Smith says that at one time six men, who said they were escaped slaves, came to his father’s house on foot.  They declined conveyance and preferred walking.  They were stalwart fellows, appeared to be armed, and declared their purpose to stay together and never to be taken alive.  He relates the case of a man and his wife who had been sold by their master in Kentucky to a slave trader, who took them in his gang down the Mississippi river, compelling them to walk all the way; but by this means they learned the way back.  After they were sold at New Orleans, being cruelly treated, they escaped and made their way back to their former master.  He did not betray them, but secreted them for some time and then helped them to cross the Ohio.  On their way back to their master, they were attacked by dogs and the woman was terribly bitten about her neck and shoulders.  Some of the fugitives showed marks of cruel whippings.  One light colored mulatto woman, very intelligent, claimed to be a daughter of a brother of General Taylor.  She was sent to Oberlin, where she remained several months and attracted much interest.  She brought her

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child with her which died at Oberlin.  The slave hunters several times visited the Friends at Greenwich.  They were hospitably received, but went away complaining that the Quakers while very kind to them and their horses, and charging them nothing, were stealing their negroes away while they were eating.
     Among the Friends who gave welcome to the fugitives at Greenwich, were also Jacob and Joseph Healy.  The premises ofthe latter were several times searched by officers in pursuit of escaped slaves.  Joseph Healy came there in the year 1835 and died about the time when his life foe, slavery, expired in the war.  He conveyed to Fitchville the fugitives who were afterwards arrested there and surrendered to their masters at Norwalk.  Long
after his death, when his place had gone into other hands, a room was found under the haymow in his barn, with secret passages to and from it, where the philanthopist concealed his sable guests.

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FITCHVILLE STATION U. G. R.

     The village of Fitchville, was for many years before the war, the center of strong anti-slavery sentiment.  Among its best citizens who gave heart and hand to the cause of freedom, were Rundell Palmer, Seeley Palmer, Samuel Palmer and Dr. Palmer, whose houses were all and always open to the call of fugitive slaves.  From these, they were carried in wagons, sometimes by day, but generally by night, to Norwalk, Milan, Oberlin, or other place where the North Star pointed.  Of those brought from Greenwich by Joseph Healy, 13 were arrested, but as the papers only called for 12, one demanded and obtained his discharge, when the 12 were taken to Norwalk.

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NORWALK STATION U. G. R.

     One of the earliest resorts of escaped slaves in Norwalk, was at the hospitable home of one of its most worthy pioneer citizens, Henry Buckingham.  His grandson, Henry Buckingham, formerly of Norwalk but now of Lawrence, Kansas, writes of him: 
     “I remember well the feeling of the majority of the people towards Abolitionists, in the early days, for my grandfather was one of the leading anti-slavery men of Ohio.  He was a Henry Clay emancipationist, differing from the doctrines taught by Garrison.  That

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he was an active “director” in the Underground Railroad, there is no question, though he never admitted it.  When remonstrated with by his friends about it, he would say: “When a human being comes to my house whether at noon or midnight, and asks for something to eat, I give it to him; and I do not inquire whether he is white or black, bond or free; nor do I ask him whether he is going to Canada or Kentucky.  Every human being is entitled to something to eat, and aid when in distress, where no crime has been committed.”  After the 12 fugitives had been surrendered, he said emphatically: “Such a thing can never be done again in Norwalk.”  About dark one day in the fall of 1842, while coming out of the court house, where he had been detained in the office longer than usual, he noticed a respectably dressed, middle-aged man, alone near the opening.  In front of the bank was hitched his horse.  The man appearing to be in a quandary, my grandfather asked him where he was going and what he wanted.  He replied that he was a minister, that he was an Abolitionist and wished to lecture on the subject of slavery, but that he had been threatened, and no hotel would keep him, although he had the money pay his bill.  He was invited to our house where he remained over night and a portion of the next day.  He was found to be a gentleman of intelligence, and carried good recommendations.  The discussion of the slave question was carried on between him and my grandfather until late in the night.  The next day there was considerable excitement on the street, and threats were made of driving the “sneaking Abolitionist” out of town.  My father, Uncle John Buckingham, and several of the neighbors were afraid some demonstration might be made, and suggested to grandfather that he was taking serious' chances.  His reply was short and to the point:  “This man comes well recommended, he appears to be a gentleman; I don’t quite believe in his doctrine.  He is a human being, made in the image of God.  He has committed no crime.  He needs food and shelter; and I have invited him to my house.  He can stay as long as he likes free of charge and I will protect him!”  Nothing but the personal respect held for my grandfather saved the man from insult, and perhaps violence.  Few of the good people of Norwalk can at this day, realize what it was to be an Abolitionist forty years ago, even on the grand old Western Reserve.  I am confident, however, that during the last few years of my grandfather’s life he was convinced that gradual emancipation was

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too slow, and that something more decisive should be done.”
     After the year 1842, and down to the end of slavery, the best known refuge of fugitive slaves in Norwalk, was at the home of Lemuel Sherman, who is now living there and is 76 years of age.  From him we gather these facts: He came. to the Firelands with his father, Samuel Sherman, from Berry township, Washington county, Vermont, on the 22d day of February, 1818.  They settled first in Townsend and four years after removed to New London.  There they remained about twelve years, when Lemuel Sherman came to Norwalk township, where he has resided ever since.  He helped to clear up farms in the three townships.  He voted for Harrison in 1840, but soon after left the Whig Party and united with the Liberty Party.  He also left the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he had been a member for many years, because of what he considered, its compromising position on the slavery question; and united with the Wesleyan Methodist Church, of which branch was formed in his neighborhood and which church was radically anti-slavery.  He afterwards contributed to pay the fine assessed on Frank D. Parish, of Sandusky, for aiding the escape of fugitive slaves. The first of them he saw were those captured at Fitchville in 1842, at the court house, where they were delivered up to their captors by the court.  He became very much interested in behalf of the fugitives, and as the result of that affair, one of the stations of the so-called Underground Railroad, was soon established at his house.  He recollects among the first of them was a slave woman with a child, who was brought by Stephen Post in a wagon in the day time, and left in front of Sherman’s house in, the public road after first giving him notice of it.  Sherman took her the following night, to the place of concealment in the woods near Sandusky, where she was taken in charge by a colored preacher named Boston.  They depended on a vessel, named the “Arrow,” which for many years plied between Sandusky and Detroit, but always touched first at Maiden, Canada, where the fugitives were landed.  This woman stated that she was a body-servant of Senator Richardson and his wife of South Carolina; that she was used by her master as his concubine, and in consequence was often cruelly whipped by her mistress.  Her back was covered with scars made by the rawhide.  She said she had traveled with them thousands of miles in the South.  Learning that her infant child by her master was about to be sold, she

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escaped with it into the South Carolina swamps on the 2d day of March and following the north star made her way to the Ohio river where she arrived about the first of July.  There, when she had sat down in the sand by the bank of the river, exhausted from hunger and fatigue, in despair, and was meditating as to drowning herself and her child to end their troubles, she saw a man in a skiff, approaching to where she was, who offered to take her across.  She was at first suspicious, but finally consented.  He took her across, got some food for her and showed her a house where to go, and there she was kindly received.  From that point she was not required to walk, but was carried to Canada in the care of philanthropic friends, whose lines stretched across the state from the Ohio river to Lake Erie.  She was then about 30 years old, a handsome mulatto, and said she had before this, four children, who were sold to furnish spending money for the Senator’s sons.  Her husband escaped about the same time by a different route, and they met in Canada.  Sherman learned that he had been at Seeley Palmer’s and informed his wife that he had passed through before her.  It was the first intelligence she had from him since they had parted in South Carolina.
     At one time a white boy about 17 years old, came with six fugitives, men, women and children, who were from Kentucky.  The boy said that they were his grandfather’s slaves with whom he had been raised from his infancy and he determined to help them to freedom.  So he carried them in his grandfather’s wagon to the Ohio river, where he sold the wagon and horses, took the fugitives across and accompanied them to Canada.  He said they had always been kind to-him and he felt attached to them.  They were about to be sold down the Mississippi river and he carried out this plan to prevent it.
     C. L. Latimer, a Norwalk lawyer, once gave $5 to Sherman, to assist the fugitives; but he does not recollect of pecuniary help from any other source.  His teams went by night, generally through Milan to Sandusky, but sometimes by way of Wakeman, where there were several houses open to receive the fugitives, and persons ready to take them on to Oberlin.  The Lockwoods at Milan were friendly, especially George and Henry Lockwood, and gave welcome assistance to many.
     In Norwalk village there was very little sympathy shown for them, and very little for the anti-slavery cause, until after the

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death of the Whig Party.  Slaveholding clergyman were welcomed into their pulpits by all the Norwalk churches.  At a Methodist campmeeting in Milan, he saw a southern minister prominent in its exercises, who was attended by his bodyservant, a slave; and all there seemed to regard it as morally right.

-----
NEW HAVEN AND PERU STATIONS U. G. R.

     Through more than thirty years the house of Rouse Bly in New Haven township was the welcome place for hundreds of dusky travelers from the South.  His death and the dispersion of his family to other states, have prevented the publication of many interesting facts connected with his name.  At one time, when he had a negro secreted in his smokehouse, he was informed that a search of his premises was about to be made.  He hastened into
his house, seized his wife’s bonnet and dress and investing the, astonished darkey in her apparel, started him off, a la Jeff, Davis, to the next station on the U. G. R. line.  From his house the fugitives generally made their way to the house of Henry Adams or Rev. Seth. G. Parker in Peru, and thence to Sandusky stopping at hiding places with friends at Castalia, Bloomingville, and other points on the line.  Parties in quest of the fugitives were often
seen on the road through Plymouth, Greenfield Center, Maxville, Monroeville, &c., and sometimes taking back their escaped slaves.  J. D. Easton, Esq., of Monroeville, recollects seeing in his boyhood, two men on horseback, with a negro tied by a rope to the saddle of
one, and going on foot between them south, followed by their dogs.  William Wilson, a colored man at Pontiac, assisted some of the fugitives, and others found concealment in the freight cars, on the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad.

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FLORENCE STATION U. G. R.

     Hiram P. Starr, of Birmingham, has kindly furnished us with the following reminiscences within his recollection.  His father, Perez Starr, came to Birmingham in the year 1809, and built the first flouring mills in Berlin and Florence township.  He died in 1850, and was one of the best of the pioneer fathers in every sense, carrying forward with ability and success, the moral and religious, as well as the business enterprises of the new settlements.  Hiram

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was born at Birmingham in 1822, and recollects of fugitive slaves coming to the house of his father as far back as 1836, four or five together sometimes, and once seven of them came.  They were generally concealed until dark, and carried on in wagons covered with hay or straw.  Rev. Eldad Barber, Perez Starr and a gentle man named Springer, cast the first Liberty Party tickets in Florence township.  They and their families were of course subject to ridicule, and in the streets their boys were called “wooley-heads” by
the other children.  At one time Mr. Barber’s horse was punished for its master’s love of liberty by having its tail cut off, but this did not curtail his zeal for the cause.  He often sheltered fugitives at his home.  These were generally taken to Sandusky, Elyria or Oberlin, as was deemed the safest course, and where the line was reported clear of the slave-hunters.

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MILAN STATION U. G. R.

     We are indebted to L. S. Snow, of Milan township, for the following statement:
     "In Volume III, New Series of the Firelands Pioneer, pages 113-114, containing the obituary of Lyman Scott, we have one of the earliest allusions in its pages to the workings of the "Underground Railroad."  Mr. Scott lived in  the north part of Milan township in the 3d section, on the main thoroughfare, at that time, from Huron, south.  He was a man of an impulsive nature, always ready to befriend his fellow creatures who stood in need of his assistance, and especially the colored fugitives who were fleeing towards Canada to escape from the oppression of their masters in the land of slavery.  He frequently did this when it was the cause of annoyance and often of danger to himself and family.  The fact of his harboring the fugitives was well known to his neighbors, but because of the anti-slavery feeling prevailing at the time none were disposed to make him trouble on that account.  For
over thirty years associated with my brother, E. S. Stow, I was engaged in the nursery business which we carried on quite extensively for those days.  Mr. Scott was our nearest neighbor on the south, and while employed in our business about the grounds we used to see, occasionally, the fugitives who ventured out for exercise, while waiting for an opportunity to get on one of the vessels frequently passing down the canal and river from Milan, during

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the season of navigation.  Many of these vessels passed through the Welland Canal on their way to the lower lakes, and after leaving the harbor at Huron the fugitives were safe from the pursuit of their masters unless the vessels were compelled by stress of weather to return to harbor.  Many interesting incidents occurred on these occasions while he was befriending these colored men.  At one time he had seven concealed on his premises, four men and three women; one of the women was engaged in helping Mrs. Scott in preparing breakfast and while so employed she saw her master pass by the house on the road towards Huron, and was so overcome with fear that she dropped the dish she had in her hand and fled to her place of concealment.  On another occasion, to illustrate the strong anti-slavery sentiment that prevailed in the community, and to show the good feeling of his neighbors towards him, it is said that one of them living two miles away, had been to his place to see the fugitives, and on his return home met the owner of the slaves, accompanied by his assistants.  He was accosted by the owner to know if he could give him any information as to where the fugitives might be found, offering him money for such information.  The neighbor was much excited-but would not commit himself or give any information, telling the slave owner that though he was a poor man he would not for money give him help to capture the poor fugitives.”
     There was also a welcome found by them at the homes of Peter Hathaway and other members of the Society of Friends in Milan township; and they were frequently brought there in wagons, from the Friends in Greenwich.

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ANTI-ABOLITION SENTIMENT.

     We are indebted to Clark Waggoner, Esq., of Toledo, for these relics of the anti-abolition sentiment found in Norwalk and Wakeman, over half a century ago, but not peculiar to those places, for it pervaded the Firelands.  The following volunteer toasts were presented, by the individuals named, at a Fourth of July celebration at Norwalk, in 1835:
     By Myron H. Tilden. - "Abolition - Let us not encourage a sentiment which would perpetrate and perpetuate a calamity so desolation."
     By Ezra M. Stone. - "May the heresy of Abolition be arrested

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and convicted of sedition, and the sentence of the law be death, without benefit of clergy.’ ”
     By E. M. Phelps.—“The Slavery of the South—A melancholy evil; but not to be remedied by a misguided enthusiasm at the North.”

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AN ANTI-ABOLITION ASSOCIATION.

     "A meeting of citizens of Wakeman township was held November 30, 1835, of which Justin Sherman was chairman and Orrin De Lano, secretary.  The object of the meeting being stated, Merritt Hyde, Justin Sherman, Wm. Bostic and O. De Lano were appointed to report resolutions at an adjourned meeting, December 14th.
     At the date named the committee made report which was adopted.  Among other things, it was resolved that an organization be effected, to be known as “The Anti-Abolition Association of Wakeman,” the object of which was declared to be “to use all lawful and honorable means to prevent the Abolitionists from sundering the bonds of the Union of our beloved country,” and from “stimulating the blacks to rise and murder their masters.”  It was “resolved, that we consider the present proceedings of the Abolitionists to destroy that mighty chain of love, which links together the hearts of our citizens, and destroy our liberties and our free institutions.”  It was further resolved, “not to support or patronize any minister, printer, teacher of common schools or seminaries who were Abolitionists.”
     Officers for the Association were chosen as follows: President Justin Sherman; vice president, Jesse E. Hanford; recording secretary, Orrin De Lano; directors, Martin Bell Wm. Bostic, Merritt Hyde, Joseph Haskins, George H. Hinman, James Sherman and Samuel Bristol.
     How long this organization existed, or to what extent it was enabled to advance the highly important end of its institution, is not recorded.  The movement is now of interest mainly as indicating something of the pervading sentiment at the North at the outset of the Anti-Slavery movement.  The men named in the connection were among the most intelligent and most useful citizens of Wakeman, whose action could have been suggested by nothing less than a deep sense of public duty.”

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SOME EXPERIENCES IN ABOLITION TIMES.
-----
By Chauncey Woodruff, of Peru.
-----

                                                             PERU, OHIO, February 20, 1888.
TO THE FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
     Gentleman:  I will be obliged to forego the pleasure of participating in the enjoyments of the reunion upon the 22d inst.  I trust, however, all who come may fully realize the satisfaction so many of us have experienced on former like occasions.  Especially do I hope that this may be true in the case of those whose sympathies and efforts have been instrumental in rescuing from oblivion so much of value for ourselves and for our successors.  Having been
designated as one of a committee to supervise a Regimental history, of which I was a member, I am under obligation to be at Mansfield on the day of your meeting.
     It may not be presumptuous in me I trust to contribute an incident or two relating to one of the themes to be considered by the historians of the early formed syndicate of the “Underground Railroad” system.
     Sometime in the forefront of the 19th century, in the Anno Domini of the thirties, at a period in my own early history when the term “Abolitionist,” or its equivalent “nigger stealer,” “slave insurrectionist,” inspired as little respect in my heart as “Anarchist” does now, when the masses even in this “God’s own country” entertained about as wholesome an affection for him as their children did for the proverbial witch.  That particular period, referred to,
found your reporter on a certain day, past meridian, engaged in a sugar camp, together with two youngerly men of acknowledged strength and prowess.  There were at the time unmistakable symptoms of a March storm in the air and sky, and while we were con-

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sulting how best to prepare the bush for an equinoctial, a young man approached us hesitatingly from the least frequented part of the forest that entirely surrounded us.  We all knew him, for we had seen him at church, at funerals, at ball playings and wrestling tournaments a score of times.  After identifying each member of the sap-boiling trio, from a distance, he came up and greeted us with a zeal that indicated that he had a favor to ask.  As there was no time for, or need of preliminaries, he informed my athletic companions that he had come to invite them to join a party of “regulators” (that was not the name he called the party).  That their service, though not indispensable to success, nevertheless would be generously requited in a like contingency in our own unvexed society.  That the festivities to which they were invited would be initiated by the consumption of two gallons of whisky, or as much thereof as would be required to facilitate further proceedings, which included the tarring and feathering a certain itinerant fiend who had already poluted the old log church, by preaching sentiments which if allowed to go unrebuked would end in a nigger crusade of butchery, that would spare neither age nor sex among the Heaven appointed guardians for the descendants of Ham.
     It was suggested furthermore that if those leaders, who encouraged such incendiarism, persisted in scandalizing that law abiding community, a wholesome discipline might be demanded in the shape of a free ride on a rail (not underground).
     It is perhaps needless to say that I volunteered to go along with as much relish as my friends had pledged themselves, although the rendezvous was five miles away, and said log meeting-house in Seneca county, and the scene of the interview in Norwich, Huron county, and the time for meeting six hours after.  The expedition on our part was to be made on foot, as oxen were then the means for transportation, and then the woods and fields were not as susceptible for boot tracks.  This consideration seemed more feasible when our messenger in taking his departure, mentioned the names of several elderly men who had been heard to say, “that the lecturer seemed to them to be sincere, and that they ought to see that he had fair play.”  These men were all known to us, and we recollected also that most of them had sons whose strength and activity and courage we all of us had seen or tested in games of rivalry.  It required no prophet’s forecast for us to see that right or wrong if the sires clenched their fists, 'these sons would see that

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they would be permitted to be delivered "where they would do the most good."
     While these reflections served to dampen our enthusiasm somewhat we resolved to pitch in, as a broken head was easier repaired than a broken promise in such a cause.
     An early supper was ordered at the house of my married companion.  Our hurried movements about the house and the unnatural manner we bolted our food, awakened a suspicion in the mind of the good wife, that something unusual was impending.  She called her husband aside for a private interview.  What was said I have no means of knowing, but I strongly suspect it had a good deal to do in inducing him to tell us shortly after, “that we didn’t need him along; that in case of a miscarriage of our Reedtown party, that our opportunity for seeing the country we could appreciate better than he could.  I do no not believe that the Divine Being imparted any intimation at this time, that he had ordained for the future wife of my other friend the daughter of one who ranked highest in this subterranean thoroughfare in Huron county.  I do not know as the impending equinoctial was considered a sufficient excuse for absence at roll call from the Norwich reinforcements, as these deluded enthusiasts assembled at a designated point upon the old Columbus & Sandusky turnpike that night, but I know that the whisky rations assigned to us went elsewhere.  I never heard that any human gore was consecrated upon any altar there that night, or any other, or that any tar or feathers had been applied for ornamental purposes on that occasion, but I do know that the earliest, most vigorous and most aggressive anti-slavery community existed in that section that has come within my own observation.  I have heard the declaration from those who had means of knowing that if the old milestones along that pike could speak that they would testify that faster time had been made on that highway in private conveyances by night with colored freight than had ever been accomplished by public stage in broad daylight.  If our old co-worker, Judge Frank Parish, could be permitted to revisit us on this occasion, I have no doubt his “time tables” would verify these statements.
     I claim no credit for having experienced a change of heart on this subject.  My conversion was totally unlike that of Saul’s, for I was blind almost as many years as he was hours, after light began to break.  I neither lost food nor sleep during the regenerating

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interval.  And now you will allow me to relate another incident, that, while it is engraved on my memory will check any tendency to backslide.
     On the early morning of the 20th day of September, 1863, while the partly shattered and broken ranks of Rosecrans army was being placed in position to meet the expected onset of Bragg’s rebel host, an old darky, venerable in his appearance, devout in all his actions, and scrupulously faithful in all his duties, a part of which was to minister to the temporal wants of an officer's mess, in the line of coffee and hard-tack.  The old fellow had at this early hour, left a hastily built fire with something to replenish our empty canteens and haversacks.  Passing along the line where I stood, old father Peal, a member of my regiment, who recollected a fulfilled prediction of mine relating to the battle of Shiloh more than a year before, called to me, in the presence of the old darkey, in a tone of voice and with an expression on his face that seemed to me to be premonitory.  His language was, “Adjutant, don’t you think this day will be the Waterloo of this army?”  I replied I hoped not.  The old darkey broke in, “Wy bress de Laud, no.  I
commenced to pray for yu all wen de fight commenced yester’ mornin’ an I prayed all night, an I’se goin’ to pray ’till de victory is won.”  Poor old father Peal fell dead pierced by a rebel bullet soon after noon.  Old Peter’s prayer was not answered that day, but was, I have not one particle of doubt, registered on that imperishable ledger, where so many million others from the loyal North have been inscribed, by Him who never permits a sparrow to fall unnoticed.  Unanswered, because the great sin of slavery had not yet received a sufficient libation of blood to remove its guilty stain, when the sun went down on that crimsoned field of Chickamauga.
     There were broader fields of conflict than that narrow valley, to be yet baptized with the life current; higher hills than those which surrounded these contending armies, on which the banners of the free were destined yet to wave in triumph.  There were costly victims yet to be laid on the sacrificial altar, including its wisest, its purest, its noblest, the immortal Lincoln.  He who saw from the beginning, as in some degree we are permitted to see now, that that terrible sacrifice, those importunate prayers, that long delayed answer were the means in the Divine economy to make it apparent to us, to all the world, that human bondage is odious in the sight of man and angels and God.
                                                                                       C. WOODRUFF.

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REV. THOMAS HOLLAND BOSTON
-----
By Rush R. Sloane, of Sandusky
-----

     Rev. Thomas Holland Boston was born in Prince George's County in the state of Maryland in the year 1809, upon the plantation of Benjamin Ogle, Esq., located about eighteen miles from the city of Washington, D. C.  His father and mother were free blacks.
     Young Boston was placed with other servants in the service of a son William Ogle, until he should arrive at the age of twenty-one.
     The privilege of attending the Episcopal church and of going to school was afforded to Boston, and so well was he treated in every other respect that he remained on the plantation of Mr. William Ogle until he was twenty-five years of age, serving his time as a farmer.
     He went from Mr. Ogle's to Philadelphia, thence to the city of New York, and, after a short residence there, to Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he preached for the first time, filling a pulpit during the pastor’s absence.  He remained in Bridgeport two years and again returned to New York city.  He spent some time at Tarrytown, New York, where he was employed as a porter in the Irving Institute of Learning kept by William and Charles Lyon.
     Afterwards he moved to Albany, New York, and while living there was married May 31, 1839, to Amelia Butler.  From Albany he came to Sandusky, Ohio, where he has since resided.
     When he first came to Sandusky there were not more than thirty adult black persons in the city or vicinity and there is now no colored person living there, or in Erie county, who was there when Boston came in 1839.
     When he first came to Sandusky he made his home with his

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brothers-in-law, William and Thomas Butler, in Perkins township.
     In 1843 he was ordained at Troy, Miami county, as an elder and licensed to preach by the Wesleyan Methodist Convocation.
     He established the first church for colored people in Sandusky and I think this was the first church for these people on the
Firelands.
     He has been an elder since 1843 and engaged in preaching most of the time since then.
     In 1848 he moved from the country into town and went to live in the house on Hancock street, Sandusky, which is now his home, which he had bought before he moved into it.
     He was for many years in charge of a church at Sandusky, and was also engaged in church work at Milan and Norwalk.  He gathered his people together wherever he could find them and preached to them for years without pay, for they were too poor to pay him, and, as he expressed it, “he loved I to do what he could for them. them” and was anxious
     Officiating at marriages and funerals and engaged in friendly and sympathetic ministerings in the sick room or at the home of the afflicted, Mr. Boston has emphasized his earnest interest in the welfare of his race and surely by his works will be known and for them be remembered.
     His first wife died May 31, 1865, and he was married a second time September 28, 1868, to Susan Bobo.  He has had three children, two of whom are still living, Georgiana, wife of George Scott of Sandusky, and Sarah, wife of George McGee of Norwalk.
     He has always been an industrious man and has been compelled to support himself and family almost wholly by his daily labor, his services in his church work affording him very little income, and he has applied himself to whatever he could find to do, but especially washing in which he is very proficient.
     Mr. Boston has always been a devoted friend of the slave and his kindly services were always at their disposal.  His house was constantly open to them and when he had no more room he was certain to find for them a friend in need where they could be taken care of.  Ever since his first coming to Ohio he has been known as a reliable friend of the fugitive and a history of his many undertakings in their behalf would prove most entertaining were the facts at hand.
     Mr. Boston is now a well preserved man for his years, and is living quietly in his own house in Sandusky, with his grandchildren, of whom he is very proud, growing up around him, a kind-hearted Christian man who has the respect of the community in which he lives.  For him I have ever had a high regard, and with him had an acquaintance and friendship for many years.

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A CENTENARIAN.
-----
From the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph
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     Residing on the banks of the Sandusky, in Liberty township, three and one-half miles east of Bucyrus, lives Daniel Bartlitt, who tomorrow, Sunday, June 24, 1888, celebrates the one hundredth anniversary of his birth.
      On June 24, 1788, on the- banks of the Susquehanna, Daniel Barlitt was born, at Harrisburg, Dauphin county, Pa.  He is of English and German descent, his grandfather coming from England long before the revolutionary war, and during that war the grandfather, Jacob Barlitt, was a body guard of General Washington, and was wounded in one of the battles; he was six feet in stature, well formed and robust in health, and died at the age of ninety years at Harrisburg, Penn.  Grandmother Barlitt was born in Germany.
     On his mother’s side, his grandfather and grandmother were also residents of Harrisburg, and during the Revolutionary war, the grandmother melted bullets for the American patriots.  Once, in these early pioneer days, during an Indian raid and battle, she secreted her children under the floor of the cabin.  In these early times babes were rocked in sugar troughs for their cradles, and sometimes they were fed from them.  These were the days when the pioneer mothers were conquering the wilderness of Pennsylvania which today contains some of the finest and most cultivated lands of the world.
     Daniel Barlitt relates to this day an incident of his grandfather’s experience when taken prisoner by the Indians while yet a young man.  He was with them three months and they made him carry their furs and do all the drudgery.  He managed to gain their confidence by the willingness with which he did their menial work, and as a result was given more liberty.  One day they sent him quite a distance from camp after a deer which they

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had killed, and ever on the lookout for a chance of escape he seized this opportunity and took to his heels.  He made for the nearest stream, and all that day and most of the night he traveled in the stream to make certain that his tracks were concealed from the sharp sight of the Indians and the quick scent of the dogs.  In the morning he left the stream and. crawled in a hollow log on the banks of the stream, where he secured needed sleep and rest.  While concealed there the Indians passed him unnoticed, he seeing the glitter of their guns.  He remained in the log all day, eating nothing except a few roots.  The next night he took to the stream again for several miles until nearly midnight, when he climed a high tree for rest and safety from the wild animals.  In the morning he heard a cock crow, and following the sound came to a clearing where there was a settlement.  He went to the cabin and found friends.  Having eaten nothing but roots and wild fruit, and besides the filth of the Indian diet having almost starved him, it required several days to recruit his strength before he left for his home where he arrived safely.
     Born at Harrisburg, Penn., he married there; his wife’s maiden name being Pracilla; this union was blessed with six children, four boys and two girls, none of them living, as far as known.  One of the boys started for California in the early days, and the boat he had taken sunk and nothing more was heard of him; and another died of hemorrhage of the nose.  In 1823 he moved to Wooster, Ohio, placing his worldly effects in a large wagon, and himself and older children walking almost the entire distance, their principal subsistance being the game they shot on the way.
     While at Wooster his first wife died, and he married Betsey Dupes, by whom there were three boys and two girls, the sons yet living at Wooster, and the daughters both dead.  The sons are Henry, William and Martin; the daughters Elizabeth and Barbara; Barbara married Christian Amos and died in Olmstead county, Minn., near St. Paul; Elizabeth also married an Amos, a half brother of Christian Amos, and she, too, died in Minnesota.
     During his short stay at Wooster, at one time he took a contract to drive a drove of cattle from Wooster through Bucyrus to Upper Sandusky, away back in 1823.  He had to take the cattle through a woods that was 40 miles through. Imagine a woods of 40 miles where now fine farming lands are highly cultivated.  He

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traveled alone, with no companions but his dog and gun and not a cabin to stop at, nothing but a complete, unbroken wilderness, and inhabited by Indians.  One night while camping in the middle of this forest, a traveler came upon him, and gladly he shared with him his evening meal and the warmth of his camp-fire.
     He took a fancy to Upper Sandusky, and moved there, working for a man named Garrett, who kept the first tavern there, and who was married to an Indian squaw; he soon removed from there to Bucyrus, where he obtained employment at the hotel kept about where Shonert’s tannery now stands, on the banks of the Sandusky.
     In 1834 he removed to his present residence in Liberty township, where he settled on 31 acres of land, and since then he has devoted his attention to farming.
     Here his second wife died and on March 4, 1848, he married Mrs. Trash, maiden name Speagle; there was one child of this union, not living.  The wife is yet living; she was 80 years old on June 12, and is in poor health, being afflicted with consumption.
     The Centenarian is quite supple and active for one of his years, and an inveterate tobacco chewer; his mind is still active, but weak and treacherous when it comes to remembering names.  He takes a pleasure in doing a few odd, light chores; he feeds two pigs and a cow.  He frequently relates Indian stories and the actual happenings of his early days, he is of a cheerful, quiet disposition; has ever been a peaceful neighbor and good citizen; so peaceable is he that during all his pioneer life, his hunting excursions, and his wandering through the wilderness he never had any difficulty with the Indians.
     In politics he is a Democrat, and went to the polls last fall and voted as usual.
     This week he was in the city, and had his pictures taken by the photographer, and he looks 20 years younger than he really is, and his health is such that he has every reason to hope to reach the age of some of his ancestors, who lived to the ripe old age of 110 and 112.  His grandfather on his mother’s side died at Harrisburg at the age of 112, and his grandmother at the same place at 105.  His father’s father died young, being only 90 years old when he was called away.  Of his brothers and sisters one brother died aged 105, and another at 108.  A sister was living in Maryland, when last heard from, who is now 102.

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Meeting of the Directors and Trustees
May 26, 1888.

     The Board of Directors and Trustees of the Firelands Historical Society held a called meeting in G. T. Stewart’s law office, in Norwalk, on Saturday, May 26th, 1888.
     In the absence of President Bogardus, Capt. Chauncey Woodruff, of Peru, first Vice President called the meeting to order and presided over its deliberations.
     In the absence of Secretary L. C. Laylin, F. R. Loomis was made Secretary pro tem.
     The members present were C. Woodruff, G. T. Stewart, J. D. Easton, S. A. Wildman and F. R. Loomis.
     It was moved by G. T. Stewart that the annual meeting of the Society be held on Wednesday, June 27th, instead of June 20th, as contemplated by the constitution; the change being desirable for various good and sufficient reasons.  The motion was seconded and unanimously carried.
     Mr. Wildman moved that the annual meeting be held in Whittlesey Hall, and that the forenoon be devoted to business and reports; the afternoon to an address from General S. H. Hurst, of Columbus, Director General of the Ohio Centennial, and to various short talks, and the evening to an address from General Wm. H. Gibson, of Tiffin, Ohio.  The motion was seconded and unanimously carried.
     Mr. Easton moved that a small admission fee of 15 cents be charged to General Gibson’s evening meeting to defray necessary expenses of the annual meeting; carried.
     Mr. Stewart moved that a wood cut portrait be procured of the Rev. Thomas G. Boston, the colored preacher, for insertion in Volume V of the Pioneer.
     After further consultation relating to the interests and success of the 32d annual meeting of the Society, the Board adjourned.
                                                                                      F. R. LOOMIS, Secretary pro tern.

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THIRTY-SECOND ANNUAL MEETING
JUNE 27, 1888.
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MORNING SESSION.

     The Thirty-second Annual Meeting of the Firelands Historical Society was held in Whittlesey Hall, Norwalk, on Wednesday, June 27, 1888.
     President Bogardus called the meeting to order and Isaac McKesson, of East Townsend, offered prayer.
     The minutes of the last annual, and subsequent quarterly meetings were read by Recording Secretary L. C. Laylin, and approved by the Society.
     The annual report of the Board of Directors and Trustees was then presented by G. T. Stewart, Esq., and is as follows:

DIRECTORS AND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT.

     The Directors and Trustees of the Firelands Historical Society respectfully submit to the Society their annual report.
     The close of the thirty-first year of the Society finds it substantially free from debt and with encouraging evidence of progress and prosperity in the Work for which it was organized.
     Two quarterly meetings were held by it in the last year, one at Berlin Heights and the other at Milan, both of which were largely attended and bore substantial fruits of the public interest in them and in the success of the Society.
     The publication of the fifth volume of the Firelands Pioneer has been nearly completed and it will appear in a few weeks.  The demand for it is shown by the fact that orders have been received for it in advance, which will require more than half of the edition to supply.
     Steps have been taken to add, in future publications of the Society, a department of living biography and business, exhibiting

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the present condition, together with the past progress and history of the various industries, the financial, commercial, manufacturing and agricultural enterprises of the Firelands, giving personal sketches of the citizens who have been eminent in them.
     At the same time, the necrological reports will be carefully continued and the facts and incidents in the lives of the pioneers who have passed away, will be sought and treasured, as heretofore.  We reflect that “Peace has its victories as well as war”;  and that the peaceful struggles and triumphs of the pioneers, not only in our early settlements, but in all enterprises for the development of our civilization, and for the moral, social and material progress of our people, are worthy of the pen of the historian and the grateful honors of posterity.
     The success of the system of quarterly meetings, wherever held, in all the history of the Society, is evidence of the policy of their continuance and active promotion in the future.
     Local auxiliaries should be organized in all the townships to gather up and continue their several histories and to keep alive a pervading and increasing interest in the objects of the Society.

     On motion the above report was received and placed on file.
     G. T. Stewart here read a telegram from Gen. W. H. Gibson, of Tiffin, Ohio, announcing his inability to attend the meeting and deliver the address in the evening.
     Treasurer C. W. Manahan of the Society presented his report showing the receipts and disbursements of the Society for the past year.  The report showed that $20 in interest was due the Society on the $500 note held to the credit of the publication fund.
     F. R. Loomis also reported monies collected and paid out by him, including $27.98 due the Chronicle Publishing Company on Volume IV of the Pioneer.  The reports of Treasurer Manahan and F. R. Loomis were referred to an auditing committee, as follows:
Capt. C. Woodruff and G. T. Stewart.
     Biographer F. R. Loomis reported the death of 56 pioneers since the last annual meeting, and that nineteen written biographies had been handed him.
     President Bogardus appointed the following committee on

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nomination of officers for the coming year: S. A. Wildman, Esq., J. M. Whiton and F. G. Lockwood.
     F. R. Loomis of the committee on resolutions reported the following in memory of the late Chas. E. Newman:

RESOLUTIONS.

     Your committee appointed at the meeting of this Society in Milan, Ohio, on February 22, 1888, respectfully offer the following resolutions in memory of C. E. Newman, recently deceased.
     WHEREAS, Charles E. Newman, a life member of the Firelands Historical Society, its Librarian and Custodian of Relics, and also one of the members of its Board of Directors and Trustees, was called from his earthly labors on the 14th day of November, 1887.
Therefore, be it
     Resolved, That in the death of our esteemed friend and co-laborer this Society loses a reliable and earnest friend, an active promoter and supporter of its good work, one of its most faithful and valued officers, a persistent and successful advocate of its cause and one who never faltered in his devotion to the interests of our Society.
     Resolved, That the constancy, faithfulness and devotion of Charles E. Newman to the welfare of the Firelands Historical Society deserves the gratitude of its friends, and is worthy of the emulation of all.
     Resolved, That these resolutions be incorporated in the minutes of the meeting and published with our other proceedings, that the memory of his faithfulness may not be forgotten.

     The report was adopted and the same ordered placed on the records of the Society.
     Judge C. B. Stickney then addressed the society in appropriate remarks upon the life and services of Mr. Newman.  He said Mr. Newman was naturally a christian, benevolent and kind, imbued with a great love for human kind.  At one time the Firelands Society would undoubtedly have ceased its existence had it not been for the untiring efforts of Mr. Newman.
     President Bogardus supplemented Judge Stickney’s remarks,

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with words eulogistic of Mr. Newman, living an estimate of the deceased's life based upon his acquainance with him.
     G. T. Stewart, Esq., spoke of Mr. Newman's connection with the society.  He was always prominent on the various committees; he was a member of the first committee which represented Norwalk township in the Firelands Historical Society.  He attended to the preliminary arrangements for all of the Society meetings and was always present.  Who can take the place of Charles E. Newman?
     S. A. Wildman, Esq., then spoke eloquently of the characteristics which marked Mr. Newman's life.  His love for children, and his great zeal in all good works.  He welcomed the position of President of the Huron County Children's Home and gave valuable time and much attention thereto.
     Hon. F. r. Loomis spoke of his constancy and faithfulness to friends, as a marked characteristic of Mr. Newman; also his reliability in public duties.
     Jas. D. Easton and L. C. Laylin spoke in the same eulogistic way of the good man and fellow worker whom death had taken from the society.
     T. R. Strong related an incident showing the kindness of Mr. Newman  In the summer of 1845 Mr. Newman lived on a farm about two miles south of Norwalk village.  Mr. Strong having a case to try before Wm. G. Mead, then a justice of the peace in Bronson, was driving by the farm, when his horse balked.  Mr. Newman came out, and taking one of his own horses, put it in place of the balky one, and took Mr. Strong to the residence of Mr. Mead in time for the trial.  This was the first time that Mr. Strong became acquainted with him and he always found him the same, kind, accomodating man.  From the time that he became a resident of Norwalk, Mr. Newman was always active in every benevolent enterprise, incessantly circulating calls and subscriptions for charitable purposes, so that whenever Mr. Strong met him he expected some new appeal to hearts or pockets.  As president
of the society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Mr. Strong had more aid and encouragement from Mr. Newman than any other citizen of Norwalk.  Not long before the death of Mr. Newman, he picked up a poor ragged, dirty wanderer in the streets and took him to his home where Mr. Strong found him at the table.  Both took his case in hand, clothed and sent him to school,

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but finally had to send him to the Reform Farm.  There seemed to be no end of Mr. Newman’s love for children and no limit to his efforts in their behalf.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

     After the meeting had been called to order by President Bogardus, S. A. Wildman, Esq., reported in behalf of the committee on nominations, as follows:

OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY.

     President - E. Bogardus.
     Vice Presidents - Judge A. W. Hendry and Capt. C. Woodruff.
     Recording Secretary - L. C. Laylin.
     Corresponding Secretary - J. G. Gibbs.
     Treasurer - C. W. Manahan.
     Biographer - F. R. Loomis
     Librarian - C. H. Gallup.
     Directors and Trustees - J. D. Easton, G. T. Stewart, F. G. Lockwood, F. R. Loomis and C. H. Gallup.
     The report was unanimously adopted.
     President Bogardus accepted, with thanks, his reelection as an expression of confidence on the part of the society.
     Hon. F. R. Loomis presented a photograph of the first steamer, "Walk-in-the-Water," that plied the lakes, and read a sketch of said boat.
     Mr. A. B. Forster, who had seen the vessel, "Walk-in-the-Water," spoke of the character of the construction and arrangement of the craft.  Mr. Forster is now 84 years old and resides in Milan.
     Mr. Loomis extended an earnest invitation to all present to become members of the society, and explained terms of membership.
     The committee on time and place for holding the fall meeting of the society reported through G. W. Clary in favor of Birmingham, Erie county, and the time, Wednesday, September 26.  On motion the report was adopted.
     G. T. Stewart of the auditing committee reported the accounts of treasurer Manahan and the publication committee cor-

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rect, and that there was a balance due the CHRONICLE Publishing Co. of $27.98.  Report received and approved.
     Capt. C. Woodruff, of Peru, presented several relics, among them a "speakin trumpet," 113 years old, owned by Mr. Hoyt; also "Grandmother's Platter," owned my Mrs. Hoyt.
     J. D. Easton related some interesting reminiscences of himself and G. W. Clary.
     Gen. S. H. Hurst, Director General of the Ohio Centennial, then addressed the society.  He commended the objects of the Society and said that our history during the past century reads like a romance.  It is most important that these memories be kept alive and preserved for the edification of succeeding generations.  Our people are a representative people and have given to the world names in every walk of life whose glory and greatness can never be forgotten.
     Early emigration centered in Ohio from all the thirteen states of the east; all bloods were here mingled and produced the splendid types of manhood and womanhood we now possess.  From the state these lines of emigration diverged to 13 states to the west of us.  The blood of the east and the blood of the west mingled with ours and we are akin to all the states of the Union.  
     Gen. Hurst explained the origin of the Columbus Centennial, and outlined the program for each week of the Exposition.  Most of the counties, he said, are taking an interest in the matter; 15 or 20 counties are preparing to make an agricultural and horticultural exhibit.  There will be seen one of the finest shows of live stock ever made, and the woman’s department gives promise of being a grand success.  One hundred cities and towns have been interested in the work, by Mrs. Williams, and organizations to carry on the work, formed.  The exhibit in this department will greatly surpass that of the Philadelphia centennial.  He earnestly invited our people to come to the centennial and to bring with them the best they have in products and exhibits.
     A. A. Graham, Secretary of the Ohio Archaeological Society then addressed the meeting presenting the features of the historical department of the Columbus Centennial.  He solicited contributions of ancient relics of every description, promising that if these were sent to Columbus they would be carefully cased and exhibited, and safely returned to their owner at the close of the Exposition.  He commended this Centennial to our people and urged them to attend.

Pg. 99 - RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS -

     Memberships in the Firelands Historical Society were here paid for and books sold amounting to $10.50
     The society on motion adjourned to meet in Birmingham, on Wednesday, September 26, 1888.
                                                          L. C. LAYLIN, REC. SEC'Y.

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MEMBERSHIPS AND BOOKS PAID FOR.

     The following persons paid 50 cents each, for annual membership dues, viz:  J. D. Easton, Monroeville; Enos Holiday Hartland; J. M. Whiton, Wakeman; J. D. Chamberlin, Norwalk; Geo. W. Clary, Birmingham; E. Bogardus, North  Monroeville; W. G. Benschoten, Shinrock; G. W. Manahan Norwalk; F. G. Lockwood, Milan; M. Lipsett, Sandusky.
     The following paid 50 cents each for Volume IV of the Pioneer, which was delivered to them, viz:  J. D. Easton, Mrs. J. Haines.
     The following persons paid 50 cents each for Volume V of the Pioneer to be delivered when published viz:  Geo. W. Clary, Birmingham; E. Bogardus, North Monroeville; W. G. Benschoten, Shinrock; O. Hunt, Moroeville; H. P. Starr, Birmingham; R. Laughlin, Milan; I. B. Hoyt, North Fairfield; D. H. Benschoten, Shinrock; J. H. Sterling, Olena; M. Lipsett, Sandusky.

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"LE GRIFFIN'
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The First Full Rigged Vessel that Sailed the Great Lakes.
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Extract from the History of the City of Buffalo Published in 1887 (beginning 1803) as to the Building and Navigating the First Full-Rigged Vessel on the Great Lakes.  Prepared for Publication in the Firelands Pioneer.
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     For many years the Kah-Kawas and the Iroquois, then comprising but five nations, were at peace.
     In 1647 according to William Ketchum, a species of joists, or tournaments, were held at the site of Buffalo, whereat some jealousies were excited, and animosities created, which culminated in bitter warfare in 1650, with the result that the Kah-Kawas were almost annihilated, the few survivors being adopted by the Iroquois.
     After the extermination of the Kah-Kawas, Buffalo Creek and the lovely region surrounding it was without settlements, except such few temporary encampments as might be made by hunting parties exploring its glades and forests in quest of game.  Thus it remained for one hundred and thirty years until 17.79, when the Senecas, after their disastrous defeat as British allies during the Revolutionary war, with probably some Cayugas and Onondagas,
came hither to settle at Buffalo.
     One hundred years prior to the settlement, in January, 1679, Robert Chevalier de la Salle, arrived at the embouchure of the

Pg. 101 - "LE GRIFFIN."

Niagaria River, together with the Chevalier Henri de Tonti, the Siem La Motte de Sussure and Perrie Louis Henepin, and a party of explorers, of whom La Salle was in command.
     The party ascended the river, and made a portage around the Falls to the mouth of Cayuga Creek just above which, on the main land, and protected by the island, they established a primitive shipyard.
     The site was so favorable that in 1804 the United States selected it for building a vessel called the Niagara, of fifty tons burthen, which was used for conveying supplies to western ports.  This sloop was subsequently purchased by Augustus and Peter B. Porter, Benj. Burton & Co. (Joseph Annin) and rebuilt at Black Rock, being christened the “Nancy," after the wife of Benj. Barton Work proceeded on the former vessel through the winter, two Indians of the Wolf tribe, of the Senecas, being employed to hunt deer for the ship builders, and in the spring the little vessel was launched, after having, says Father Henepin, been blessed according to rites of the church of Rome.  She was named “Le Griffin” (the Griffin) and had for her figure head a carved Griffin, in honor of Count Louis Frontenac, Governor-General of Canada, on whose coat of arms appeared that fabulous monster.
     For some months the “Griffin” remained in the Niagara River between Cayuga Creek and the rapids at the head of the river, during which time Father Henepin returned to Frontenac (now Kingston) for two Francisian Friars, Gabriel de la Ribonide and Zenobe Membre, who were selected to accompany the exploring party on the “Griflin.”  While Father Henepin was thus absent La Salle and his party transported all their munitions of war, supplies, &c., from below the Falls to the shipyard.  On Henepin’s return with the priestly reenforcement, several efforts were made to ascend the rapids above Black Rock, bu.t without success, until August 7, 1679; on that day, a favorable breeze having sprung up, the “Griffin” left her anchorage near the foot of Squaw Island, on (De-dgo-we-no-guh-do or divided island, in Seneca) and ascended the Niagara River into Lake Erie.  She was sixty tons burthen, full-rigged and equipped, and several small cannon, with some muskets, were her armament.  Her officers and crew comprised thirty-four men, all French, with the exception of the Chevalier Tonti, who was second in command to La Salle.  Being unable to overcome the rapid current between the bluffs where the ruins of

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Fort Portunoro stand, and the islet since known as Bird Island, a dozen men were landed on the eastern bank to tow her up the stream, while the Indians on the shore shouted their wonder and admiration at the marvellous spectacle.  Tow lines and sails soon accomplished the desired result, and the little vessel dashed its way into Lake Erie, the forerunner of our vast commerce and the precursor of the fleets that would sail from what was a virgin forest, marking the site of the City of Buffalo.  After the lake was attained, the tow men embarked, a salvo of artillery and fire-arms was fired; Te Deum Laudamus chanted by the happy and grateful explorers, and the “Griffin” sailed south-west on Lake Erie, the harbinger of civilization and christianity.
     She was wrecked amongst the islands of the north end of Lake Michigan, with total loss of crew, pilot, supercargo, and five mariners.

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TAKEN BY COMMODORE PERRY.
-----
Alexander Odren, Warrior and Pioneer, Dies Almost a Centenarian
-----
From the Detroit Tribune, July 11, 1888.

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     COLDWATER, July 10. - Alexander Odren, probably the oldest native born resident of Michigan, who died at his home in California township recently of paralysis, was born in Detroit in 1791.  He remembered that city when it was a town about eighty rods square, being bounded by the fort and river, the whole inclosed with a stockade, except on the river side.  During the war of 1812 he was captured by the British press gang and taken on board the man-of-war the Queen Charlotte and impressed into the British service.  He was compelled to serve against his own country more than a year, when he was captured by Commodore Perry at the battle of Lake Erie.  Previous to and during this fight he was second in command of a 24-pound gun.  When the battle began the gun was manned by nine men; when it closed Odren and one other man were the only survivors.
     Proving that he was an American citizen compelled to fight against his own country, he was released and then enlisted in the Second Rifle regiment and did what he could to repay the enemy for compelling him to fight his own people.
When the rebellion broke out he patriotically offered his services, but was not accepted.
     He has resided in California township ever since the early part of 1836, and his face was a familiar one at all the pioneer gatherings of late years.  His wife, to whom he was united in 1815, survives him at the age of 94 years.  Her health is quite poor, and she will undoubtedly soon follow him to his last place.  Thirteen children were born to them, 10 of whom are living.  One son was killed in the army.

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SANDUSKY IN 1822
-----
FROM SANDUSKY, OHIO, SATURDAY GAZETTE
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                                                         SANDUSKY, January 30, 1888.
     EDITOR SATURDAY GAZETTE: - A letter was published in the Register recently from H. Wildman's father in Connecticut saying he believed David Campbell and his brother published the Clarion in Sandusky in 1822.  That is a mistake.  On Wednesday, April 24, 1822, Messrs. David Campbell and Adonijah Champlin published the first number of the Sandusky Clarion, a weekly newspaper.  Champlin was a young man, who a few years later went east. The office was in a frame building and stood where Schnaitter and Buderus’ clothing store now is.  Campbell was married and lived in the building where the printing office was.
     The late Hon. F. D. Parish said there were all told twenty three buildings in the village of Sandusky at that date, including commission houses, dwelling houses, stores and barns, and about three hundred inhabitants.  Among those doing business here we find L. and M. Farwell, commission merchants; William Townsend, dry goods dealer; Galin Atkins, boot and shoe dealer; D. McMurry, attorney-at-law; D. C. Henderson, in the banking business; H. Kilbourn, postmaster; F. D. Parish, attorney-at-law; Wheeler and Galloway, merchants; S. H. Stearns, tanner and courrier; A. Root, saddler and harness maker; Jennings and Darling, dealers in dry goods; Bush and Hollister, commission merchants; John N. Sloane, silver smith and watch maker; O. and L. Cooke, dry goods merchants; H. J. Harman, attorney-at-law; Bassett Bethel, tailor; Alexander Clemens, cabinet maker; James C. Hurd, hatter; Sylvanius Cone, butcher and D. H. Tuttle, lumber merchant.  There were others here engaged in trapping and trading, but the above named were the principal men.
                                                             OLD RESIDENT.

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