Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/595

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUiN^TY.

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��is well stored with interesting reminiscences. A man of strong convictions, he has alwaj^s been, as was his father before him, a strong advocate of the Christian religion, and especiall}- energetic in carrying out his ideas of Christian duty. He early espoused the cause of temperance, and made speeches upon that subject at the public meetings then held in the log houses and barns of his neighbors, and was one of that small band of heroes who earl}' proclaimed their hatred of slavery, and were branded " Aboli- tionists," a term by no means popular in those days ; but, having lived to see his ideas triumph- ant, considers himself well paid for his suffer- ings and persecutions. He considered it a re- ligious duty to assist in the escape of fugitive slaves, and was for many years, with his neigh- bor Joseph Roe, prominently connected with the " underground railway," his house being al- ways open, and his services freely given to this cause. During the twenty-five 3-ears he was en- gaged in this, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of fugitive slaves were assisted on their way to Canada. They came from different points of the compass to his house, which seemed to l)e a crossing-place and [rendezvous. iMan}' came from the Gass settlement and McCluer's in Troy Township, others from the Quaker settlement in ^lorrow County, and man}' from Iberia, and were often carried in wagons from one point to another ; at first, generally at night, but later, in daylight, unless danger of recapture was apprehended. When the noted Randolph, of Virginia, freed his slaves, which he did from conscientious motives, he established them in Mercer County, Ohio, and this soon became a famous resort for the fugitives, and from this settlement large numbers were brought to Mr. Finney. It is asserted by Mr. Finney, that thousands of slaves escaped the bloodhounds by rubbing the juice of an onion on the soles of their shoes ; that the hounds would never follow a slave after getting a scent of the onion ; and he relates an instance in which the nem-o

��himself watched the hounds upon his track, and saw them turn back when the}' came to the spot where he had applied the onion juice.

Mr. Finney usually kept the fugitives at his house over night, and often for several days, then taking them in his wagon to Savannah. Ashland County, or to Olierlin, Ohio. He usu- ally left his home early in the morning, passing Mansfield (which did not look with favor upon his business) before daylight, arriving in Ober- lin by sundown. Olierlin was then, as it has ever remained, a great friend to the colored man. Having reached this point, they were generally safe, as public opinion was such that the odious fugitive-slave law could not be en- forced. He relates the case of a 3Ir. Greene who stopped at his house several days. Greene's father, who lived in Tennessee, made a will re- leasing all his slaves. After his death, the two boys could not agree in carrying out the terms of the will, one wishing to detain the blacks as slaves. The other, however, determined they should be free. and. although compelled to hide for his life, he remained in the neighborhood until he saw his father's former slaves all safely off to Canada, and then came to Ohio with his wife and six children in destitute circumstan- ces. In Ohio, Greene and his family were hunted and driven from place to place, living sometimes in deserted cabins and swamps, and finally sought safety in Canada, assisted on their way by 3Ir. Finney. As an instance of the honesty of tlie colored people, and the hard- ships they endured for freedom. ]Mr. Finney re- lates that two men with their wives once came to him in midwinter, nearly frozen. They had taken their master's horses, crossed the Ohio on the ice, after which they returned the horses to their owner and came on afoot. The}- were kept several days, clothed, fed and taken on their way to a colder region. Mr. Robbins and ^Ir. Joseph Roe, his neighl)ors, living five and seven miles away, were Mr. Finney's right-hand men in this business. Mr. Roe is still living a

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