Going back to Ripley, Ohio, before we leave it entirely, let us look at another station that helped make Ripley a center of the Underground Railroad, the Parker House.
The house is named for its builder and inhabitant, John Parker. John Parker was African-American-in fact, like Harriet Tubman he was a former slave! John Parker became a successful patented inventor and businessman in Ripley before the Civil War.
The Parker House is today a National Historic Landmark on Ripley's famed Front Street. The house still stands on the north bank of the Ohio River in Ripley, Ohio. John Parker lived in this house from 1853 until his death in 1900.
The foundry Parker owned was behind the house. It would not be unusual, then, for people to frequently come to the house of even this African-American. Everyone needed some implement fixed or fashioned. Parker also seems to have fashioned and fixed items for tobacco farmers, given his two patents in this arena. The only thing suspicious would have been "coloreds" coming from the river.
The house sat about 100 yards from the river, as did many of the houses on Front Street. Many of these homes were "stations" in the UGRR. It is likely that different houses were used at different times to keep the authorities at bay. The federals either had to guard every house, or make lucky guesses as to which house would be the goal of fugitives.
The location also made it ideal for Parker himself to go into Kentucky and retrieve slaves seeking to escape. It was this overt operation that earned Parker the wrath of Kentucky and a price of $1000 on his head. It appears no one was able to claim that prize.
According to Parker's journals, the real warfare against slavery along the Ohio River was waged around the few houses at the top of the river bank on Front Street. "The occupants of these few houses were the midnight marauders, very secretive and silent in their ways, but trustworthy and friendly to the fugitives." He called this the "Borderland," the area between freedom and slavery.
Parker left slaves with Thomas Collins. Yes, even the Underground Railroad had a "Tom Collins!" Collins had coffins that he would hide fugitives in-especially if Parker was chased while "conducting" "freight."
This house is a two story red brick house with large windows and a doorway facing the Front Street. Behind it is the white foundry which Parker built. The chimney is set into the building and adorned with accompanying brickwork. The architecture around the chimney is reflected at the other end of the house.
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