Home » History » Underground Railroad » Some more on Ripley’s Underground Railroad Involvement

Some more on Ripley’s Underground Railroad Involvement

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

Since I began writing this topic, I was gravitated toward the town of Ripley, Ohio, which I visited in 1982 (on our family's way to the Knoxville World's Fair). That is when I first learned that there was an Underground Railroad movement active in Ripley. One cannot miss the Ripley home overlooking the town.

One Ripley abolitionist even wrote in a local newspaper:

"I would remind my friends across the river that if they murder Mr. Rankin, destroy his property and even burn down the town of Ripley, they will never save one slave by it. I would also say to them, while they are talking about taking lives, burning property and towns, that they have houses, property and towns as well as we. And I will say more that we are not to be deterred from our duty by the threats they can make. God has given us the rights of hospitality and we will never surrender it but with our lives."

Such was the fervor for abolition and freedom for slaves in Ripley. And as we've seen, there were many people and many places accommodating to fugitive slaves in Ripley.

Susannah West of Ripley has been gracious in sharing some other tidbits of Ripley history and places that served as stations.

One place is "the house with three doors" on Front Street. This was the first house Rankin built for himself in Ripley in 1822. I am currently reading a novel about the Ripley family where the construction of this house is a source of gossip-why does the pastor need three doors? (In the novel, the "three doors" are three apartments of which the good reverend rents out two.) Rankin wrote Letters on American Slavery here. One renter was the editor of The Castigator, an abolitionist newspaper which also originally published Rev. Rankin's letters.

Reverend John Rankin and his wife are buried in Maplewood Cemetery, as are his son Richard Calvin Rankin and Richard's wife America. The cemetery is on Second Street next to the elementary school. The Rankin gravestones are located near the Civil War monument.

The current Presbyterian Church, at the corner of Third and Mulberry Streets, sits at the site of Rankin's church. Though the current building was built in 1867, Rankin did preach in this building when he returned to Ripley for visits.

Five miles north of Ripley is a place known as Red Oak. The Red Oak Presbyterian Church also harbored fugitive slaves, likely making it a destination after Ripley. The pastor of Red Oak was James Gilliland. The old church building, with the

The copyright of the article Some more on Ripley’s Underground Railroad Involvement in Underground Railroad is owned by . Permission to republish Some more on Ripley’s Underground Railroad Involvement in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.