Ohio's Underground Railroad Triangle — Hidden History

In 1850, tensions were high in the United States over the issue of the extension of slavery in the new western territories acquired from Mexico after the Mexican-American War. “Free Soil” Abolitionists wanted to see slavery limited to the South, while pro-slavery “Fire-Eaters” argued slavery was essential to a well-ordered society.

George & Sarah Gammon HousePhoto byThe Gammon House Underground Railroad Museum

The California Gold Rush

The situation reached a boiling point when California requested admission to the Union after the territory’s population exploded due to the California Gold Rush. The California Constitution prohibited slavery. The Southern Fire-Eaters were outraged, fearing they would lose political power because there were 15 Free Soil States and 15 Slave States at the time. The admission of California as a Free State would shift power in the U.S. Senate away from the South.

The Compromise of 1850

The situation was ultimately diffused by the Compromise of 1850 which allowed California to enter the Union as a Free State but also included a new, more stringent Fugitive Slave Act. This law required people to help aid U.S. and local law enforcement officials in tracking down and returning escaped slaves to their owners.

Springfield

It is the Fugitive Slave Act that leads us to Springfield, which is in Clark County, Ohio, and Mechanicsburg, which is in Champaign County. Mechanicsburg is about 20 miles northeast of Springfield. Today, it is about a 20-minute drive, along scenic Route 4 (Mechanicsburg Road) from Mechanicsburg to the center of Springfield.

Mechanicsburg

Mechanicsburg is the quintessential Ohio small town. There is a small downtown, full of old, historic buildings and churches, surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans. Next to one of the churches is a historical marker that reads “Addison White.” The full text of this marker is included at the end of this article.

Addison White MarkerPhoto byHistorical Marker Database

From this marker, the road cuts through the small hills and fields to Springfield, once a proud center of manufacturing and one of Ohio’s best places to live. Sadly, the city has fallen on hard times.

Levi Coffin and E.G. Coffin

More than 165 years ago, Springfield and Mechanicsburg were two key locations on the Underground Railroad. Escaped slaves from the South made their way across the Ohio River to places like Ripley, Ohio, where Levi Coffin sent them northeast to his nephew, E.G. Coffin, and safe houses in Clark County and Champaign County.

E.G. CoffinPhoto byFind A Grave

E.G. Coffin was the constable in South Charleston, Ohio, roughly 30 miles south of Mechanicsburg, and 30 miles southeast of Springfield. Today, the village is similar to Mechanicsburg.

The route to South Charleston took escaped slaves from the river to Quaker settlements in Clinton County. From there, they passed through Xenia or Jamestown to Wilberforce, then to places like Selma, South Charleston, and Springfield. After these stops, many went to Urbana or Mechanicsburg.

Heritage Center Museum, Springfield.Photo byOhio Department of Development

The Underground Railroad Triangle

The three main locations form a triangle, with Mechanicsburg at the top, Springfield at the bottom left, and South Charleston at the bottom right. The top of the triangle tilts northeast, toward Marysville. For escaped slaves, it pointed toward Canada and freedom.

The Underground Express

Escaped slaves would often be sent to South Charleston, where Coffin would transport them via the “underground express” to Mechanicsburg, so they could be taken to the next “stop,” in Marysville, Ohio. However, there were instances when slaves had to be moved to — or moved through — Springfield. In fact, E.G. Coffing transported Addison White to Mechanicsburg.

Abolitionists in Springfield and Clark County

Although there is no way to know everyone who was involved in the operation of this triangle, some of the prominent people who lived in the area were:

• John D. Nichols — bookseller and newspaper editor.
• Ann Aston Warder — known as “Mother Warder,” opened a school in her home for local children.
• Samson Mason — served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ann Aston WarderPhoto byFerncliff Cemetery

Springfield Safe Houses

John D. Nichols operated a safe house at 307 South Mechanic Street, which is present-day Lowry Street. Today, the lot is empty, and the house is no longer standing. However, an old account says it had a “slave cupboard” that consisted of two “secret closets” located under the floor. Slaves entered these closets through trap doors that were easily concealed.

In 1850, George and Sarah Gammon built a house in Springfield at 620 S. Piqua Place. The Gammons were free people of color. They raised their seven children in their modest one-story brick house — which was also a stop on the Underground Railroad. This house still proudly stands in Springfield. It has been restored and operates as a museum.

The Addison White Marker in Mechanicsburg

This text is taken from the historical marker that sits on the East side of Route 4, just north of the intersection of Route 4 and Main Street, in the center of Mechanicsburg. It provides a high-level overview of what is sometimes called the “Mechanicsburg War.”

Congress passed Fugitive Slave Laws in 1793 and 1850, allowing federal marshals to arrest slaves that had escaped to the North and take them back to their southern owners. They could also arrest northerners suspected of aiding runaway slaves. These laws were contested throughout the North, including Ohio where one case received national press.

It involved escaped slave Addison White who arrived in Mechanicsburg in August 1856. There he met abolitionist Udney Hyde and stayed at his farm while Hyde recovered from a leg injury.

Addison WhitePhoto byFace2Face Africa

White's master Daniel White learned of his location and went to Mechanicsburg in April 1857 with federal marshals. When attempting to take Addison and arrest Hyde on grounds of violating the Fugitive Slave Law, Hyde's daughter ran to town and brought back residents with pitchforks and shovels to fight the marshals. Fearing for their lives, the marshals left, but came back to arrest the men who protected White.

Arresting Charles Taylor, Edward Taylor, Russell Hyde, and Hiram Gutridge, the marshals, saying they were taking the men into Urbana for a preliminary trial on charges of harboring and protecting a fugitive slave, instead headed south to Kentucky.

Learning of the arrests, a large number of Champaign County citizens set off on horseback to free their neighbors. The Clark County sheriff joined in the pursuit, but was shot near South Charleston when trying to stop the marshals.

The running battle ended in Lumberton near Xenia when the Greene County sheriff arrested the marshals.

The case was finally settled when the people of Mechanicsburg paid $900 for Addison White's freedom.

During the Civil War White joined the 54th Massachusetts Infantry and returned to Mechanicsburg after the war to work for the city's Street Department. He and his second wife Amanda are buried in the nearby Maple Grove Cemetery.

Corrections

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