The Underground Railroad was an exciting, dramatic, and at times, violent episode in American history. It had all the hallmarks of a Hollywood blockbuster: great storylines, strong characters-both good and evil-high stakes and hairbreadth escapes. Scholars claim that as many as 100,000 enslaved people used the network of routes, safehouses and abolitionists of the Underground Railroad to seek freedom. The 100,000 number is, at best, an educated guess since no comprehensive records were kept.
There's several stories as to how the "road" got its name. This is my favorite. Tice Davids ran from his master's northern Kentucky farm in 1831. He headed for the Ohio River and freedom. As Tice approached the river, he heard howling dogs tracking him. He dove into the river and began swimming towards Ripley, Ohio. His master, the dogs and two paddy rollers, got into a skiff and began rowing. Tice got to shore, started running and then disappeared. "Where did he go?" asked the master. "I don't know. He must have gone on an underground railroad," replied one of the men.
The Clermont County Underground Railroad Research project revealed that the county was very active in the enterprise. Most of the activity was focused in the southern and eastern parts of the county: New Richmond, Moscow, Felicity, Bethel and the road's north terminal in Williamsburg. Passing from slave-holding Kentucky into free Ohio was like crossing the River Jordan.
At times the river was a formidable obstacle-a rampaging wild animal with rapids and heavy flow. During the summer the water level dropped so low that someone could walk across on foot. Sometimes, the Ohio froze solid. One Clermonter wrote a letter to a local newspaper stating if the river stayed frozen for another week there would not be any slaves left in Kentucky.
New Richmond, located 15 miles upstream from Cincinnati on the Ohio River, was the beating heart of the county's anti-slavery movement. The Clermont County Anti-slavery Society was started there. The anti-slavery newspaper, the Philanthropist, was founded in New Richmond and protected by a citizen's group that patrolled the village.The Presbyterian church was fully integrated. The Parker Academy, a private school located just outside of New Richmond, educated blacks and the biracial children of plantation owners. The anti-slavery sentiments of its citizens and its participation in the Underground Railroad were well known in the region.
In October of 1862, LeRoy Lee left his master's northern Kentucky farm. He made it to Cincinnati where he was captured. Leroy's hands were bound. A rope was thrown over his hands and tied to the wagon. Leroy walked behind the wagon fifteen miles to New Richmond where the master intended to use the ferry to cross over the Ohio River into Kentucky.
As the party proceeded to the ferry, a group of villagers, some armed, surrounded the party blocking it from the ferry. The owner was asked what he planned on doing with the black man tied to his wagon. He told them that he planned to take his property back to his farm. The crowd said it wasn't going to let him do that. Tensions built. Fingers inched closer to triggers. The farmer saw that he was greatly outgunned. He relented and released LeRoy.
The master should have known about New Richmond's strong anti-slavery position. There were other ways to cross over. Why he chose New Richmond is a question without an answer.
Leroy stayed in New Richmond for a few days and then left to join the Union army. He returned to New Richmond after the war. He got married, had children and became a pillar of the community.
Williamsburg became a very busy hub on the Railroad. It was typically the last stop in Clermont County on the spur running from the river to Felicity, Bethel and then Williamsburg on the Xenia Road, now known as Sr. 133.
Jacob Huber owned a profitable tannery and mill in the village. His son Charles learned the tannery trade and then decided to strike out on his own. The young man answered a newspaper advertisement for a job as a tanner in Natchez, Mississippi. When Charles asked the proprietor of the tannery about the opening, he was told that he just bought "one", meaning a slave, to fill the opening. The young man had just been introduced to the human face of slavery. He left Mississippi a committed abolitionist.
Huber went back to Williamsburg to work in the family business and became involved in the anti-slavery movement. Charles was a large man who feared no one. His bold, fiery anti-slavery rhetoric prompted fisticuffs at public gatherings. He also worked quietly against slavery by picking out bright young men of the community to bring them to his side of the debate.
The date he became directly involved in the enterprise is unknown. Likewise the number of passengers he helped to freedom is unknown, although a local historian at the turn of the 20th century, places the number at 400.
Huber was assisted by a Kentucky-born biracial man named Marcus Sims who worked for Huber. Sim's duties as the "engineer" were to convey the fugitives in a wagon back and forth along the back country roads, with common stops from Brown County to Martinsville in Clinton County, and Williamsburg. Even a well-oiled machine like Huber's operation could have its moments of concern. One night heavy rains suspended operations. Huber was well-aware that what he was doing was a federal crime, punishable by six months in jail, a $1,000 fine and civil penalties. Every moment in the conductor's hands increased the possibility of discovery. The bad weather lasted throughout the night. All 17 of the enslaved made it to safety.
Neither Huber nor Sims lived to see the end of slavery. Huber died in 1854. Sims enlisted in the 5th United States Colored Troops and was killed in action in Virginia in September of 1864.
