John Joliffe Clermont County Courthouse

This site commemorates John Jolliffe, Prosecuting Attorney for Clermont County from 1833-1837. In 1839 Jolliffe defended Brown County Underground Railroad conductor, John B. Mahan, on charges of assisting a slave to escape. Jolliffe moved to Cincinnati and continued to defend escaped slaves and conductors. Jolliffe was best known for defending escaped slave Margaret Garner, who slashed the throat of her own daughter rather than see her return to slavery.