Walking the Underground Railroad with a Friend

Dear Friend,

Here's a picture of my friend Jai'yah. She and her family spent a weekend with us last summer.

One night I was up late washing dishes after everyone else went to bed. I turned to see Jai'yah standing in my kitchen doorway.

"Can't sleep?" I asked her.

"Nope."

"Do you want to talk for a while?"

Her face lit up.

We went to the living room and sat on the couch. We talked about school.

"I love history, " she said.

"Me too! Do you know we live near the Ohio River? This area was once part of the Underground Railroad."

"Are you serious?" Her eyes widened.

"Oh yes. The farmhouse behind our property was built in the 1800s. I've been told it has a secret room. It's not listed on a historic registry, but I sometimes wonder if runaways once hid there."

She was entranced. I told her about my road trip to Ripley, Ohio. I pulled out my laptop and showed her pictures from my blog posts. She wasn't familiar with the story of Reverend and Mrs. Rankin who conducted thousands of passengers on the Underground Railroad to freedom.

She turned, knelt on the couch, and pulled apart the curtians to peer outside.

"It's so dark in the country," she said. "And quiet . . . creepy!"

"Sometimes I imagine people rushing, barefoot through the night, " I said. Because I knew she was thinking of this too.

"Do you want to walk down to the road with me?" I asked.

"Oh yes! I'm kind of scared to. But, yes!"

I gently shut the front door behind us as we stole into the darkness. Once at the road she said, "It's like we're on the Underground Railroad!"

I felt chills on the back of my neck. "I'll be your mother," I said.

She grabbed my hand and pulled my arm hard. "Come on, Mama!" she whispered. "We've got to run!"

We bolted down the road hand in hand. When we reached a clearing I pointed to the starry sky. "There's the Drinking Gourd," I told her. "That will lead us north."

We traveled on a little way and suddenly we saw headlights coming toward us from far in the distance.

"Hide!" She yanked my arm. We dove under some shrubery on the side of the road and lay on our stomachs until the car drove past.

"They didn't see us," she said with a sigh.

We continued on, backtracking this time along the same direction we had come. When my house came into view she said, "Look, Mama! It's the Rankin House!"

And this made me cry.

To think she equated my home to such a place -- a  place of safety and freedom and love.

We ran up the driveway to the back of the house and quickly pushed the back door open. Then, smiling, we jumped up and down and hugged each other tightly.

"We made it!"

"We're safe!"

"Yes! Safe!"

"I hope Mrs. Rankin will give us sometime to eat," I said. "I'm starving!"

She giggled.

"I wonder if the kids ate all the pie? If not we'll have some cookies and milk," I said.

"Adriana, Thank you."

"Thank you, Jai'yah. I love you, dear."

* * * * *

I realize our adventure was in no way harrowing like the real experience of those who once traveled from the slave-holding states in the south to freedom in north. Still, the imagination of my young friend stretched my mind and my heart. It made me think, really think, about what such a journey would have entailed and how desperate a mother would have been to protect her loved ones.

Hope this post finds all my blog-friends well.

Peace & Joy,

Adriana


P.S. Jai'yah, if you're reading this -- I know you will make a splendid history teacher or even a professor someday, if that is what you want to be. :-)

Road-trip to Ripley: Wrap Up

I haven't taken much time to post on my beloved Classical Quest this summer. As fall is approaching, I'm ready to get back into my groove and wrap up this three part series about my exciting trip to Ripley, Ohio!

A few months ago, I read Uncle Tom's Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I became intrigued by the novel's world-wide influence and fascinated by the person Abraham Lincoln referred to as "the little woman who wrote the book that started this great [Civil] war." I learned quite a bit about what it takes to become an influential writer from studying her life and asking myself this question: "How Did She Do It?"

While digging up stuff about the Beecher family, I learned about the town of Ripley, Ohio, which was a key location for the Underground Railroad. Many brave citizens of Ripley aided runaway slaves in their pursuit of freedom during the 1800s, the most famous of which was the Reverend John Rankin who lived in a small house on a hill overlooking town. Harriet Beecher Stowe was known to have made visits to the Rankin House. She based one of her characters in Uncle Tom's Cabin on the account she heard from Rev. Rankin of a real woman who sought shelter in his home. 

Of course, once I realized that a trip to Ripley would be feasible, I started making plans! My friend Christine from The Good, The Pure and The Lovely joined me along with her mother and three sons.

Upon arrival in Ripley, we set out to explore Front Street.

Then we drove up the rather steep hill to the Rankin House. In my last post, I described the first floor of the home as well as my favorite artifact on display -- Reverend Rankin's Bible.

We left off peering up the stairs, pondering the many weary souls who may have hidden themselves in the eaves of the small house to avoid capture.

Let us ascend the stairs together.

"Eliza's Settee" was designed for display at the Chicago World's Fair in 1933-34.

View of the Ohio River

"One Hundred Steps to Freedom"

Related posts:

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Inspiration: A Visit to the Rankin House

Road-trip to Ripley: Front Street

How Did She Do It?

Harriet Beecher Stowe's Inspiration: A Visit to the Rankin House

Road Trip to Ripley: Part Two

These bullet holes have been made in the last thirty years as a statement against what the Rankin House represents.

After the Civil War, when Henry Ward Beecher was asked, "Who abolished slavery?" He is said to have responded, "The Rev. John Rankin and his sons did it." 

A view of the Rankin House through a bullet hole in the sign.

During the years before the Civil War, the Rankin Family aided over 2,000 fugitive African Americans whom they sent toward freedom in Canada. Their home, perched high above the town, is visible from Front Street. For desperate souls in need of refuge, it became a "lighthouse for freedom".

One Hundred Steps to Freedom

Harriet Beecher Stowe made several visits to the Rankin House, where she listened to first hand accounts of the Rankins' experience as conductors on the Underground Railroad. One particular story inspired a critical scene in Stowe's incendiary novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe constructed  the character of "Eliza" from what the Rankins told her about a real woman. The same tale is now inscribed upon a plaque by the river:

In the winter of 1838 a slave woman and her baby began their journey to freedom. To avoid capture in Kentucky she crossed the ice floes in the Ohio River to the safety of the Ripley shore...

From Ripley, the real Eliza climbed Liberty Hill to the Rankin House taking the One Hundred Steps to Freedom, which are still accessible today.

Runaways entered through the kitchen door, on the right.

Once they were safe inside, fugitives could at last breathe a sigh of relief.

Guests were greeted with a welcoming fire and food.

This doll was hand sewn by a local resident, recently deceased. At one time, her "Eliza" dolls were for sale. The last one now graces the mantel.

Portrait of Rev. John Rankin: Presbyterian minister, loving husband, father of thirteen children, and conductor to freedom for thousands.

Proof I was really there!

The Rankins did not have a piano in their home. This one was constructed in town at the "Ohio Valley Piano Company".

Reverend Rankin's Bible, published in 1793

Viewing Rev. Rankin's Bible was the highlight of my journey. I think it could safely be assumed: this was the Book that made the man.

My house has been the door of freedom to many human beings, but while there was a hazard of life and property, there was much happiness in giving safety to the trembling fugitives. They were all children of God by creation and some of them I believe were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. ~ Reverend John Rankin

Reverend Rankin's inkwell

Wallpaper from the 1800s

Tucked into a corner, I discovered the familiar image of one of the Rankins' most famous guests, Harriet Beecher Stowe.

In my next post, we'll go upstairs, where runaway slaves were sometimes hidden.

First post in this series:  Road Trip to Ripley: Front Street

More on Harriet Beecher Stowe: How Did She Do It?

Other posts on Uncle Tom's Cabin: The Power of Love  &  My Soundtrack for Uncle Tom's Cabin