Alexandria's Veterans #4

Abolitionist 3: The Underground Railroad

Map of the Underground Railroad

n the Fifth Grade, Mrs. Thorton and Underwood took us students on a field trip of historic Licking County.  Our first stop was at Bob Foos, formerly Durnell's and currently a hair salon.  We were told about the Underground Railroad.  I was skeptical.

The house at the southeast intersection of Kitzmiller and Dublin-Granville Road was a station on the Underground Railroad.  I say this in blessed memory of the Vallee sisters who lost one of their own at that intersection.  RIP my Viking sister.

It only makes sense that Capt. J. M. Scott's house was the next stop on the Underground Railroad.  It was a night's journey from New Albany.  Whie various places in Alexandria may have housed escaped slaves, what makes the most sense is that the Dublin-Granville Road was the Underground Railroad through St. Albans.

From the Scott house, the next stop could have been Granville or Utica.  A confirmed stop existed at 208 North Main Street in Utica, according to the Utica Historical Society.  According to John Rees, the Underground Railroad began, in this area, In Reynoldsburg in 1836.  The Ministers of the Presbyterian Church in Reynoldsburg were the organizers.  Albert G. Humphries of Granville identifies an old stone house, of unknown ownership, on Mt. Vernon Avenue, as a safe house on the Underground Railroad.

So, we have identified a network.  New Albany and Reynoldsburg could send escaped slaves through Alexandria to then send them on to Utica and Granville.

Alexandria and St. Albans Township was directly involved in freeing slaves.  While not every citizen may have been Anti-Slavery, the general sentiment in St. Albans was Abolitionist.

My ancestor, Nicholas T. Brown (R), was elected as the Iowa state representative for Louisa County in 1866 because the Democrats had called veterans of the Civil War to organize for slavery in Iowa.  Most veterans left in disgust.  N.T. Brown was elected with overwhelming support.  Brown handily defeated his pro-slavery, Democratic opposition.

The Civil War had long-lasting consequences.  In the years leading to the war, sides formed impenetrable barriers.  After the war, sentiments played out.

If we believe he Civil War was about freeing the slaves, then we must remember these people,

Senator John Sherman, brother of General William T. Sherman, leader of the abolitionist movement in Alexandria and St. Albans.

Captain Ira Page French, who gave his life at as the Commander of Company B, 76th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the Battle of Ringgold Gap in northern Georgia.

The loss of Sgt. Rufus Buxton and Cpl. Henry Rose in covered bivouac in Madison Parish, Louisiana.

There are more.

Alexandria and St Albans paid a price.  We helped slaves escape.  We supported the Anti-Slevery movement.  We sacrificed our youth, all in the name of Anti-Slavery.

As we watch peaceful Black Lives Matter protests lead to looting, vandalism, and more...