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The Underground Railroad in in Lawrence County, OH had at least four trails or areas of activity. Since Lawrence County was across the Ohio River from both Virginia and Kentucky, there was continual movement of fugitives and runaways across the county. Of the four major trails in Lawrence County, the one most known followed OH 93 and the Iron Furnaces it served. This trail was used heavily after 1852 when Ironton became the county seat, but it was probably used even before Union Furnace was fired in 1826. This trail received some support and protection from several of the Iron Masters who were acknowledged abolitionists. They provided transportation, places to hid, and even acted as personal guides to aid the escaping slaves to the region at the northern edge of the county known as Poke Patch.

Iron Furnace Trail - far left of map - green line, now OH 93

Text, White, Line, Font

Pine Grove Furnace 1905

House, Slope, Home, Stairs

Buckhorn Furnace 1833 - located Decatur Township

House, Slope, Village, Black-and-white

Mt. Vernon Furnace - upper picture site of furnace, lower picture barn & stable used on UGRR. (It collasped in 1998.)

Vegetation, Plant, Natural landscape, Land lot

Company Store at Gallia Furnace, Gallia co. OH - at the Juction of OH 233 and CH & D Railroad - It burned about 1980.

Text, House, Line, Home

Manager's home at Gallia Furnace, Gallia Co. OH - Home still in use in 2021. Thie house was built in Welston, OH, dismantled, shipped south on the CH & D. RR then rebuilt at Gallia.

House, Art, Home, Paint

The underground railroad in Lawrence County, Ohio was not as important as in other sections of Ohio. This was due mainly to the isolated area and the lack of numerous plantations in the nearby regions of Virginia and Kentucky. The section of the Ohio River which flowed along the boundary of Lawrence County was separated from Tidewater Virginia by hundreds of miles of rugged terrain. In Kentucky, the rivers that would have guided fugitives entered the Ohio River many miles west of Lawrence County.

The underground railroad trails across the county helped many fugitives to escape slavery. The best documented trail followed the iron furnaces along the path of the Iron Railroad and the highway which later became OH 93. Wilbur Siebert, a professor at Ohio state University, decided in the 1890's to search for information about the secret and hidden "Underground Railroad" created and used before the Civil War. He sent students with questionnaires to county seats along the Ohio River and many other areas of the state, but his information was limited because secrets die hard and most of the people involved were dead.

The Hanging Rock Iron Region created several Iron Masters beginning with the first Lawrence County furnace in 1826. Several of these men were avid abolitionists. John Means and his son Thomas were among those who built Union Furnace near Pine Grove. John Means removed from South Carolina to Ohio in 1819 and transported twenty-six slaves with him who were freed by location in Ohio. He lived in both Adams and Brown counties Ohio along with the Ellison family including brothers Andrew and John with their sister Sarah who married Thomas Means. John Campbell was kin to the Ellison family by marriage and married a niece of Robert Hamilton, while John Peters came from Pennsylvania.

Besides iron, these men believed everyone was equal and they hired both Black and white workers. Within a period of ten years, these men built at least ten furnaces in the northern section of Lawrence County and hired about 250 workers for each furnace. All these furnaces were within fifteen miles of Poke Patch, later recognized as a "station" on the underground railroad with several know "conductors" living nearby.

The economic and political power of the Iron Masters gave some protection from the radical "slave catcher" who roamed along the Ohio River. Iron ore and supplies had to be shipped both north and south along the trails and probably provided opportunities to slip runaways into the regular workers of the numerous furnaces and the supply trains. However transportation was arranged, runaways were safely moved from the Ohio River along the Iron furnace Trail to Poke Patch area and from there farther north. Iron Master John Campbell was even reported to have gone in the woods himself to assure safe passage.

Evans, Nelson W. & Stivers, Emmons B. : The History of Adams County, Ohio from Earliest Settlement to the Present, 1995.

Siebert, Wilbur: The Underground Railroad from Slavery to Freedom, 1898.

Siebert UGRR Collection, Ohio - digital - www.ohiomemory.org

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Carrie Eldridge

Ohio Memory Project from Wilbur Stout Collection, Arthur S. Kiefer, photograph.

Ohio Historical Society - Wilbur Stout Collection

www.irontonfurnaces. com by Amos Hawkins

Ohio Historical Society - Wilbur Stout Collection - on the Olde Forester web page

The Jackson Standard - Jackson County, OH newspaper