Leroy Lee - New Richmond Waterfront and the Underground Railroad
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The New Richmond waterfront marker is located adjacent to the New Richmond historical marker
Learn more about the history of the Underground Railroad in the Ohio Valley with this book from the University Press of Kentucky.
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
After escaping from owner John Anderson of Carthage, Kentucky, Leroy Lee was captured in Cincinnati, Ohio by slave hunters. Mr. Anderson, who was furious that a second slave had escaped seeking sanctuary in Ohio, enlisted slave hunters to track down Mr. Lee. While being returned to Carthage, Lee was paraded down New Richmond’s Front Street in shackles towards a ferry waiting at on river banks.
New Richmond was a hotbed for abolitionist in southern Ohio and a group of citizens confronted the slave hunters. The group quickly grew in numbers, eventually leading to a crowd of people blocking the street and the hunter’s path to the waterfront. With guns drawn the men demanded passage to the ferry to which the New Richmonders responded: “Release your man: slavery and war don’t go”. Leroy Lee was the second escaped slave of John Anderson to gain their freedom thanks in part to the citizens of New Richmond, the first being Henry Poindexter.
After gaining his freedom with the help of the citizens of New Richmond, Mr. Lee enlisted in the Union army. Leroy served as a private in Company G, Third Regiment, Heavy Artillery until being discharged from service in February 1886. Lee remained in New Richmond until his mother’s passing in 1912. He and his family then moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he lived until his death at age 72 on March 16, 1918.
Sources
The Fort Wayne Sentinel from Fort Wayne, Indiana on March 16, 1918 · Page 7, Deaths, Lee. (n.d.). Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/29080018/
McNutt, R. (2003, February 3). New Richmond marker recalls slavery opposition. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from http://enquirer.com/editions/2003/02/08/loc_McNutt08.html
Crowell, C. (2012). NEW RICHMOND. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://books.google.com/books?id=kJbkBf4vttMC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=slave%2Bleroy%2Blee&source=bl&ots=Uj-W0G02mK&sig=jpj1pXHUr7EhZvI_kC2uJrh578c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6pM_kwIjTAhUosFQKHWcIDVwQ6AEIHzAB#v=onepage&q=slave%20leroy%20lee&f=false
Irick, R. (2016, November 17). New Richmond Waterfront [Photograph found in New Richmond, Ohio]. Retrieved March 30, 2017, from https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=99706&Result=1 (Originally photographed 2016, November 5)