The Underground Railroad in West Virginia - Clio

Entries on This Tour

1. Ramsdell House

The Ramsdell House was built in 1858, and is the oldest surviving building in Ceredo. This Greek Revival style home is believed to have been the first brick house built in the town, which was founded in 1857 by a group of New England abolitionists led by Massachusetts Congressman Eli Thayer. Thayer and his supporters, including shoemaker Zophar Ramsdell, sought to establish Ceredo as a means of demonstrating the superiority of a free economy over one founded on the institution of slavery. Today many people believe that the town's early residents were involved in the activities of the Underground Railroad, and that the Ramsdell House was used as a hiding place for runaway slaves fleeing to Ohio. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and underwent a full restoration in 1985. Today it is owned by the Town of Ceredo and operated as a museum and community center. The Ramsdell House stands as a testament to the unique place of Ceredo as an anti-slavery settlement in a slave state.

2. Women of Courage Historical Marker (Aunt Jenny and the Underground Railroad)

The state historical marker at this site commemorates the involvement of a woman nicknamed “Aunt Jenny” for her efforts to support freedom for enslaved persons escaping the South via the Underground Railroad between what is now Parkersburg, West Virginia and Belpre, Ohio. Active in the area during the 1840s, Aunt Jenny aided runaway slaves traveling through the area by notifying Underground Railroad agents across the Ohio River of their presence and gathering information on the activities of slave catchers. Historians believe that Aunt Jenny was in actuality Edna Sutton, who after her time in Parkersburg went on to settle in Little Hocking, Ohio. The assistance Sutton provided to refugees from slavery highlights the prominent role played by free Black men and women in the activities of the Underground Railroad and the potential influence those activities could have on period politics. In 1845, Sutton’s aid to a group of slaves who were later captured and returned to Virginia from Ohio precipitated a near armed conflict between the two states. This memorial is located in Point Park and is one of only a handful of state historical markers that commemorate the experiences of women and people of color in West Virginia .

This site is part of what was once a thousand-acre farm owned by early European settler Levi Nutter and his descendants. The Nutters arrived in the area of what is now Ritchie County, West Virginia in the colonial period and quickly became one of the most prominent families in the area. Disaster struck in the mid-nineteenth century, however, when four of Levi’s sons met violent ends from 1852 to 1862. Historians now believe that the Nutters may have been involved in the Underground Railroad and killed in retribution for their activities. The Nutter Farm itself no longer exists, but the area on which it stood now bears its name as a testament to the family’s existence there.

Near this location Luke Jaco established a tavern and hotel servicing the old Northwestern Turnpike (now U.S. 50) that ran through Doddridge County outside West Union. The tavern, known as Jaco's Inn, enjoyed considerable notoriety in the area after its construction in the 1840s for the mysterious comings and goings of its frequently tight-lipped guests. The tavernkeeper himself shared that notoriety, known early on for his frequent conflicts with his neighbors and later for his apparent evangelization after suffering the amputation of his arm in the wake of an attack by one of those neighbors. After this conversion, the story goes, Jaco became a moral man, even going so far as to offer his services as a conductor on the Underground Railroad to runaway slaves using the Northwestern Turnpike to escape north. The inn itself no longer exists, but the cave on Jaco Hill nearby (known as Jaco Cave) where the tavernkeeper allegedly hid runaway slaves remains.

5. Fitz Randolph House

The Federal-style brick structure at the confluence of Tom’s Fork and Meathouse Fork outside of New Milton, West Virginia was originally the home of Jepthah Fitz Randolph and his family. After marrying Doddridge County native Deborah Sutton in 1836, Jepthah and his new wife moved to Milton, Wisconsin in 1844 before returning to this area the following year and constructing their new home some time in the next decade. Because they were Seventh Day Baptists, a denomination that staunchly opposed slavery, the Jepthah and Deborah were noted local abolitionists. Their opposition to the institution went so far, in fact, that the couple provided their home as a haven for runaway slaves fleeing to freedom in the north as part of the Underground Railroad. After serving in this capacity until the American Civil War, the Fitz Randolph House remained Jepthah and Deborah’s home until their deaths. It continues to be privately owned today.

6. Beehive Inn Marker

The monument at this site commemorates the location of a hotel and tavern that once stood here by the name of Beehive Inn. Named by Joseph H. Diss Debar during his visit to the area in 1846, the Beehive Inn gets its name from the proprietor Ephraim Bee and the busy, beelike frolics of his many children. Ephraim Bee, a prominent local figure in the mid-nineteenth century, is known nationally as the founder of the fraternal order E Clampus Vitus and in Doddridge County as a reputed conductor of the Underground Railroad. Bee is also known as a founder of Doddridge County, his political struggles with Nathan Davis (uncle to his wife) playing a pivotal role in determining the location of the county seat. Though the Beehive Inn no longer exists, the monument to its existence can be found along the North Bend Rail Trail in West Union, West Virginia.

7. Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Wayman African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church on Eoff Street is the most recent of several homes for the A.M.E. congregation of Wheeling, West Virginia. Prior to the Civil War much of the Black community in Wheeling both free and enslaved worshipped in the town’s white churches, but organized an African Methodist Episcopal congregation following the war’s end in 1865. The first Wayman A.M.E. Church was dedicated by and named for the Reverend Alexander W. Wayman in 1882, who went on to be elected Bishop of the church after years of itinerant preaching and evangelization. Prior to that period, members of the congregation were heavily involved in coordinating the escape of refugees from slavery with the help of A.M.E. churches in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Afterwards, they played a pivotal role in the establishment of a separate conference in the A.M.E. church for West Virginia. The Wayman A.M.E. Church is accessible during regular worship services on Sunday.

8. Greater St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Greater St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church between Beechurst Avenue and the Monongahela River is the second such structure to stand at the site since the establishment of the A.M.E. congregation in Morgantown, West Virginia. Originally established as simply St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal, the first A.M.E. church on Beechurst Avenue was built following an 1871 split in the local African American community between those adhering to the Methodist Episcopal faith and those favoring a move to the A.M.E. Constructed on land donated by John H. and Louis F. Hoffman, St. Paul rose rapidly under the pastorship of the Reverend Eli McKnight. Prior to this period, the Black members of the local Methodist Episcopal congregation attended church with their white counterparts and appear to have been active in the activities of the Underground Railroad in the area. Afterwards, they served as the epicenter of Black life in the community of Morgantown. Renamed Greater St. Paul in 2003, the church is open for services on Sundays at 11 AM.

9. Garrett VanMeter House

Built around 1830-1835 for the descendant of one of the earliest European settlers in western Virginia, the Garrett VanMeter House was once home to one of the wealthiest families in Hardy County and the surrounding region. After its construction VanMeter lived in the house until his death in 1865, operating a 368-acre plantation from there that included surrounding fields, a barn, a tenant’s home, and several outbuildings. During the majority of his life, VanMeter’s plantation relied on slave labor. The escape of three of these slaves through the Underground Railroad network from Hardy County to Pennsylvania embroiled VanMeter in a years-long lawsuit that received national attention. After his death, VanMeter’s home was sold to another family and passed through several hands before being separated from the rest of the land in 1974 and becoming part of a 4.87-acre parcel that is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

10. Original Baltimore and Ohio Ticket Office

Near this site in 1836, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad built its original ticket office for Harpers Ferry, from which passengers boarded and departed the train traveling east to Baltimore, Maryland and west to what is now Wheeling, West Virginia. This 1 ½ story, 20-by-30-foot building remained in use until the construction of the current station from 1892-1894. In addition to serving as a waypoint for travelers and goods moving east and west, the Harpers Ferry ticket office was also the backdrop of regular activities by the Underground Railroad in the antebellum period and the 1861 B&O Raids by then Confederate Colonel Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Such events highlight the centrality of Harpers Ferry to the early history of the United States and more specifically the process by which the institution of slavery was brought to an end. The area is now part of the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park and is located adjacent to the Appalachian Trail.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

The Underground Railroad in West Virginia

Created by Nathan Wuertenberg on December 31st 2019, 11:34:17 pm.

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Description

As many historians have observed, determining the location of Underground Railroad sites or participation of specific individuals in that endeavor can be a difficult task. Much of the supposed evidence is the result of rumor, innuendo, and supposition. This is especially true because of the covert nature of the Railroad's activities. The sites on this tour represent locations associated with confirmed agents of the Railroad, rumored agents of the Railroad, and opponents of the Railroad. Contrary to popular opinion, the residents of what became West Virginia were not uniformly anti-slavery and some went so far as to directly interfere with the operations of the Underground Railroad. This made the participation of the individuals mentioned in the entries on this tour all the more dangerous. Often, these individuals were free African Americans aiding refugees from slavery as members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church or as single operators. Sometimes the individuals were white, often abolitionists that deliberately located themselves in Virginia in order to disrupt the operation of slavery as an institution.

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